Lie to Me: A Contemporary Billionaire BWWM Romance (21 page)

Kelly made a face. “He was moving too fast for me.”

Raina burst out laughing.

“It’s true,” Kelly insisted. “He wanted us to talk marriage and kids. Urggg … I just want a good relationship, not a lifetime commitment.”

Raina didn’t bother to point out that Kelly had just contradicted herself in two breaths. That was typical for Kelly.

“You’ll find the right guy. And besides, finding someone just to have ‘fun’ with isn’t
that
hard,” Raina said.

“So you keep saying, but I tell you, men prefer the curvy types like you. All hips and backside and chesty bosoms.” She used her hands to make wavy motions around her breasts and burst out laughing.

Raina had no idea what men liked. She hadn’t been on a date in years. Her career had taken priority for the last five years with the idea of dating taking a backseat—something she had time to worry about later, she had told herself. And now,
later
was here, but she had even less time than before.

“Speaking of men, I have a tip that Pervy Roger may be coming down here in a day or two,” Kelly said in a low voice.

Raina covered her face and groaned loudly. Roger was the regional director and worse, the group owner’s uncle. He was a nightmare to deal with and whenever he visited people lost their jobs over petty reasons due to his childish demands and whims. Raina hated the way the atmosphere at the hotel changed when he was around. The staff were fearful, moody, and withdrawn while she herself could barely concentrate on work.

By now, the two women had left the conference room and were walking to Kelly’s small office. They passed by Raina’s office, which was the first in the long hallway. The housekeeping department was fronted by a large linen room and off it, a changing room and then Kelly’s office.

Raina nodded approvingly at the neatness in the linen room, running her hands over the smooth fabric, and then followed Kelly into her minuscule cubby hole of an office. Kelly’s desk though, was another matter and was overflowing with papers and folders. Raina had no idea how she worked in such chaos. As bad as her own office was these days, with the limited support she now had, Raina wouldn’t have survived an hour in Kelly’s office. For Raina’s brain to function properly, everything had to be where it was supposed to be.

Maybe,
she thought to herself,
that’s why her brain hadn’t been as alert as she needed it to be.
She made a mental note to actually get around to sorting the papers in her office in the next few days.

“What’s he coming for?” Raina said, even though she had an idea.

Kelly shook her head. “No idea, but it is part of his job description as the regional manager to keep a tab on each of the hotels.”

“Yes I know, but he’s such a creep,” Raina said with an exaggerated shudder.

Kelly responded hopefully, “You know, when you’re promoted to district manager, I’ll never have to see him again … maybe? I hope? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

They both laughed, and then Raina sobered up. As much as she wanted that promotion, it would mean working directly under Roger on a daily basis and she didn’t know how she would be able to stand him day in and day out.

“That may be very well for you, but what about me? I’d have to work with him every day.”

“That’s the only down side.”

“What’s the upside?”

“Money. Lots and lots of money.”

“Oh. Yeah. That.”

“Yeah. That.”

The phone rang just then and Kelly picked it up. When she finished, she turned to Raina.

“The handyman guy is in the lobby waiting for you. You have an interview?”

“Oh, right.” She looked at her watch. “I lost track of time.” Raina said. “Well, I hope this applicant is
finally
the right one. See you later.”

* * *

H
e stood
out like a sore thumb from the rest of the people in the lobby.

He wore a tattered baseball cap on his head and a shabby but clean jacket, and he had a stubbly beard, which was unusual for people in hospitality, even if they were just handymen.

That wasn’t what made him stick out though. What made him stick out is that he stood there like he belonged there. He had a quiet confidence that demanded attention, and the looks to back it up.

He was on the younger side of the other applicants she had seen. Most of them had been older men, in their sixties, former contractors who were looking to slow down a bit before retirement. This guy was—well, for lack of a better word—he was
virile.
He was broad shouldered and slim hipped, wearing jeans that looked like they had been cut just for him and showed off his height. He was tall, but that wasn’t what made him imposing—that was due to the manner in which he carried himself. He had an easy manner that most working-class people didn’t have when they entered the Del Mar.

Raina took it all in while she walked across the intricate mosaic-tiled floor of the expansive lobby. When he saw her walking towards him, he stood up. He was a tall man, with penetrating grey eyes and dark brown hair peeking out from under the cap. She noted, unfavorably, that he didn’t remove it when he reached out to shake her hand.

“Hi, my name is Raina; I’m the manager of the hotel,” Raina said and stuck out her hand. “You’re here about the handyman job?”

“Yes, that’s right. Hi, I’m Christopher Smith. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Well, come this way,” Raina said and led the way to her office.

She pushed the door open and held it while Christopher entered. He towered over her by almost a foot and Raina was not a short woman.

She invited him to sit down, and when he bent his long frame, she noticed the label of his jeans. They were from Wal-Mart and they looked brand new. He’d missed taking off one of the tags which was hanging on the side of the waistband. She felt a twinge of pity surge through her as she imagined him spending his last pennies on new clothes to try and make a good impression.

The rest of him indicated he had seen hard times recently. His flannel shirt was neat, but well-worn, with the red color fading at the collar. Raina felt a jolt of sympathy for him when she realized that he was probably a man who had done well for himself at one point, and then seen his circumstances change. A lot of people had lot their jobs during the recession and never quite recovered. She wondered if he was one of them.

