Take Me Down. Sylvia Lett

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СКАЧАТЬ of him, “my sign is missing. Do you know anything about it?”

      “Nope.” He shook his head, but didn’t bother to look up at her. “Probably some kids. Just order a new one.” He didn’t even have the courtesy to lay his magazine down and look at her.

      “Can you go outside and look around?” she asked, losing patience with him. Stephanie was infuriated by his attitude. He’s worthless. I’m paying him to sit there and read a magazine. Come to think of it, he was sitting there reading when I left for lunch. He sits there all day. This has to end. I have to find a security consultant soon.

      “It wouldn’t do any good,” he replied, looking up briefly. “They are probably long gone by now.” He got up and stretched. “Guess I do need to stretch my legs a bit.”

      A lap or three around the hotel wouldn’t hurt you either. Disgusted, Stephanie grabbed her bag from the counter and stomped back to her office.

      Georgette was still on one of her extended lunches. A reprimand was long overdue, but Stephanie didn’t know how to get her cousin to take the job seriously. And she didn’t have the heart to fire her.

      Stephanie turned the handle on the door and found her office locked. She frowned and fished in her purse for the key. This is odd. I know I didn’t lock the door. Opening the door, she stopped when she saw her parking sign lying on top of her desk. She cautiously moved farther into the room. She saw a piece of paper taped to the sign. She ripped the note off and read it.

      “You arrogant ass!” she hissed to the empty room. She balled the note up and threw it across the room. “You have some nerve.” Stephanie turned on her computer and tried to log in. She was furious when, true to Jack’s words in the note, she was locked out of her own computer.

      Stephanie fished his résumé out of the wastebasket and pressed out the wrinkles. She hit the speaker button on her telephone and dialed his mobile phone.

      “Jack Kaufman.” He thumbed through the copy of her planner. He’d made notes on each page. There’s a couple of parties coming up. It should be interesting.

      Stephanie leaned both hands on her desk and tried to calm her emotions. “Mr. Kaufman, this is a childish prank. How dare you come into my office and mess with my computer? I could have you arrested for breaking and entering.”

      “Go for it if you think you can prove anything. No one saw me. Your security camera is disabled and your door was open. It wasn’t a prank, Ms. Mason. It was a matter of security and you have none at your hotel. I’m surprised you haven’t been robbed blind. If that hotel is any indication of what the rest of them are like, I wonder how you stay in business. I was able to walk freely through all the back offices. No one stopped me or asked me any questions. I don’t know where your worthless security guard was hiding. The only thing he could catch is a supersized meal.”

      Stephanie had to stifle a laugh.

      Jack continued. “I saw two people on my way up here, and they were so busy making out, they didn’t even see me. You need me. Your hotels need me.”

      “No,” Stephanie replied. “I may need someone like you, but I don’t need you.”

      Click. Jack hung up the phone.

      Stephanie stared at the telephone. “He hung up on me! The nerve of that man.” She immediately dialed his number again. “I want the password!”

      “I want a second interview. Meet me in the lobby in ten minutes and I will show you everything wrong with this hotel from top to bottom. After we’re done, make up your mind about my qualifications, not about me as a person.”

      “Are you always so pushy?” she asked, playing for time. She knew giving him a second chance would weaken her position.

      “I am when there’s something I want. I want this job. I can do this job. I prefer to think of it as being aggressive.”

      “This goes against my better judgment, but make it fifteen minutes in my office so you can unlock my computer.” Stephanie could hear Jack smiling as he said okay.

      She removed the sign from her desk and placed it in her closet. Taking her compact out of her purse, she checked her makeup and then reapplied a layer of lipstick. Stephanie popped a breath mint in her mouth, and then dabbed a few drops of perfume on her wrist and behind her ear. She had a million thoughts.

      What am I doing? I must be crazy. That’s the only explanation for this. Why am I primping for this man? Mom would faint if she met him. That’s an idea. I’ll invite him to dinner one night. She did say I needed some excitement, but somehow I don’t think Jack Kaufman is exactly what she had in mind.

      Exactly fifteen minutes later, Jack knocked on her door. Stephanie opened it and stepped back for him to enter.

      He’s more handsome than I remember. That cologne is intoxicating. This was a very bad idea. “First things first. What’s the password to my computer?”

      Jack grinned and walked around to her desk and sat down.

      “What are you doing?” Stephanie asked.

      “I’m letting you back into your computer.” He hit a few keys and looked up at her.

      “Couldn’t you just give me the password?”

      “I could do that, but then I would have to kill you.”

      She paled and took an involuntary step backward. Jack laughed at the startled expression on her face.

      “I’m kidding. I’ve never harmed women or children.” He hopped up from her chair. “Okay, now you can change the password.”

      Stephanie moved suspiciously around him, making sure not to make any body contact. There was something way too intimate about him sitting in the chair she sat in. The chair was still warm from his body. She tried not to let on that she felt a tingle as she thought about her body being where his body had been.

      But Jack noticed anyway. She’s incredible. I guess I didn’t imagine the way she was looking at me. She’s careful, but very interested. Well, at least she’s not cringing in fear. That’s a plus. She has backbone. I like that.

      Picking up her notepad, Stephanie rose from her chair. “Okay, so let’s go take a tour.” She looked down at her watch. “You’ve already used up three of those fifteen minutes.”

      Jack’s eyes narrowed on her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

      She followed his eyes to her computer. Stephanie dropped her notepad and leaned over to lock the computer with her password. She faced him.

      “You should do that every time you leave your office. So should your secretary, and if she ever comes back from her extended lunch, you can tell her.”

      Stephanie rolled her eyes at him and followed him out the door. She knew he was right, but she was not about to admit it.

      Thirteen minutes turned into an hour. Stephanie was enthralled as they walked through the hotel and Jack inspected everything. She was more than impressed with his knowledge, and she was surprised at the hotel’s shoddy security system. Halfway through the tour, Stephanie was convinced Jack was the person the hotel needed. СКАЧАТЬ