“Pity, now it’s too late. So you don’t like my father?”
“We’ve had our differences since that night.” He didn’t look very pleased, but my father made enemies everywhere.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I replied, truly feeling guilty about my dad’s behavior. He was forceful and demanding and often times threatening.
“Are you really?” Roxie angrily asked, arching her brow at me while tapping her heal.
This woman was a bitch and I wanted to kick her in her twat. If she kept looking at me like that I was going to pop her in the mouth. For years, memories of her looking up at me and smiling before grabbing onto Joseph had made me sad. We’d seen each other over the years and it never ended on a good note. “Yes, I’m sorry that he didn’t feel well.”
“What about me?” she hissed.
I stared at her with contempt and replied with a smirk, “What about you? He’s to blame for you getting sick, but you seem fine to me.”
He looked at Roxie then muttered, “Ladies, don’t get out of line. This is a place of business. Roxie, you should hit the road before traffic gets heavy.”
“Yes, I need to get my things from the bedroom,” she purred.
“Okay, well I need to have a meeting with the manager before I go, so I’ll see you in the office on Monday.” If they were dating, he really did try to keep it a secret. There was no emotion in his words, no goodbye smile, or even a wink.
“Rachael, I’ll see you around,” he said, walking away with a smile.
I tried to breathe and get myself together. That woman brought out the worst in me, particularly when she mentioned Joseph and she did it frequently. I continued to work for the next half-hour, and just as I finished checking in a guest, Roxie was at my desk.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, just so you know, you’re working here on borrowed time. Joseph has your HR file on his computer and it was just updated this morning with your write-up. You’re being watched, so if I was you, I’d be careful.”
“Have a good day. Thank you for staying at The Middleton Hotels-Arlington,” I said as sweet and sugary as pie.
Chapter 5
Joseph
I stepped out of the meeting with the manager who informed me that Rachael had been written up recently for daydreaming while she was working. The bad part about it was it happened while staring at one of the guests. It wasn’t the first time she had been dreaming, but it was enough for me to feel a burn in my chest. From the moment I saw her, I was fucked. Thoughts of her looking at me longingly had played through my head throughout that hour-long meeting. I carried on because I wanted to learn all I could about Rachael. What started as a simple conversation about the nice receptionist turned into a gossip time for the supervisor. I didn’t appreciate how she relished in dishing out the dirt on Rachael. Nothing was too over the top except the daydreaming. That bothered the fuck out of me and it had nothing to do with wasting company money. The subject of her dreams fucked with my head.
For as cool, calm, and collected I was, there had been something about her that turned me into a man I didn’t recognized. I smiled, laughed, teased, and had the strongest urge to take her up to the room and lick every part of her body before fucking her hard. I envisioned watching her strip for me as I laid on the bed with just a blanket over my waist. I groaned as the image became more intense.
“Mr. Middleton, is everything alright?” the supervisor asked, shaking me out of my own filthy daydream. My cock was pressed against my leg and had made an unmistakable appearance. I tried to think of anything that would calm myself down and an image of Roxie in my head did the trick.
“Yes, I’m sorry. But I’m to be doing spot checks on the hotel for the next few weeks. I want everything running as smoothly as possible. One mistake could damage our reputation.”
“Yes, sir. Is there anything you need me to do?”
“No, but I will be hosting a meeting here in a few weeks. Please inform the staff that I will need Conference Room A available,” I paused looking at my phone’s calendar. “On the 18th.”
“That’s perfect. There’s no events booked then.”
“Thank you. Take care,” I replied, getting up with my normal formality. I walked by the front desk and there she was talking to a guest.
“I’m in room two-twenty, if you feel like stopping up there.” I wanted to rip the fuckers balls off right on the spot. With an outside demeanor of pure calm and professionalism, I approached the desk.
“Rachael, is there a problem here?” I asked her while staring directly at her.
“No, sir,” she said, refusing to meet my eyes.
“Was there something you needed?” I asked the jackass who was staring at her cleavage. Jealousy raged through me, but it wasn’t visible on my face at all.
“Just some time to convince her to marry me,” he smirked.
“Well, sir, not on company time. She has work to do.”
“I’ll see you around, Rachael.” He left, winking at her.
“Another admirer?” I asked, hiding my irrational jealousy.
“Yes, you know I have them by the truck load. New admirers by the hour,” she joked. “But really, thank you. He comes in here once or twice a month.”
“No problem. Just let the supervisor know if there’s a problem.”
“I will.”
“Okay, have a great weekend.” I walked away, itching to snap and take her away from here. She was mine and the thought of men looking at her or even hinting at fucking her made me furious. I couldn’t even act because she was my employee. I didn’t want to fire her either. She wouldn’t look too fondly at me if I did. But there was one thing I planned to do immediately. As soon as I got to my room, I called the manager of the hotel and informed him that the concierges were going to have to wear a uniform like the one we had in Minnesota. It was still a great look, but this way I knew she was covered up. It wasn’t that Rachael dressed inappropriately. In fact, it was the exact opposite. She looked like she belonged leading board room meetings, but her large tits were practically bursting through her blouse under her suit jacket that only accentuated her curves.
I looked around my room and I noticed that the bed had been made and the room cleaned. I still had everything open in my bedroom, including my laptop with her record on it. Fuck, what was wrong with me? I never left something open like that, and who told the cleaning crew to come in here?
Damn it, I got my things and left the building without running into her again. She had gone on break and I was grateful because I was seconds from claiming her.
Chapter 6
Rachael
He was here again. Three weeks in a row, just sitting at the bar, sipping his coffee. His eyes were trained to me waiting for me to fuck up again. I got called into the office when he left. I was accused of flirting with the customers and the only one who could have said it was him. He saw that guy hit on me and I thought he was on my side, but I guess not.
The man turned me inside out. I was pissed at him, and at the same time, I wanted to feel his hands on my body. My heart still belonged to him, even though I knew he didn’t trust me and was waiting for me to fuck up again. They were holding a conference here today, so he was supposed to be here, but the fact that he was watching me, judging me, made me want to scream. If I wasn’t worried about getting fired and admitting to my parents that I failed, I would ask him what the fuck his problem was.
One of the other concierges Lance told me that a woman almost got me in trouble with the boss man. Then someone let it slip that he pulled my HR record and they saw it in his hotel room the first day I saw him. So that bitch wasn’t lying that he had been looking at my file. The Middleton brothers only did that for two reasons, a promotion or a firing. I’d been written up and Roxie made sure that Joseph was going to know about it. I had to start looking for a new job as soon as possible.
I was going to get canned, I just knew it. I wanted to quit before they did that, but I didn’t want to give my parents the satisfaction of saying I told you so. My parents and I had the same arguments every day. I didn’t know how many times I told them that working built a great work ethic and character. They wouldn’t know; my father’s wealth had been handed to him on a silver platter from his parents. He gained even more money from marrying into my mother’s wealthy family.
Joseph came to the front desk, just as I was about to go on break. I was about to walk away when he said, “Wait.”
I stood there for a moment, waiting for the reason he stopped me. Didn’t they leave the canning to the lower bosses or the HR people? Why did he have to crush my dreams in every way?
He was about to say something when that snotty assistant called out to him. They hosted a meeting here this morning, so she was here again. While his back had been turned from her, she gave me a look that would have me six feet deep if looks could kill. I wasn’t intimidated, only crushed. I couldn’t shake the infatuation I had with him even though I knew he was going to have me fired. Knowing that they had sex with each other killed me.
“The executives are waiting for you to head over to the restaurant.”