Fraternize Me Page 6

  He scribbled his cell number down. He’d have to call first thing in the morning before Ava did, and fill John Thompson in on what was happening. He’d used John for years to repair his saddles, and didn’t want him giving his identity away.

  “You’ve made this easy. Thank you.” He set the pen on the table.

  She laughed. “Maybe I can go into party planning if this job at the hotel doesn’t work out.”

  He frowned, hating his part in the deception. “You’re not going to lose your job.”

  “I hope I don’t, but I’m not through with my month long evaluation period yet. This is my last week, and it's been rather tough.” She inhaled deeply. “Until Mr. Holland tells me I have the position, nothing is a sure bet.”

  He glanced away, clamping his mouth shut. He wanted to assure her that she’d get the job, but he had no idea what Drake planned. The first chance he got, he’d talk to his brother and make damn sure Drake knew she was going beyond her job description to make everyone happy. For once, he would make Drake stand up and do the right thing.

  He squeezed her hand. “Thank you for helping me.”

  She ducked her chin, and he peeked around the hair that covered her face. He chuckled as she fought to hide her yawn from him. She was dead on her feet, and he’d kept her awake too long.

  “How about I handle calling Thompson Brothers tomorrow morning, and you can sleep in?” He strolled to the door. “You’ve done a great job and solved my problem. I think I can handle it now.”

  “Okay.” She followed him. “Have a good night, Hank.”

  “You too, Ava.” He paused, wanting to say more but ultimately it came down to having a job to do. “Sweet dreams, darlin’.”

  He walked in the opposite direction of his room, and went back down the elevator. There was something he could do to make up for the trouble she was going to go through this week, and he knew the perfect person to help him.

  Downstairs, George walked out of the front office as Hank stepped out of the elevator. He nodded, and walked toward him.

  “George, do you have time to do me a favor?” he asked.

  “I’m off the clock, sir.” George ran his finger under his collar and sighed. “I hope this doesn’t have to do with Ava. She’s off for the night, and deserves an evening without any problems.”

  “It has nothing to do with the job.” He placed his hand on George’s back and walked him around the corner. “I need a gift basket of bubble bath stuff, lotion, and chocolate. The sort of things a woman would enjoy receiving. You have the keys to the gift shop, so I’m hoping you could do this one last thing for me before you go home for the night.”

  George frowned and scrutinized him. “Why?”

  He held up his hands. “Don’t you think Ava deserves a little something to take the sting out of the hell we’re putting her through?”

  George broke out in a smile. “Oh, you’re good, Mr. Hol-I mean, Mr. Johnson.”

  “Let’s keep this between you and me.”

  “Will do, sir.” George grinned.

  “Stop with the sir crap. I’m not my brother.” Hank slapped George on the back. “I’ll be up in my room if you need me.”

  Chapter Eight

  Ava kneeled beside the pool, dipped the test well in the water, set it on the floor, and read the instructions that came with the drops. It seemed simple enough. If the water turned a pretty purple to pink shade, she’d add three cups of chlorine in the filter to maintain the level.

  All week, in the early mornings before the guests woke up and the hotel came alive, Ava took the time to swim a few laps and prepare for the day. She enjoyed having the time to indulge in one of her favorite activities. So, it came as no hardship to agree to test the pool water after George knocked on her door last night with an anonymous delivery and the information that the pool maintenance crew would not be showing up today.

  “One. Two. Three.” She squeezed the tube harder. “Four. Five. There.” She held up the vial. The water turned the color of her gram’s rhododendrons. “Perfect.”

  She dumped the water in the side drain, and put everything back in the case. The more things she learned at the hotel, the better prepared she’d be for her next job. If things didn’t work out here, maybe she’d try for a position on the pool cleaning crew. She set the kit by her towel to return to the office when she finished, and walked over to the steps. She sighed in delight as the warm water covered her feet.

  The weightlessness during a long swim empowered her. The stress hounding her seemed less threatening, and her strength to tackle the simplest tasks multiplied while swimming. As she lazily swam toward the middle of the pool, a spot of black on the bottom grabbed her attention. She swam farther and treaded over the area, squinting through the water. What in the world?

  She let her hands float on the surface of the water and held still, hoping to give herself a clearer view. The second she caught sight of the long black tail, she pulled her head out of the water and screamed. And kept screaming. The tender skin on the bottom of her feet scraped across the bottom of the pool in her mad scramble to escape.

  The water fought against her, pushing her off balance, trying to drag her back. She slipped, her nose going underwater. She swallowed a mouthful, and came up coughing, screaming, coughing some more. She swung her hands through the water, splashing herself in the face.

  “Help! Help!” She coughed, and her knee hit the bottom of the pool.

  Through her frantic attempt to expel the water from her lungs, she spotted Hank running into the room. He stopped at the edge of the water. “What’s wrong?”

  She stood, reaching out, and shuddered as he grasped her hand and pulled her out of the pool. “Oh, God. Oh, God.” She danced around, rubbing her arms, her stomach, her legs, trying to get the water off her. “A rat! In the pool.” She shivered. “Dead!”

