12

By the time four o'clock came around, even my hair was tired. Consecutive meetings, endless introductions, walking (so much walking!), and a working lunch had me drained. When Victor left me to make sure the dinner reservations he made for the management team were in place, I sank into my desk chair with a sigh.

"Oh this feels nice," I murmured, leaning back. I could feel my stress transfer from me to the memory foam chair. Kicking off my heels under my desk, I opened my laptop to begin to organize my notes from the day. My phone went off next to me, vibrating loudly on the glass.

"This is Sara," I answered without looking to see who was calling. I had too many tabs open and was having trouble figuring out where I put the topic I was looking for to pay attention.

"Hey, it's Kade." Kade's voice rumbled in my ear and my heart stopped.

"Hi, how's my car?" I asked hoping to keep this call to just the facts and nothing but the facts.

"Fine. She's in really great shape for her age," he replied and I could hear him typing on the keyboard.

"Runs in the family." I cringed as I said it and I could hear Kade chuckle. "So I can pick her up then?"

"Yep, keys will be at the front desk. We close at 5:30 today but if you can't make it over, feel free to grab her in the morning."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it. I have a business dinner, so I'll probably pick her up first thing in the morning." And hopefully avoid seeing you.

"Sounds good. I'll make a note. One other thing." I stiffened. "I want to apologize and say I'm sorry for the misunderstanding this morning. I identified the issue and took care of it, so there won't be any problems in the future."

"Well thank you. I appreciate it."

"Anytime. Enjoy your dinner," he said and we hung up. I groaned and resisted the urge to scrub my face with my hands so that I didn't end up rubbing mascara all over. Why was his voice so sexy? Why was he so taken? Why did I care if he was taken? FOCUS! Crud, I was so distracted I forgot to ask for the total cost. Whatever. I'd sell a kidney before I called him back and asked.

I pushed Kade from my mind and focused back on my notes. A few minutes later Victor came in and confirmed dinner was at five.

"I'm going to head up to my room and get cleaned up but I will see you and the others at Bartolo's," he said. Based in eastern Michigan, he was staying here in the Wisteria for the next few days. "You know where that's at, right?" I nodded.

"Worked there my junior and senior year of high school. I'm familiar."

"Perfect, see you there then. By the way, thank you for joining our team. You did a great job today. Very excited to have you in charge."

"You're welcome. I'm happy to be here." Victor left with a wave and Riley came to my doorway. He was holding a water bottle and a granola bar.

"You had kind of a rushed lunch. Would you like either of these?" he asked.

"Yes, both please." I ripped the granola bar open at the same time my stomach let out a long low growl. "Perfect timing."

"Is there anything else I can get you?" I shook my head.

"No this is just fine. I appreciate you looking out for me." Riley smiled, looking pleased with himself and went back to his desk.

At five, I shut everything down, putting the iPad in my satchel. I grabbed my bags and walked out to see Riley straightening up his area.

"Thanks for all your help today Riley. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Is there anything I can have ready for you tomorrow?"

"Would you mind picking up a water bottle from the gift shop for me? One of the big double insulated ones? I drink a lot of water, so that would be great." Riley nodded and made himself a note.

"Color preference?"

"Surprise me."

"Will do," he said with a smile. "Anything else?" I shook my head and told him I'd see him in the morning. On my way out, I said goodbye to the concierge and front desk agents on duty. The doorman let me out and I said goodbye to him as well. Walking to my car, my feet were screaming and I decided I may have to downgrade to Crocs. Once I was in the car, I chucked the heels into the seat next to me and drove barefoot to Bartolo's.

The green, white, and red Spanish style building still looked like it did when I was in high school. The parking lot was fairly empty. I recognized some of the department heads I had met earlier getting out of their cars and I took a deep breath. I was really tired and kicking myself for not giving myself more time to rest after my move. This was all part of the job, though, and I grabbed my shoes and slid my protesting pups back into them. Shouldering my purse, I headed to the restaurant.

