than a week before the actual event. Smooth, Diamond, really smooth. Still, she had to go. And it wouldn’t be too hard to convince Pax—as long as she worked tonight as promised. There had to be some benefits to dating the boss after all.
Crap. That meant she had to add packing to her massive to-do list for the day, in between a required work out, an appointment at the spa, lunch with Pax, and, of course, work. She also had to find a graduation gift for Emmy, and unless she wanted her day to go completely to hell, she had to do it without leaving the hotel. Good thing Rojo was an upscale establishment, home to many shops, restaurants and spas that were renowned across the states. She wasn’t sure that any of them would have an appropriate graduation gift, but she would have to make do with whatever she could find.
Picking up the phone, she put in her breakfast order—coffee, toast, and fruit, and set off to the bathroom for a shower while she waited. There was no time to waste.
* * *
Pax was having a hell of a morning. Several of his casino dealers had gotten a bad case of food poisoning, and called in sick to work that morning leaving him to scramble to rearrange the schedule to find replacements. That had taken a while to sort out. Then there had been a fight between two of his girls at the café that morning. He had arrived after it had all gotten sorted out, apologized to the restaurant manager, and sent them both up to their rooms promising that he would be “discussing” it further with them on the following Tuesday. That had mellowed them right out. He had half a mind to suspend them from working the event tonight, but tonight was too important and the person he would mostly be punishing with that idea would be himself and the other girls on duty who would have to pick up the slack.
At least all the chaos had made the morning pass quickly and it was now noon. He had a late lunch scheduled with Diamond for one. It couldn’t come fast enough. His business phone rang in his pocket, and he stifled a curse. “Please Lord, save me from dealing with another disaster this morning,” he muttered, digging the phone from his pocket and putting it up to his ear.
“This is Pax,” he barked, wincing as he listened. “Yup. I’ll be right up.” As he headed to the couture designer boutique shop on the upper level, he prayed that this would be the last thing today for real this time. He should have known. These things always came in threes.
He took the private service elevators, even though it was a longer walk, hoping that by doing so, he would be able to avoid any more crises coming his way.
Joanna, a silver haired woman in her fifties, who dressed exclusively in pink every day of her life, came around the counter to greet him as he entered. “Paxxy!” she cooed, kissing the air next to his cheek.
“Joanna.” He forced a smile, but he wasn’t in the mood for chit chat and pleasantries. He wanted to find out the problem, fix it, and make it to Diamond’s suite in time for a little pre-lunch dessert. “What seems to be the problem?”
Joanna pouted momentarily, giving in quickly as his mood became apparent. “Well, Paxxy,” she began, stubbornly using the pet name she had chosen for him, and insisted on using no matter how many times he had told her not to. “You know that new girl I hired last month? Julia?”
“Mmhmm. What about her?” Anyone that came into his hotel, even into the shops he didn’t own had to have extensive background checks and be approved by him. Julia had passed with flying colors.
“Well, I had her cover the front this morning while I did some inventory and pricing in the back room.”
“Yes,” Pax murmured, wishing she would get to the point, and at the same time bracing himself to hear the worst, fully expecting at this point to spend the rest of his morning talking things out with the cops, providing Joanna with moral support while she filed a report.
“Well, I
Crap. That meant she had to add packing to her massive to-do list for the day, in between a required work out, an appointment at the spa, lunch with Pax, and, of course, work. She also had to find a graduation gift for Emmy, and unless she wanted her day to go completely to hell, she had to do it without leaving the hotel. Good thing Rojo was an upscale establishment, home to many shops, restaurants and spas that were renowned across the states. She wasn’t sure that any of them would have an appropriate graduation gift, but she would have to make do with whatever she could find.
Picking up the phone, she put in her breakfast order—coffee, toast, and fruit, and set off to the bathroom for a shower while she waited. There was no time to waste.
* * *
Pax was having a hell of a morning. Several of his casino dealers had gotten a bad case of food poisoning, and called in sick to work that morning leaving him to scramble to rearrange the schedule to find replacements. That had taken a while to sort out. Then there had been a fight between two of his girls at the café that morning. He had arrived after it had all gotten sorted out, apologized to the restaurant manager, and sent them both up to their rooms promising that he would be “discussing” it further with them on the following Tuesday. That had mellowed them right out. He had half a mind to suspend them from working the event tonight, but tonight was too important and the person he would mostly be punishing with that idea would be himself and the other girls on duty who would have to pick up the slack.
At least all the chaos had made the morning pass quickly and it was now noon. He had a late lunch scheduled with Diamond for one. It couldn’t come fast enough. His business phone rang in his pocket, and he stifled a curse. “Please Lord, save me from dealing with another disaster this morning,” he muttered, digging the phone from his pocket and putting it up to his ear.
“This is Pax,” he barked, wincing as he listened. “Yup. I’ll be right up.” As he headed to the couture designer boutique shop on the upper level, he prayed that this would be the last thing today for real this time. He should have known. These things always came in threes.
He took the private service elevators, even though it was a longer walk, hoping that by doing so, he would be able to avoid any more crises coming his way.
Joanna, a silver haired woman in her fifties, who dressed exclusively in pink every day of her life, came around the counter to greet him as he entered. “Paxxy!” she cooed, kissing the air next to his cheek.
“Joanna.” He forced a smile, but he wasn’t in the mood for chit chat and pleasantries. He wanted to find out the problem, fix it, and make it to Diamond’s suite in time for a little pre-lunch dessert. “What seems to be the problem?”
Joanna pouted momentarily, giving in quickly as his mood became apparent. “Well, Paxxy,” she began, stubbornly using the pet name she had chosen for him, and insisted on using no matter how many times he had told her not to. “You know that new girl I hired last month? Julia?”
“Mmhmm. What about her?” Anyone that came into his hotel, even into the shops he didn’t own had to have extensive background checks and be approved by him. Julia had passed with flying colors.
“Well, I had her cover the front this morning while I did some inventory and pricing in the back room.”
“Yes,” Pax murmured, wishing she would get to the point, and at the same time bracing himself to hear the worst, fully expecting at this point to spend the rest of his morning talking things out with the cops, providing Joanna with moral support while she filed a report.
“Well, I
Similar Books