  “How can there be a rat in the pool?” Hank stepped closer and grabbed her shoulders. “Slow down.”

  “Can’t,” she screamed, shaking her arms. “God. I hate rats, and I-I was swimming with one. A dead one. I think it touched me.” She launched herself at Hank. “Get the water off me.”

  His warm clothes comforted her. She squirmed against him, rubbing her body against his stomach. She lifted her leg, ran her thigh along his jeans, and then repeated the motion on her other leg. Knowing she was covered in rat ick, she pressed her cheek against his chest, wanting to forget about ever swimming in the pool again.

  “Um, darlin’?” Hank held her close. “You might wanna’ stop your wiggling.”

  “Can’t.” She hopped in front of him, not letting go. As long as the water remained on her, she was contaminated.

  He groaned. “Ava?”

  “What?” she snapped.

  “As much as I love the feel of your almost naked body rubbing against me, you’re gonna’ have to give me a break here, darlin’.” He cleared his throat.

  She froze. Very carefully, she slid her upper body left an inch, then right, and that’s when it hit her that the lump pressing against her bare stomach wasn’t his belt buckle. She jumped away from him.

  “Oh, my God. I'm sorry.” She covered the spot below her bikini top with her hand, smothering the burn left from his heat. “I wasn’t…I didn’t…”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it. Any time you want me to play the part of your towel, I’m your man,” he chuckled, dropping his gaze to her chest. “Nice swimsuit.”

  “Thanks.” She crossed her arms, feeling naked under his gaze. “I mean, don’t look! I work here. You’re not allowed to see me this way. I'm supposed to be in here by myself, before the guests get up.”

  “Stupid rule.” He marched to the bench, picked up her towel, held it out in front of him. “Let’s get you warmed up, and then you can show me this rat you found.”

  “Ugh.” She stepped in and let him wrap the towel around her. “It’s at the bottom of the pool. I’m in charge of pool maintenance for the rest of the week. Do you
think my boss will fire me if I close the swimming area off to guests?”

  “Probably.” He peered out into the water. “Why don’t you let me get it for you? Then you can toss in some extra chlorine, let the filters clean the water for a few hours, and open the swimming pool before lunch.”

  “That's disgusting, but will probably work. Okay.” She walked to the halfway point of the pool, and knotted the edge of the towel above her breasts. “Right there. Do you see it? God, it’s ugly.”

  He nodded. “I bet it came looking for water to drink and fell in.”

  “Seriously?” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll have to call an exterminator. We can’t have rodents running around inside the building.”

  Hank walked over to the wall, removed the skimmer, and came back beside Ava. He extended the pole and lowered the net in the water. She squealed when the water made the rat move, and she sidestepped behind Hank. If for some reason rats could hold their breath for a long, long time, she wanted someone bigger and stronger between her and the rodent.

  “That’s strange.” He leaned out over the water.

  She hooked her finger underneath his belt and pressed against him, making herself small. There was no way she was going to look. It was bad enough she swam with the gross thing; she had no desire to study it.

  “Hold on, it’s floating away.” He shifted forward.

  Not letting him move away from her, she inched closer and molded herself against his back, squeezing her eyes closed. He kept moving, and she stuck with him.

  “Ava, stop pushing.”

  “I can’t help it.” She slipped her finger from her other hand under his belt too, because she wouldn't allow him to leave her alone with that…that thing. “Rats are evil.”

  “You’re pushing–oh shit!” His body fell forward.

  She screamed as her fingers lost their grip on his belt, and Hank toppled headfirst into the water. She kneeled down at the edge of the pool.

  “Hank!” She waved her hand, trying to gain his attention.

  He kicked lower in the water. She shrank back. Cowboy or not, he wasn’t going to touch a dead rat, was he?

  He flipped and swam back to the side. She scooted farther away as his head popped over the edge of the pool.

  He shook his head, sending water spraying. “You pushed me in.”

  “I did not!” She planted her hands on her hips.

  “Then explain why I’d jump in the pool with my favorite pair of boots on.” His brows shot up and he tilted his head.

  “Oh.” She sucked in her lower lip. “God, I'm so sorry. I’ll pay for a new pair.”

  “I’m not worried about the boots. They’ll dry.”

  “You’re not?” she asked, relief flooding her. She had no money to buy him new shoes.

  “Nope.” He shrugged. “I want something else from you for saving your life.”

  “What?”

  “A kiss.” He held up his hand, a big, fat, black rat dangling by its tail hung from his fingers. “I got the rat and saved the day.”

  She scrambled to her feet and backed away. “Get out and throw it away. I don’t want to see it, and you’re not getting a kiss…not after touching that disease-ridden thing.”

  “Not even if it’s a plastic rat.” He squeezed it. “That squeaks?”

  She stepped closer. “Are you kidding me? A toy?”

  “Yep,” he chuckled. “Probably some child’s most prized possession.”

  “There are no children staying here while the cattleman’s convention is scheduled.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “Never underestimate a group of cowboys, darlin’. If this is the only thing they do, you’ll come out lucky.”

  She held out her hand. “Give it here.”

