Billionaire Bachelors 8 : Unexpected Treasure(43)

Crew and Haley continued to stroll the streets, but as the sun started to set, his phone rang with a minor emergency at the resort and he had to get back.

"I'll meet you in a couple of hours," he promised before escorting her to the elevator. As the doors shut, he sighed. His day had been far too enjoyable to even think about work right now. But, as his manager came rushing toward him, he put away his personal feelings and focused on his other woman, the resort, and on the man he trusted so well.

Chapter Seventeen

Crew's minor mishap ended up being a couple on the fourth floor who'd left their tub running. By the time it was discovered, the room below it had flooded, too. He'd had to make sure the mess was cleaned up, his inconvenienced guests were transferred to a new hotel, offered full refunds, plus free stays and resort amenities, and the plumber was getting the job fixed quickly. Then, suddenly, it was three in the morning.




 

 

Though exhausted, he wanted to go straight to Haley's room, but he didn't want to wake her, so he instead trudged off to his own room, where he took a two-minute shower to wash off the grime from working in the slush, then fell face first into his depressingly empty bed.

Thinking sleep would be hard to come by, he was shocked when he woke up the next morning at eight, two hours later than usual. Not having time for the breakfast with Haley that he'd promised himself the night before, he raced to his office, where he was thrust into a whole host of problems that made him want to pull out his hair.

As the day crept by, he dialed her room when he had a minute, but when he never got an answer, he realized it was time the woman entered the cellular age. Placing a rush order, he had a smart phone brought to the resort and delivered to her room, then tried texting her several times but with no reply.

Where had she disappeared to? He owned neither her nor her time, but as the day wore on, he kept missing her - which was strange in itself. By the time the sun was setting, he found himself wandering through the resort, seeking her company. He was falling in too deeply, he knew, but he had no desire to pull back.

The ever-changing faces of new clientele checking in and others checking out would normally excite him, but nothing seemed to stir his anticipation these days except for a wisp of a blonde who, on paper, was all wrong for him.

None of that mattered.

He wandered into his favorite lounge and found Marlin busy as always with a full crowd circling the bar and filling up the tables as his new pianist lured people in.

The atmosphere was especially animated because tonight was the first day of the Catalina Film Festival, and crowds had flocked to the island in hopes of spotting a favorite Hollywood star. The red carpet was rolled out, limos were traveling through town, and the streets were jammed.

Crew would be lucky to get five minutes alone with Haley over the next five days.

With determination, he took a seat at the bar, determined to get information out of Marlin. His bartender and Haley seemed to be quite chummy, so Crew hoped his loyal employee might know where she was.

As he listened to the clink of glasses and the cheerful voices of his patrons, and waited for Marlin to have a free moment, Crew took out a cigar. He didn't mind waiting - it meant his place of business was busy and a constant stream of cash was flowing in.

"Sorry I took so long, Mr. Storm. We've been swamped all afternoon and into the evening. I don't expect we'll be slowing down any time in the near future," Marlin said as he pulled out a special bottle of single-malt scotch. He grabbed a glass and poured in three fingers of the fine liquor. Marlin pretended to be about to dull the experience with ice cubes, but Crew knew not to fall for that joke anymore. 

Crew grabbed the glass and savored the first sip, enjoying the warm burn down his throat. With the night and day he'd had, he could down the entire bottle and still not lose the tension in his shoulders, but no - he wanted to be sober when he found Haley.

"Have you taken any breaks?" Crew asked suspiciously. He knew Marlin would work himself to the bone if he didn't get caught. Crew admired the man's work ethic, but he didn't want his head bartender to get worn out when needed most.

"Why? Are you offering to take over? I think the ladies would enjoy that. You'd get my tip jar filled up real fast," Marlin offered with a cackle, then lit a smoke and took a grateful drag.

Obviously, Marlin hadn't had a break, or even the time to sneak in one of his beloved smokes. Crew had worked the bar before, and he knew the drill well, but tonight he was on a mission and that didn't include warding off drunken socialites who had more money than brains.

"Maybe some other time, but I've been up since last night with only a few hours' sleep. I'm starting to feel it," Crew told him as he blew out a fragrant puff of cigar smoke, which Marlin leaned over to smell.