She took an interview form from the top drawer of her desk, looked up at Christopher, and smiled. She wanted him to be as at ease with her as possible.

“Tell me about yourself, Christopher,” she invited.

“Well, I have a bit of experience in maintenance although I haven’t done it in a while now,” he said in a pleasing, deep voice. He gave her a half-smile which seemed a bit apologetic.

“You’ve been out of work for a long time?”

He hesitated. “Something like that. I used to be in a different line of work.”

It confirmed what Raina suspected. This was a man who needed a job.

Judging from the quiet, confident way he spoke, Raina guessed he might have had experience in management. She glanced at his resume. It was pretty impressive, a lot of jobs with large construction companies, and she would have thought that with his qualifications, he would have looked for a job out in the field as a supervisor or something. Still, Raina respected people who were willing to start at the bottom.

She grew sympathetic as he told her his story of how the construction jobs had fallen off when the banks stopped lending mortgages for new builds. Not wanting to dwell on that, she quickly moved on.

“Tell me, what do you know about the Del Mar group of hotels?” Raina said.

She listened with growing respect as Christopher trailed off the facts of the group, from its inception and ending with the name of the owner.

“I’m impressed; you’ve done your homework,” she said.

“Thank you,” Christopher said with a ghost of a smile.

Raina honed in on his experience.

“Most of this job is general maintenance—one minute you may be called to change a light bulb and the next to fix a leaking tap. Is that all right with you?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Well, take me though how you would fix a leaking toilet?” Raina said. She didn’t bother to mention that she would have no idea if he was giving her the correct info or not as she herself would have no clue as to how to fix a toilet.

But as she listened to Christopher explain the process, she noticed he spoke haltingly and hesitantly—a contrast from his earlier demeanor.

He knew the basics, but he seemed to be reciting from a textbook rather than from acquired knowledge. Something about Christopher, though, would not let her dismiss him. Besides, maintenance wasn’t exactly rocket science, Raina told herself. She was definitely not—no way, no how—giving him the benefit of the doubt because of his charming smile and handsome looks. Nope, she told herself, she was definitely above that type of thing.…

She looked at his worn shirt and jacket and made the snap decision to hire him anyway on a trial basis. If it didn’t work out, she could always let him go. They were short on maintenance staff and the repairs were piling up.

“Well Christopher, you have the job,” she said. “However, it will be on a three-month trial basis, how’s that?”

“I’m very grateful ma’am. Thank you.” His smile reached his eyes and she would have sworn they …
twinkled
.

He was the charmer
, Raina thought. Her pulse jumped slightly, and she recalled her earlier conversation with Kelly. It had clearly been way too long since she’d been on a date and gotten a little action. She couldn’t be a good manager if she was going to be swooning over the handyman—how would it look?

She cleared her throat. “Call me Raina; we’re not very formal around here.”

“OK, Raina, I will. Can I ask what the owner is like?”

“You mean the owner of the Del Mar?” She waved her hand. “Don’t worry about him. You’ll never see him. Even
I’ve
never met him. He owns so many buildings and properties all over the world I doubt he even realizes the Del Mar is one of his.”

“Some boss, huh?” he replied.

“I guess. The person from the company that we see on a more regular basis is the district manager,” Raina said. “But I doubt Pervy Rog will be bothering you.…” she muttered under her breath.

“Pervy who?”

Raina waved a hand. “Never mind. Forget I said that. But yes, from what I understand, the owner’s a pretty decent person, gives a lot to charity and so on, very private, but I suppose that goes with the territory when you’re one of the richest people in the world.” She gave a small laugh.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Then he asked a question she wasn’t expecting. “Do
you
like working here?”

It was an unusual question to ask in a job interview, but she liked him all the better for it. “Well,” she spread her hands on the desk between them, “I’ve been working here since I got out of high school. And I worked my way up from being a room attendant, to now managing this entire hotel.” She turned her hands, palm upward and gestured at the grandeur that surrounded them. “I’m very grateful to this company. There aren’t many places anymore where something like that can happen.”

She felt him watching her carefully, and she put a hand to her cheek as she felt the heat rising to her face.
Pull it together, Raina
, she chided herself silently.

“No,” he said slowly, carefully, his voice a deep timbre, “No, I guess there aren’t.”

Their eyes met for a brief moment and he held her gaze a little longer than was strictly necessary. Raina surprised herself by being the one to look away first.

He broke the tension by making a benign comment about the weather, and they chatted a little longer before Raina directed him to the Human Resources department to formalize his employment.

As the day wore on though, Raina found her thoughts drifting often to the enigmatic handyman. There was something about him that she was drawn to apart from his good looks. He spoke with charm and grace. Whatever his circumstances were, Christopher carried himself with dignity, and like someone who was used to getting what he wanted.

Then there was that smile—
easy
—as though everything in the world would fall in place before him as it should.

Raina shook her head. “Idiot,” she whispered to the air and to herself. Realizing how much thought she was giving a new employee—one who had likely already forgotten her name— Raina laughed at her ridiculousness and turned back to her work.