The kiss, chaste though it was, stirred something inside her. It went way beyond friendly.
As they got closer to the inn, she slanted a look toward him. “This friendship thing,” she said casually. “I’m thinking it still needs to have benefits.”
Will regarded her with amusement. “Is that so?”
“What do you think?”
“Since you’ve lured me over here and I haven’t objected, I think the benefit package is definitely open for discussion.”
“Then isn’t it a good thing that my room is even closer than the attic?” she said. “Better yet, it has a very comfortable bed.”
“All an important part of the negotiations,” Will agreed. “One question, is the bed an antique?”
“No, why?”
“Squeaky springs.”
Jess laughed. “It doesn’t matter. The last of the guests checked out hours ago. If we change our minds and decide to make love on the staircase, there’s nobody left to be shocked by our behavior.”
Will looked a little too intrigued by the idea. “The staircase, huh? And the foyer? What about the kitchen?”
“All to ourselves,” she said, laughing. She met his gaze. “What on earth do you have in mind?”
“You’ll see,” he promised, a wicked glint in his eyes.
“It’s going to be quite an afternoon, isn’t it?” she asked, her breath catching in her throat and her pulse kicking up a notch or two…or five.
“I most definitely hope so,” he agreed, grabbing her hand and leading her inside, then locking the front door behind them. “No point in taking chances on the arrival of unexpected guests.”
Jess laughed. “Who knows? It could draw in an entirely different clientele.”
“The door stays locked,” he said firmly, but that was the very last cautious thing he did.
From that point on, he showed a reckless abandon that matched anything Jess had ever aspired to, proving yet again that they were an astonishing match, even without a Lunch by the Bay computerized stamp of approval to back it up.
20
Jess was in her office Monday morning, daydreaming about her incredible night with Will, when Gail came in, her expression tense. Since Gail was the kind of woman who rarely let anything rattle her, Jess immediately sat up straighter.
“Something’s wrong,” Jess said at once. “What is it?”
“Apparently our order for this week slipped through the cracks,” Gail said, her tone filled with annoyance. “What happened?”
Jess felt her stomach sink. “What are you talking about? I know I called it in. I always call it in on Friday.”
“Well, you didn’t last week,” Gail said. “When the truck didn’t turn up first thing this morning, I called the food distributor. They had no record of an order being placed on Friday. I know I filled it out for you before I went home on Thursday and left it here on your desk. You were supposed to place it first thing Friday.”
“I did,” Jess insisted, trying to sort through the papers on her desk to find it. The clutter was so disorganized it was almost impossible to find anything. “I called it in, then put the original back in the kitchen afterward, like always. I’m sure of it.”
“It’s not there,” Gail said, not even trying to hide her increasing impatience. “Keep looking. I’m sure it’s buried there somewhere.”
Just then Jess found the order, without her usual checkmark and initials to indicate the task had been completed. She uttered a curse. “I’m so sorry, Gail. I’ll call it in right now. Maybe they can still get it here this afternoon.”
“They can and they will. I always keep my own copy, so I gave it to them when I called.” The tension in her shoulders finally eased and she sat down opposite Jess. “I’m sorry for coming in here so angry, but I was just so darn frustrated when I had to scramble to figure out what I could put on today’s lunch menu with what we had in stock.”
“You shouldn’t have to do that,” Jess told her apologetically. “This was my fault, Gail. It won’t happen again.”
“Yes, it will,” Gail said more gently. “Look, Jess, I know we decided a while back it would be best if you actually placed the orders, but maybe that’s not such a good idea. Maybe we should go back to the way it was in the beginning, with me handling it, then giving you a weekly report for the accountant.”
Jess hated retreating to the system Abby had initiated after the threatened foreclosure disaster, but how could she argue? “That would probably be best,” she conceded. “I thought I’d developed my own system for keeping track of things. I thought it was working.”
“It has been until lately,” Gail agreed. “I don’t know if it’s this thing with Will that has you distracted or if you’re getting bored with all the details around here or what. But this isn’t the first time you’ve slipped up.”
“It’s the first time I’ve forgotten to place an order,” Jess protested.
“True,” Gail said. “But the maid had to scramble a couple of weeks back because the laundry service hadn’t been notified we needed extra linens because of a heavy guest turnover. And Ronnie had to pacify a guest who’d asked for a room on the first floor, only to find he’d been put upstairs. You’d taken the reservation, but hadn’t made a note of it. Remember those incidents?”
Years of hearing a litany of her mistakes didn’t make it one bit easier for Jess to hear these. The same acid churned in her stomach. “I’m sorry,” she apologized yet again.
“I know that,” Gail said. “And we’ve all tried to make allowances—”
Jess cut her off heatedly, “Because of the ADD. I don’t want anybody making excuses for me, Gail. I should have a handle on this. It’s not rocket science, for heaven’s sake, and I’m the one in charge.”
Gail immediately looked alarmed by her frustrated outburst. “We’re not judging you.”
“Of course not,” Jess said bitterly. “Nobody ever judges poor, messed-up Jess. They just cover for her or work around her, whatever
