As happy as she was for Kelly, a part of her envied her friend. There was something strong and solid about Christopher. He carried himself with a lot of dignity, especially for a working class guy, and he made you want to know him more.
And, he sure smelled good. Where that thought came from, she didn’t know, but she could feel the heat rising to her face.
With a sigh, she turned away from the cameras, resisting the urge to watch Christopher walk out of the hotel and down the street, up to where the security camera’s view ended. Feeling safe with Roger schmoozing in the banquet room, Raina returned to her office, where her computer flashed with new messages.
She kept up a steady stream of work over the next couple of hours, though her mind occasionally strayed to Christopher and Kelly. They would make a nice looking couple, though she did think that Kelly was too hyper for a mellow man like Christopher. Nonetheless, it wasn’t any of her business, other than to make sure their work wasn’t affected.
Resolutely, she returned her attention to her computer and replied to emails from all over the departments seeking her guidance or approval. The good thing about her job was that Raina could lose herself in it and push all her worries away, if only for a few hours.
4
Christian felt troubled by Raina’s behavior earlier in the week as he made his way to the service elevators. Since then, he had barely seen her. Both of them were busy with their jobs and there just wasn’t any free time. But he knew it had something to do with his Uncle Roger, and Christian felt murderous.
If the man so much as touched Raina … Realizing the depth of his reaction, Christian felt uneasy.
He had barely known Raina for a week and already he felt protective toward her. Hell, she had taken care of herself well enough before he came on to the scene. Despite that knowledge, her agitation earlier had left him feeling out of balance, and wanting to fix whatever it was that was wrong. Hell, he was the handyman, wasn’t he? He thought with a laugh.
He glanced at his work sheet with a list of tasks that he needed to work on. It seemed things were always falling apart someplace on the property. The elevator stopped on the first floor, and carrying his tool kit in one hand and the work sheet on the other, he went to the first room, a little apprehensive about whether or not the guests had checked out. To his relief, the door was wide open, an indicator that a housekeeper was inside or that they had just finished cleaning. A trio of laughing kids in bathing suits and carrying towels rushed past him in the hall, and he smiled at how care-free they were, envying them a bit.
Minutes later, Christian was in the bathroom, scrunched under the sink. His broad frame was too wide for the space underneath it and he could barely see in front of him. With a lot of difficulty, he located the shut off valves and he turned them off, stopping the water supply. Remembering the details from “The Handyman’s Guidebook,” Christian placed a strainer basket over the sink drain hole.
His whole concentration was on the task at hand, as he carefully disassembled the faucets, taking care to record in his mind where each part went. He’d messed it up a few days ago, much to his chagrin, and he’d had to spend a couple hours looking up the right way to do it on his phone.
It took him an hour to fix the leaking faucet and when he was done, he stood, arms at akimbo, admiring his work. He imagined that next time he could complete the task much quicker.
“You look mighty proud of yourself,” a voice quipped from the door.
Christian swung round and came face-to-face with Kelly. He grinned at her.
“It was a particularly difficult problem,” Christian responded. But the truth was, he was proud of himself. It had been a long time since he’d felt so useful.
Kelly looked at him pensively.
“Would you say that you’re gifted at solving problems?” she said in a soft voice as she rested her lovely body against the door frame. Then she ran her hand through her hair and cocked her head at him.
The atmosphere became charged with tension and Christian, who considered himself good at reading women, noticed the difference immediately. Kelly was flirting with him. The arch of her body told him so, as did the soft look on her face. She was a pretty girl, and perhaps another time, he would have been interested, but the last thing he wished to do was to wound her feelings.
“I got the job didn’t I?” Christian said in a light, business-like tone. He turned away from her deliberately and started packing up his tools.
He observed the disappointment in Kelly. She stood up straighter and took on a more professional demeanor.
“That’s great. By the way, Room 83 was not on your worksheet but the toilet has some kind of problem. It’s not flushing properly.”
“I’ll take a look at it; it’s probably clogged up,” Christian said, grateful she had taken the hint.
She left soon after, with a last regretful look at him. He hoped that would be the end of that. He had noticed her interest in him and pretended not to, with the hope that she would get over it.
He also knew the reason for his disinterest; it was Raina. He felt fascinated by her.
However, Raina had been completely professional with him. She hadn’t shown the slightest romantic interest, which he found slightly vexing; he was used to women flirting with him and trying to get his attention. But she treated him as one would any colleague—friendly but with a touch of reserve.
He wondered briefly if she was involved with someone else. He hadn’t noticed a ring, but that type of thing didn’t mean much these days. He consoled his wounded ego with the thought it was likely she had a boyfriend, but at the same time reminded himself he couldn’t be getting involved with an employee—especially while he was undercover! There were a million fish in the sea—he just had to go out and find one.
But none of them are like Raina, the traitorous voice inside his head whispered.
When she had crashed into him and his arms had wrapped instinctively to protect her, she had fit against him perfectly. For a brief moment the sweet, summery scent of her, the curves of her figure, the way she melted into him, had been overpowering. It was a moment and a feeling he had replayed in his mind for days, and one he just couldn’t shake.
Christian worked for the next four hours, getting a sense of accomplishment as he ticked off every room that he had fixed. As he worked he kept one ear always on the chatter in the hallways and in the rooms coming from the maids and busboys and other service staff. It would have been easy to lose himself in his work and forget why he was there, but he needed to recall the important task at hand—getting information.
The last room that Kelly had told him to look into was his final one for the day. His shift that day was supposed to have ended at two in the afternoon, but an hour later, Christian was still fiddling with the toilet in frustration.
Finally, he returned to the maintenance office to check out the manuals on the shelf, to see if there was a book that could give him any clues as to what was wrong with the damn toilet, since googling hadn’t yielded anything. Nothing appeared to be broken, but it wouldn’t flush. In the corridor that led to the offices, Christian froze and his step faltered when he spied his Uncle Roger striding down the hallway.
Christian’s legs moved forward stiffly and he kept his gaze focused to the floor on his right. A few more steps and the two men walked past each other. Christian heaved a sigh of relief. He grinned to himself. His uncle had not recognized him; in fact, he had not given him a second glance. It was funny how little attention people paid to you when you became a different person. Especially when you became a nobody.