Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Rocco was sitting in one of the comfortable swivel chairs in this extremely out-of-place modern meeting room. He was leaning back casually, staring right at her as if he’d been waiting for her. Had he?
She tucked a wayward lock of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. “I, uh, brought you your envelope.” She held it with a shaky hand. “Is everything okay?” She pointed over her shoulder. “The others went upstairs.”
He slowly leaned forward and pushed out the chair next to him. “Come.”
The soft command made her mouth dry. That one word was enough to make her tremble. His tone. The demand. Only one other man had ever spoken to her with such authority, and he’d turned out to be a real jerk.
Sadie shook thoughts of her ex, Lance, from her head. She hadn’t thought of him in ages. She’d broken things off with him ten years ago. He had no business occupying space in her head.
Rocco might have issued a similar order, but nothing about him reminded her of Lance. He wasn’t angry or even frustrated. He waited patiently for her to obey, his hand on the back of the chair he’d indicated.
Sadie shuffled forward. When she reached him, he carefully held her arm to help her onto the chair. These chairs looked nice, but they were made for grown men. At five-five, only her toes touched the floor.
She handed him the envelope. “I’m supposed to give this to you,” she whispered.
Rocco held her with an intense stare, ignoring the envelope entirely as he set it on the table. “How long have you been here at the resort?”
His question caught her off guard. “Uhh, I arrived yesterday.”
“Where are you living?”
She swallowed. “I have a room on the fourth floor.”
“A room…”
“Like a studio apartment,” she amended.
“I see. And you’re the reception manager?”
She shifted her weight, feeling the heat of his stare boring into her. “Yes. I mean, I’m in charge of reception. I’ll hire other people. It won’t be just me.”
“I see. Who hired you?”
“Uhhh, the owner?”
“You don’t know?” His brows drew together slightly.
“Uhhh, I guess not. No.” She reached to tuck that dumb lock of hair behind her ear, but it immediately fell back across her cheek. Her hands were shaking, which embarrassed her. She’d managed to be chipper and friendly as the men had arrived earlier. None of the first five had rattled her.
But this man—the last to arrive—had made her heart race. He shouldn’t. She needed to ignore the way her body reacted to him. After all, they would be working together. There was no way she would jeopardize her job by drooling over one of her co-workers.
Maybe he was actually one of her bosses. She really didn’t know. Sadie needed this job. She also needed to guard her heart against all men. She needed to learn to stand on her own. Falling into old habits by letting someone take care of her was out of the question.
“Do you know his name?”
“The new owner?” Shoot. She’d lost track of the conversation with her wandering thoughts.
He leaned closer. “Yes, Little one, the new owner.”
Sadie’s breath hitched. Had he just called her Little one? She swallowed hard as she held his gaze. Her trembling hand reached to tuck that stubborn lock of hair back again and failed.
Rocco pushed his chair back a few inches. “Come here.” He reached for her hand.
She had no idea what his intentions were, but she could no more deny him than her next breath as she set her smaller hand in his and let him help her down from the chair.
“Turn around, Sadie,” he encouraged, his voice gentle.
She nearly tripped over her sandals as she spun to face away from him. Why was she obeying him like this? It felt like he’d dug into her deepest special place when he’d demanded she come to him, but he’d flayed her open when he’d called her Little one. Now, she was putty.
“Can you kneel, Little one?”
She twisted her head around to look at him. He was so tall that with him sitting they were nearly eye-to-eye. “Sir?” She shivered as she used the term. It slid out naturally.
He reached for the band in her hair and eased it off, letting the long straight locks tumble down her back and around her shoulders. “Your hair, Little one. It’s annoying you. I’m pretty good with hair. Let me fix it.”
Her heart raced as she continued to stare at him.
He smiled. A heart-stopping smile that made her want to do anything to ensure he looked at her like that. “I’ll be able to reach better if you lower to your knees.” He winked at her.
“Oh.” As she turned to face away from him again, she lowered onto shaky knees.
He spread his legs and scooted closer as his hands threaded in her hair to finger comb it.