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“Sure. Yes.”
His smile widens. “Excellent. By the way, you look lovely this morning, Miss Felton.” He winks and waves off Nancy, the annoyed iPad lady, as they stride away. She glances over her shoulder at me once, her expression pinched.
“Everyone, follow me.” Ms. Castor snaps her fingers as she moves between the gaggle of college kids. She grabs my elbow as she passes and leans in to ask, “How do you know Griffin Mills?”
“Uh, he’s a friend?”
She gives me a look, one I can’t quite decipher, like she wants to be my best friend, but also wants to maim me for some reason. I get that he’s hot, but come on. I’m also confused as to how she knows who he is. Although if he works in the hotel industry and she teaches in the field, it could explain it. I feel like I’m missing something important here, but I’m not quite sure what.
Another student rushes up to ask her a question, forcing her to let go of my arm. We pass through the grand, subtly lit, and very classy hotel lobby. It’s different than where my mom used to work as a dealer. This place reeks of money and sophistication.
It occurs to me that in the weeks I’ve been seeing Griffin, we’ve never once passed through the lobby, opting for the private entrance he uses to access his suite. I file into a large room with rows of chairs set up in front of a podium and a table with microphones.
I fight a cringe when Landon, a guy in my class who has made it clear he likes me, slides in front of me. I don’t have the heart to blatantly shoot him down because he’s super awkward and doesn’t seem to get the hint that I’m not interested. I try to file into the row behind him, but I’m redirected so I’m in the first row, right in front of the damn podium with Landon on my right. Thankfully, Helix is on my other side.
“Your dress is nice,” Landon says.
“Thanks.” I give him a tight smile and start unpacking my tablet so I can take notes if I need to.
“I tried to cut him off, but he’s like a weasel, fitting into tight places,” Helix whispers in my ear.
“You have great legs. You wear heels a lot, don’t you? I can tell by how defined your calf muscles are.” He leans down to touch my calf, and I jerk away. “What’re you doing for lunch?”
“I don’t eat lunch.” It’s a lame lie, but talking to me about my calves is seriously inappropriate.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I already want to punch Landon in the face and we’ve only just sat down. I flip through the readings for today, most of which I skimmed this morning, apart from the keynote speaker information. I start scanning it so I get the gist of what I’m supposed to get out of this, and whether I’ll actually pay attention, or if I’ll make random notes on other projects while some blowhard talks about how he created an empire from nothing. The name of the speaker isn’t someone I recognize either.
It doesn’t seem to dissuade Landon at all. He continues to pepper me with questions, and his face is literally an inch away from mine. I can feel his breath on my cheek.
I’m momentarily distracted by the iPad lady who was in the lobby with Griffin. She’s all business as she sets everything up for the presentation. Two more women in suits and two more men file in, followed by Griffin who stands behind the podium.
It takes a lot longer than it should for me to piece it all together. The first PowerPoint slide is a big help, but doesn’t match the name that was in the handout.
Keynote Speaker: Griffin Mills of Mills Hotels
I look at Helix, who is also looking at me with wide eyes. “Oh my God, that’s the Griffin Mills?”
“It appears that way.” I’ve read about Mills Hotels, they’re literally everywhere. Except Vegas and a few other places. Harrison Mills inherited the company from his father, Corbin, and it’s been in the family for generations. What I failed to realize until now is that Griffin happens to be one of the sons who helps run the company and is in line to inherit it. I don’t know how I missed the connection, other than Mills is a fairly common last name. Or I was just blissfully naïve.
Griffin’s been vague about his job, always saying he crunches numbers for his family business, passing it off as boring and unimportant. So I never pushed or questioned it.
I quickly do a search for the Mills Hotel family. It doesn’t take much digging to find a picture of Harrison with his three sons. They’re all ridiculously good-looking. Griffin has a pretty sweet beard going on, which makes him look closer to his actual age.
