Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
When an older guy with a dirty grin and an expensive suit flirts with me from the next barstool, I don’t realize I’m about to have a one-night stand with the man I desperately want to work for.
After a night that leaves my world (and body) shaken, I start my summer job housekeeping in a five-star hotel even though I’m determined to kickstart my career in tech. As I dust and polish the Park Suite, in walks Mr. Dirty Grin—now with an icy glare.
Why is the man from last night who was so charming (and good with his tongue) so furious this morning? As I piece together the puzzle, I discover the guest in the Park Suite is none other than Ben Fort, the reclusive tech mogul I want to work for.
Ben has kept his identity hidden for years and he wants to know how I figured him out overnight.
As he questions me, I don’t waste time telling him he’s a (super-hot) grump who needs to lighten up—and give me a job.
I don’t want to sleep my way to the top, and he doesn’t trust me. But neither of us can resist the sizzling sparks that fly every time I fluff his pillows.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
ONE
Bennett
Some people might call me paranoid. I prefer terms like careful. Private. Discreet.
“Anyone ever tell you, you’re fucking paranoid?” Leo asks as he crashes into the main living area of my hotel suite. Apparently some people includes one of my closest friends.
“Help yourself to a drink.” I nod toward the bar and snap my laptop closed. It’s nearly eight. Leo’s always early. Byron’s always late, though he’s not coming at all tonight. The rest of them are pretty on time.
“Did you fire the whole staff?” he asks. “Are you so paranoid that it’s only you living at this hotel now?” He pulls out a beer from the fridge.
“You’re too good to get your own beer?” I ask.
He shrugs and prizes off the bottle top. “You want to tell me why you moved into your own hotel? Why we can’t go out to a bar?”
“Things are… difficult for me at the moment.”
Leo might think a drink in a bar or even a private members club would be more enjoyable, but I can’t take the risk. I’ve got way too much to lose.
“Have you thought about wearing a mask out in public?” he asks.
I narrow my eyes, trying to assess whether he’s serious. “Like… Batman?”
He pauses, tosses the bottle opener onto the counter and heads toward me. “I think the little ears on top might be a step too far. Plus, people might expect you to fight crime and shit. But you could wear a Covid mask. Pretend you’re at risk or something.”
The door opens again and Jack and Fisher appear, closely followed by Worth. I look at my watch. It’s exactly eight.
Fisher heads over and we exchange a hug. Fisher is a big smiler and a big hugger. It probably means we all hug more than we would have without him in the group. But despite his affability on the surface, he’s razor sharp and takes no prisoners. The phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” was invented for him. Maybe it’s because he’s British, but I’m always surprised when I hear of his ruthlessness. As much as I love him, I wouldn’t want to sit across from him at a boardroom table.
“You okay, bud?” he asks, looking me in the eye.
The last few days have been tricky. Fisher’s the first one I called.
“Did we agree that it’s okay to actually live in the hotel?” Jack asks. “Doesn’t that give you an unfair advantage or something?”
I push my hands through my hair. Sometimes I feel like the dad of the group. Other times I feel like the dartboard, and they’re all taking aim. It’s gonna be a long night. “I don’t need an advantage. This hotel has outperformed all your hotels for the last three years. Three years when I didn’t live here.”
Each of us own a hotel, bought with a very small portion of the proceeds from the sale of a jointly held company we set up in business school. It was a way of keeping us connected while encouraging the healthy competition we all crave. It’s an ongoing, friendly-slash-brutal contest that also makes us a little money.
Fisher eyes the whisky bottle and ice bucket on the table in front of me, then grabs a lowball from the bar. That’s the thing with Fisher—you can’t ever tell in advance what he’s going to drink. I swear it’s a metaphor for his personality.
“Maybe I’ll live in my hotel,” Leo says. His British accent always seems to get more pronounced when he’s agitated.
There are two Brits and four Americans among us. As far as I’m concerned, the British are over-represented. Didn’t we throw them out already?
“You’d get evicted,” Fisher says. “Too many guest complaints about weird sex noises.”
Leo grins. “What can I say? I make women scream in the bedroom.” He doesn’t mind his reputation as a total man-whore. Leo is the opposite of me in so many ways: a regular feature in the gossip columns, careless, indiscreet. There’s no stiff upper lip as far as Leo is concerned.
“Yup, when they see the tiny dick they’re going to have to deal with,” Worth says as he hits the couch with his beer. Worth is a man of few words, but every single one of them is on point.
I aim the TV controller at the wall in front of me and flip to ESPN. We won’t actually watch much of whatever’s on. Monday night catch-ups started because Jack suggested watching Monday Night Football together. But our weekly get-togethers have never been about sports. It’s just an excuse to get together with five people we trust. No one tells you that the richer you get, the lonelier you get. I’ve always known it, because I saw it with my mom—surrounded by people, but they all wanted something from her: a slice of her fame, a cut of her wealth, one or two of her connections. It even extended to me—kids at school wanting to be my friend in the hopes they’d catch a glimpse of, or exchange a few words with, a movie star.