Page 7 of The Hotel Manager


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TEAGAN

“I should really go; they’re waiting for me.” His hands stop moving as soon as the words fall from my lips.

I’m not sure how long I’ve been lying here, letting this man I barely know massage me, but I’m pretty certain an hour has passed.

Suddenly, his hands disappear. “Stay here while I get dressed,” he orders.

Turning around, I sit up so I can watch him move through the room. For such a big man, he is light-footed and moves rather quickly. His muscles are huge, but a grace about him makes me think he’s trained in martial arts.

He briefly disappears into what I assume is his walk-in closet. When he returns, he is fully dressed in an expensive-looking suit. He doesn’t wear a tie, and his gray button-up shirt is not all the way done. This would look casual on anyone else, but nothing about this man is casual. His facial expression is so serious that I wonder if he even knows how to laugh.

I glance down at my black slacks and worn sneakers, feeling even more out of place than I did before. Swinging my legs off the table, I let my feet dangle.

He moves through the room swiftly and with purpose, demanding every ounce of my attention. Coming to a halt inches away from me, I have the chance to really look at him. His eyes bore into mine with an intensity that has my mouth going dry.

I want to ask him a million questions, but I only manage to get one out. “Can I go now?”

With his eyes slightly squinted, he inspects my face closely. I feel like an ant under a magnifying glass who is about to get burned alive.

“Of course you can go,” he finally says, like I’m crazy for asking. He takes a step back, and I suck in a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Go downstairs, tell your brother and those guys that you did exactly what they asked. Then go home and forget you were ever here.”

Forget? I wish I could. Something tells me that’s going to be difficult. How do I wipe a day like this from my memory?

“Off you go,” he dismisses me, shooing me away with a wave of his hands like I’m nothing but an annoyance.

What a prick.

“Gladly,” I mumble as I jump off the table to make my way out of the room. I don’t have to look around to know he follows me. I can feel his presence behind me, sense the way he watches every step I take.

Opening the door leading back into the living room, I quickly realize everyone else has left. Knowing that I’m alone with this man has the fear from earlier returning with a vengeance. A ball of anxiety forms in my gut.

“Do you need directions?”

His voice startles me. It’s much closer than I expected. I don’t turn around to check, but he must be less than a foot away.

Keeping my shoulders straight and my head high, I walk back toward the elevator doors. Grant comes up beside me and punches a number in the panel on the wall. The elevator door slides open.

Not wasting any time, I scurry inside the small space and spin around to face him one last time.

“Goodbye, Mr. Grant.”

“Goodbye, Ms. Bennett.” Right before the elevator doors meet in the middle, he adds, “Don’t come back.”

I wasn’t planning on it.

I sigh once I’m alone.

As soon as the elevator doors open again, I speed walk out through the lobby and into the street. My heart races, my mind too. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything when I spot the black SUV that brought me here parked a few feet away.

Pulling the back door open, I slide inside, realizing too late that my brother is no longer in the back seat. My hand is still on the handle, but before I get the chance to push the door open again, Dave drives off, and my stomach sinks.

“What’s going on?” I look between Dave and his goon. “Where is Jase?”

“Don’t worry about your brother, sweet cheeks,” Dave sneers. “He had an errand to run for us. Did you plant the bug?”

“I did.” Even I hear how wobbly my voice is.

“That doesn’t sound very confident.”

“I’m sorry I’m not very calm right now,” I snap. “I had a hell of a day, and now I’m in a car with two guys I barely know driving me who knows where.”

“No reason to get sassy with us,” Dave warns before turning to his friend. “Can you believe this chick, Karl? We’re just being nice and driving her home. She should say thank you for doing this.”

Thank you, my ass. He’s lying. There is no way he is driving me home. I would know even if they were driving in the right direction. At least I know the other guy’s name now. Karl.

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