Inside, the seating was still heavy round real wood tables and antique chairs. Victor, the head of facilities, Ron, and the head of housekeeping, Joanie, were already sitting. The assistant GM, Dena, and front operations manager, Holly, were walking it at the same time as me and we went to the table together. Events manager, Wyatt, was unable to attend since he was home with a sick kid and marketing manager, Cindy, was at a conference. There were a few other managers missing but they were either excused or running late.

"So you said you worked here in high school?" Victor asked, after I was seated between him and Dena.

"Yeah under the old owners. They were the nicest people."

"How did you not eat all of the breadsticks?" Dena asked, grabbing one of the delicious little carb wands that were endless with our meal.

"I ate them all. If there was a spare breadstick, I ate it. The only time I didn't eat them was during prom season." Carbs would probably kill me but I'd go out with a smile on my face.

"You're Chris Diaz's sister right?" Ron asked me. I nodded.

"Yes, he said he worked for you doing landscaping."

"Good worker, your brother. I didn't have to worry about him knowing the difference between a weed and a flower. What's he doing now?"

"He teaches at Cadence High. History." Soon the conversation felt like seven degrees of separation with all of us figuring out who we knew in common. Miraculously, Kade's name didn't come up once.

"Did you drive that BMW all the way from Cali?" Holly asked. Holly was on my question mark list. With her platinum blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and porcelain skin, she was very pretty but had this less than friendly quality. Being in charge of pretty much all guest operations, I was expecting someone a bit more approachable. However, I was not going to go off my very first impression, especially since she'd been in her position for two years. She must be doing something right.

"It's a loaner but yes, I did drive my car," I answered.

"Did something happen to your car?" Victor asked, looking concerned. I shook my head.

"No, I just needed an oil change and wanted to make sure it survived the trip," I explained.

"Smart. Where did you take it?" Ron inquired.

"Taylor's." So much for not mentioning Kade.

"They do the best work," Joanie said and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Chris was friends with Kade Taylor, wasn't he?" Ron asked, taking a breadstick. I just nodded and focused on squeezing a piece of lemon into my water.

"Do you know Kade well?" Holly practically sneered and I was taken back. It seemed like she knew the answer to her own question and didn't like the answer.

"Pretty well," I answered noncommittally.

"Cool. He's engaged to my best friend." Bing-fucking-o.

"Does Kade know that?" Dena asked, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table and look straight into Holly's eyes. Holly shifted in her seat and refused to make eye contact. "I think it's more like she assumes she's engaged to Kade."

"Poor guy better watch out. One day he's going to go to a wedding and halfway through the ceremony, realize it's his," Ron drawled. The rest of the table laughed, except for Holly, who just kept glaring at me. Great, one of Katy's closest friends was one of my highest ranking employees. Well, as long as she did her job, there shouldn't be any conflict. Conversation shifted thankfully and the rest of dinner was fairly uneventful. Victor picked up the bill and we all said our goodbyes a few hours later. Holly gave me a forced smile and practically stomped out of the restaurant.

Back in the car, I took my shoes off again and stretched my toes. As I was starting the engine, my phone rang and Lola's name flashed across the screen. I answered and put it on speaker.

"Happy first day boss bitch!" Lola yelled.

"Rude Lo," Courtney told her. "Happy first day! How did it go?"

"Long but good, I think. I just got done having dinner with the department heads."

"Were you able to pick up your apartment keys today?"

"No, I called and rescheduled for tomorrow. There was just way too much going on today."

"Are you up for ice cream if we bring it to you?" Lola asked.

"Awe thanks girls, but I'm pretty wiped, plus I have some notes I need to finish." Silence. "You're at my house aren't you?"

"Sitting on your bed."

"Of course you are," I laughed.

"We can totally do ice cream another night," Courtney said quickly.

"No, it's fine. Lola can give me a foot massage and you can spoon feed me to make up for it."

"Deal," they both said and I told them I'd seen them soon before hanging up. I hoped they at least had something chocolate.