  She pinched the end of the tail between her fingers and holding it far away from her body, walked across the room, and tossed it in the garbage can. Not wanting someone to see a rat lying at the bottom of the trash, she spied a newspaper left on a lounge chair and proceeded to cover the offending toy. She brushed her hands together.

  Hank stood in front of her. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “What now?”

  He held his arms out. “I can’t exactly walk through the hotel, dripping all over the carpet without raising a few eyebrows.”

  She took at the way his shirt plastered against his wide shoulders. “That’s true. You’ll have to go in the men’s locker room. There should be extra robes by the towels. When you’re done, I’ll take you up to your room in the employee’s elevator.”

  “There might be another problem.” He glanced down. “My boots are normally hard enough to take off by myself, there’s no way I’m going to manage to remove them with all the water suctioning them to my feet.”

  She grabbed his hand. “Come on. I’ll help you get out of your clothes, but we have to hurry. The guests will be waking up, and I don’t want to get caught undressing you.”

  Taking off his boots took all the strength she could muster. She dumped the water out of the boots. He wasn’t kidding about not being able to remove them himself.

  “I really am sorry about the boots.” She turned around at the same time he peeled his jeans down past his hips. “Whoa,” she turned back around. “I didn’t see anything.”

  He laughed. “Doesn’t bother me if you want to take a peek.”

  “I don’t.” She rolled her eyes. “Just hurry.”

  “I’m trying,” he grunted. “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Well, it has to be something.” She tried to look without moving her head, but she couldn’t see a thing. “Do you need help?”

  “Uh…” he chuckled. “Not unless you have a couple of hours to spend with me.”

  She pulled back her shoulders, and was thankful he couldn’t see her grin. “That’s not part of my job description.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe relieving a guest of undo stress is in that handy little notebook you’re always looking at.” His voice caressed her ear.

  She held his boots to her chest. “I take my job seriously. It's no reason to make fun of me.”

  “I know you do, darlin’.” The heat coming off him warmed her back, and he reached around her removing his boots from her clutch. “You can turn around. I’m decent.”

  She glanced behind her and sighed. Whether in disappointment or relief, she wasn't willing to decide at the moment.

  The too small robe hugged his large frame, and he looked utterly adorable standing there in his bare feet, his hair falling over his forehead. He wasn’t as scary stripped of all his cowboy gear, until she looked up into his eyes.

  The brown orbs flashed Danger, Danger, Danger. She swallowed. She needed to get rid of him before she did something foolish.

  “We better get you up to your room.” She picked up his clothes and bundled the wet material in a towel.

  Together, they peeked out into the hallway, found it empty of guests and hotel staff, and took off running toward the end of the corridor. The bottom of Hank’s robe fluttered in his wake, and she held her breasts to keep them in her bikini top. She plowed into the back of Hank when he stopped at the elevator, and she hurried to swipe her card in the wall panel. Come on, come on…

  The elevator dinged, and the doors came open. They jumped inside. The doors closed, and she gazed at him, holding the front of the robe closed. She giggled and once she started, she couldn’t stop.

  He grinned. “We made it.”

  “We did,” she laughed. “I can’t believe we snuck through the hallway without anyone spotting us. This whole morning has been…crazy.”

  “You were scared of a toy rat.”

  She slapped his arm. “Don’t remind me.”

  “And you pushed me in the water.”

  She held out her arms. “I’m standing in the elevator with a cowboy in a white fluffy robe holding his boots. You have no room to tease me.”

  He sobered, and his chest see
med to grow larger. “I can’t say much for the robe, but I like what you’re wearing.”

  “You do?”

  “Oh yeah.” He crooked his finger and motioned her closer. “In fact, I believe you owe me a kiss for ruining my boots.”

  She stepped toward him. The elevator dinged, and she groaned. “I can't be doing this. I need to go get dressed before the morning crew arrives.”

  “No time for even one kiss?”

  “No. I’m sorry.” She shook her head, walked out of the elevator and forced herself to keep moving toward her room. At her door, she stopped and gazed down the hallway. “Hank?”

  At his room door, he turned. “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.” She smiled. “That was the best morning I’ve had in a long time.”

  He dipped his chin. “Anytime, darlin’.”

  Inside her room, she saw the light on her phone blinking. She hurried over and groaned in frustration. Mr. Holland had left her a message two hours ago.

  Where are you? Call me immediately.

  Chapter Nine

  Ava pulled her head out of the industrial-sized oven, looked at George, and knew the catastrophe she’d been waiting for had finally happened. “Tell me this is fixable.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s fixable.”

  “It is?” Hope filled her.

  “No.” George shook his head. “Sorry, I was just telling you what you wanted to hear. If we call the company, they’ll be here early in the morning. It’s an older oven. There’s not much we can do.”

  “Figures,” she groaned. “We need it working now.”

  “I have a cousin who knows how to work on these big machines. If I could get the part tonight, there’s a chance we could get it working in time for breakfast in the morning.”

  “Do it.” She grabbed the front of his shirt. “Do whatever you can. I’ll come up with something for dinner.”

  George hesitated, and she pushed him from the kitchen. “Go!”