Every time Christian thought of his father, he shuddered. He had kept his eye on the most lucrative businesses and had settled on real estate as a solid investment strategy. Working throughout his time in college and saving and scrounging, he had managed to pinch enough pennies to purchase a run-down motel, convincing an investor to back him up.
That had been the beginning of his rise, and fifteen years later, he owned one of the largest hotel chains in the country, and it was quickly expanding to become one of the premier resort brands throughout the world.
His only regret was that his father had not lived on to see Christian become a success.
Perhaps based on that guilt, Christian had given his Uncle Roger the job of regional manager, though after the poor performance of the Del Mar and other hotels in his uncle’s district in the last few months, it had made Christian question his uncle’s capabilities.
To Christian’s dismay, profits had dropped considerably in the South-East region where his Uncle Roger was the regional manager. His Uncle Roger should have caught and rectified the problem before it became a major issue, but instead, it had spiraled out of control, and thanks to poor budgeting, out-of-control hiring, and terrible marketing, the Del Mar hotels in the South-East were suffering.
Christian had jumped back into work after that, scheduling extensive meetings with Roger to try and focus on one problem at a time. But nothing concrete came out of it and as far as Christian was concerned, what Roger gave him were excuses. He spoke of high staff turnovers and theft, both of which were unproven, and made Christian wonder what was going on at the hotels themselves. It was time for him to get his hands dirty and actually see what was happening on the ground.
One conundrum he faced was knowing that if “The Boss” came to town, employees were immediately going to be on their best behavior, doorknobs would be shined to perfection, and the food would be so fresh it would still be swimming.
To get a better idea of what was going on, Christian realized he had to go undercover and see for himself what the atmosphere was like, and he’d chosen the Del Mar as his first stop. So far so good, he thought, his mind straying to Raina. She appeared to love her work and he could see the passion she conducted it with. He hoped the rest of the staff were as motivated as Raina was. He would then be able to rule out the problem of demoralized staff.
So, he changed his name from Christian Del Mar to Christopher Smith, got a couple fake I.D.’s made up, falsified his resume, and started applying for entry level jobs at the hotel. Maintenance work couldn’t be that hard, could it? He would figure it out, and as he did he would also figure out exactly what was going on in his hotel.
After falsely filling out the necessary forms in the human resources department and feeling a twinge of guilt for the deception, Christian returned to Raina’s office as she had instructed him to. He knocked lightly on her door, surprised that she did not have a secretary.
“Come on in,” she called out.
Her head was bowed low as she read over some documents.
“Have a seat; I’ll be with you in a moment,” she said, distractedly.
He took the opportunity to observe her. She wore a black suit, the jacket of which was flung over a chair, and a simple cream colored shirt, but the quality of the clothes was clear from their elegant cut. Her curly black hair fell over her cheeks and Christian fought the urge to brush it away.
He found his strong reaction to Raina odd considering he had dated the most beautiful women in the world.
It was not that Raina wasn’t beautiful—far from it. She was stunning in a way that wasn’t obvious to the casual observer. The more he looked at her the more he saw to appreciate—from her wide brown eyes framed with delicate lashes to her curvy backside that he wanted to fit perfectly in his hands.
It was his own randy school-boy-like reaction that puzzled him. He had felt strong attraction to women before, but this had hit him like a ton of bricks. He had observed her from the lobby as she walked ahead of him and loved the curves that flowed from her small waist. She was not model-thin as most women imagined men liked; instead she had a womanly figure that made his blood race.
Cleary, he thought wryly, he needed to date more. That was probably it. He hadn’t had a girlfriend since before he’d taken his sabbatical, and he wasn’t one for casual dating or flings. For one thing, he was never quite sure if the women liked him for himself—or for what his bank account could buy them. It always took him awhile to open up to someone and trust them. In the meantime, Mrs. Thumb and her four friends had been taking care of business. His body was clearly having ideas of its own though.
“Right, ready for the tour?” she said and smiled again.
Christian smiled back at her and nodded. By instinct he started to offer her his arm, but he quickly pulled it back as he remembered his place. She looked up at him and smiled curiously.
They walked out together and she gave him the grand tour as soon as they left the office. It was odd to meet people who worked for him along the corridors. Most gave him a cursory look and moved on. They stopped in the housekeeping office, where Raina introduced him to a sweet and bubbly young woman, who turned out to be the head housekeeper, by the name of Kelly.
He did not miss the wink that Kelly gave Raina before they walked out. As Raina spoke and gave him the tour, he nodded responses to Raina’s information. They walked through the hallways of the guest rooms, taking an elevator onto each of the floors. Raina pulled out her keycard and took him into one room, empty of guests.
Christian noted the well-made king-size bed, with the sheets pulled tightly and the pillows fluffed up and arranged neatly. He liked that the standards of the rooms had been maintained. He ran his finger along the edge of the television, noting approvingly that it was free of dust.
“The bathroom is through here,” Raina said.
The bathroom was covered in marble and hand-crafted Italian tiles. The center piece was a Jacuzzi tub, with dozens of jets and a series of seats and water-proof pillows. Jacuzzis had never interested Christian in the past, but at that moment, he ached to hold Raina and settle into the warm water with her. He could imagine her snuggled up in his arms, her body lying on top of him.
Goddamn it, I need to get laid. His body grew warm and he shifted about uncomfortably.
“Is everything alright? Does the size of the hotel worry you? It is a large property. Don’t worry; we plan on hiring another maintenance man soon.”
Christian smiled to show her that he was okay. He reminded himself to be careful. Raina had a sharp eye and was looking at him to weigh his reactions. He didn’t want to lose his job even before he had started.
Finally, they rode the elevator to his favorite spot in all the Del Mar hotels—the rooftop terrace. The blue clouds reflected on the water of the pool, and further out to the ocean, casting shadowed tints on the surface of the water. The terrace was like a play area for the guests, with a running track and a year-round garden.
“I could stay here all day,” Christian said.
“I know the feeling.” She looked at him and whispered conspiratorially, “Sometimes I like to come up here after midnight, when the terrace has been locked to guests, and just look at the stars and listen to the water. Well—.” She hesitated, then added, “I used to like to do that. I haven’t done that in a long time.” He noted the sadness in her voice and wondered about it briefly. “Come on; let’s go back down. Time for us mere mortals to return to work,” Raina said, her brown eyes twinkling.