Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
He glanced past me toward my towel with the giant, hot pink flamingo on it. “I see you’ve been to town. Did you have a chocolate frappe? Precious works on Saturdays, and she always makes the best ones.”
I shook my head. “Just coffee. But I did have the patty melt. It was delicious.”
He studied me for a beat. The sun reflected off water drops caught in his eyelashes. My eyes ate him up like he was the chocolate treat he described.
Suddenly, he flashed a big smile full of teeth. “Well, gotta get back to work. Cheers.”
He strode out of the ocean and straight back toward the inn with water streaming down every line of his chest and arms and his cotton cutoffs plastered to his skin. A red elastic waistband peeked out of the top of the shorts, and my level of curiosity about that red underwear reached ludicrous levels.
He was a child, and I was embarrassing myself.
“Yeah. Uh, see you later.”
As soon as he’d crested the rise over the dune and disappeared, I smacked myself in the forehead. “See you later?” Ugh. I sounded old. And pathetic.
With a sigh I gathered my towel and other supplies and slowly made my way to the hotel. I needed a place to stay, and no matter what the receptionist had said earlier, it was obvious from the parking lot there were plenty of empty rooms available at the Sea Sprite.
I hastily pulled a shirt on and grabbed my wallet from the car before making my way toward the lobby. I hesitated only slightly when I noticed it wasn’t the receptionist behind the counter, but one mercurial bartender who now looked even hotter after a dip in the ocean and a change into dry clothes. He even had reading glasses perched on his nose as he poked his way around a laptop keyboard.
I made my way over to him and waited by the counter. When he didn’t look up, I pressed the little brass bell, causing him to jump and nearly tumble off the stool he sat on.
“What the hell do you want?” His eyes met mine over the rim of his glasses which made him look adorably geeky.
“World peace and some aloe lotion. But I’ll also take a room, please.”
He shrugged. “Haven’t got any available. Sorry.”
I looked behind him at the rows and rows of available room keys dangling in individual cubbyholes.
This was a game, and I was losing. There was a part of me very unfamiliar with losing.
I shifted into business mode. If there was one thing I knew this man needed, it was money.
“Name your price.”
6
Sawyer
Two could play at this game.
“Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.” I clicked through the laptop to the reservation screen as if preparing to take his information. “Per night.”
The posted room rate was $129 per night, and that was only because it was located on the shore. Most of the time we discounted through online booking partners down to $79 per night. There was no telling how much of that James knew.
James lifted an eyebrow. Damn the man for being beautiful. “I’ll pay a hundred a night. And that’s if my room isn’t soggy with toilet water.”
Touché.
Still, I wasn’t backing down. “How about a hundred thousand? Guy like you probably has that much in his checking account.”
“How about a hundred fifty and that includes the lobby donuts and fancy coffee?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How about you go fu—” I stopped talking just in time. A family with three little girls came bursting in, all windblown and smiley. “Hi. Welcome to the Sea Sprite. Checking in?”
The mom stepped forward. “We don’t have a reservation, but we’re really hoping you can help us out. Is there any chance you have two rooms connecting? We’re hoping to stay the full week.”
“Absolutely,” I said, flashing her my biggest smile and reaching for the laptop. “Let me just gather some information from you and we’ll get you all set.”
I ignored James’s grunt of frustration and pretended not to notice him wander over to pour himself a glass of water from the cooler in the corner of the lobby.
As soon as I’d finished checking in the Burnside family and showing them to their rooms, I returned to the check-in desk to see James standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
“You really going to tell me you’re full now?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
I held up my hands in a “what are you going to do?” gesture and flashed him an apologetic grimace. “Mm. They took the last two rooms. Shame.” I threw myself back down on the stool behind the counter before snapping my fingers. “Hey. You got that pretty new towel today. You do know the beach is public property, right? You can make yourself a nice little nest down there for the night.”