But looking across the table at her, the idea of walking away seemed laughable. He’d shared secrets with her he’d never told another living soul. Were they just supposed to shake hands and go back to their previous indifferent working relationship after the vacation ended?
What a ridiculous idea. He was obviously nowhere near as smart as he’d thought he was.
“What do you think?” she asked.
He cleared his throat. “I think I’m more willing to play this by ear than I was a week ago.”
She exhaled, a small smile trembling on her lips. “I better warn you now. I’m not going anywhere.”
How could I let you?
Already she held a key role when he thought of the future. There was a benefit ball next month he didn’t want to attend with anyone else. And one of their Asian locations was due for a tune up in six months. Maybe they could travel there together and see what sort of work needed to be done.
When he wasn’t limiting himself to thinking in terms of a week or two, the possibilities were endless.
He reached for his drink to keep his thoughts from spewing forth. “You so sure you want me around longer?” he said instead.
Something serious shifted in her eyes. “Oh, yes,” she said. “I’m pretty sure I do.”
Instead of panic, warmth seeped through his body. He never liked women trying to put their mark on him, but the idea of being Avery’s…
It wasn’t a horrible as it should have been.
He could picture walking into a boardroom with her report in his hands or attending a charity event with her on his arm. He’d be proud to have her there. Proud to show their audience how they belonged together.
For the first time in years, he wanted to be accountable to someone. And not just any someone.
Only Avery would do.
By the time the food arrived, he wondered what it would be like be part of a healthy, lasting relationship. By dessert, he couldn’t picture such an arrangement with anyone but Avery.
You don’t want to fall too far too fast.
But despite the warnings, he feared he might be doing just that.
Chapter Sixteen
“We have our recommendation?”
Karen stared down at the bound document she’d tossed on the main table. “I think so.”
Avery exhaled slowly. “All right. Let’s walk this through one more time. The main issue is leadership and poor management. The GM spends more time by the pool comping drinks for his female friends than he does controlling the daily running of the hotel.”
“That lack of work ethic is trickling down through the ranks. The senior management team requires immediate and intensive retraining. I’d also recommend introducing a new incentive program and day training for lower staff members.”
Avery paced around the table. “The budget hasn’t been adequately managed in years. Rising maintenance costs haven’t been matched to room pricing. The budget they do have for repairs has been squandered. The hotel appears old beyond its years and guest experience is suffering, which keeps booking rates low.”
Karen clapped her hands. “Case closed.”
“That wasn’t anywhere near the challenge I thought it would be.”
“Honestly, I’d fire the GM,” Karen said. “No amount of retraining will make him want to do his job.”
“Not our call to make,” Avery replied. “All we can do is hand in our findings and make our recommendations.”
“Please, you think I don’t know where you’ve been sleeping this past week? Hayden is putty in your hands. Whatever you tell him to do, he’ll do.”
“The report goes to Wyatt,” she said, scooping it off the table and flipping through their work. “I’d like to take another look at our projections section and rewrite some of the step three recommendations. This needs to be perfect.”
Karen stretched her hands over her head. “Sure. Today?”
She glanced at the clock to see it was mid-afternoon. “Tomorrow’s fine. We’ll go over everything with a fine-tooth comb and make sure it’s all up to standards and backed by data.”
“And once we fix the report, we’ll be done.”
“Yes,” she agreed, her heart clenching. “We’ll be ready to go home.”
“There’s another week on our contract. Do you think you can convince your boyfriend to just let us stay and relax? A sort of bonus for a job well and quickly done?”
Her throat tightened. “I’m sure that will be fine,” she said. Neither of them would want to face the decisions that needed to be made if they were really heading back to real life. Hayden would jump at the chance to spin this out, Scheherazade style.