11. Allie #2
Tessa raised a brow. “And you happened to be sharing a drink with Caden?”
Sierra and Jazz gasped.
“Really?” Jazz grinned.
“No.” I shook my head rapidly. “He was just there.”
“They had ice cream together on the weekend with Ollie,” Sierra shared.
Tessa and Jazz both blinked.
“Caden eats ice cream?” Jazz asked in an incredulous tone.
“Nothing is going on.” I slashed a hand through the air.
“Both of you took the woman to the hospital,” Tessa said.
“Yes. We helped that poor girl. Her name’s Mellody.”
“Something happened,” Sierra said. “Between you and Caden. I knew you liked him.”
I sniffed. “Broody is bad tempered and acts like a robot. I’m steering clear.”
My friends all studied me hard.
I blew out a breath. “We may have kissed.” Okay, twice, and he’d made me come. I decided it was best not to share those details.
My friends’ faces all lit up.
“And he left a bar of Dandelion chocolate in my locker.”
“Ooh,” Jazz said. “He gave you a gift. He doesn’t strike me as the gift-giving type.”
“It’s her favorite, too,” Tessa added.
I straightened. “He made it abundantly clear that kissing me was a mistake that he doesn’t want to repeat.”
All their faces fell.
“You kissed all that dark and dangerous? Sierra demanded. “How was it? Is he a good kisser? I just feel like with all that bottled-up intensity he would be.”
I looked at the floor. “It was good. Then he apologized and backed off.”
Tessa grabbed my arm. “He hurt you.”
“It’s fine. Really. I don’t have time for a man. He did me a favor.” I dredged up a smile. “Guys, seriously. I’ve got to go. I have rooms to clean.”
Tessa grabbed my arm and squeezed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Warmth filled me. I had good friends, and they’d all helped me through the toughest times after my brother died. “You know me. I’m good.”
Tessa gave me another long look, then yanked me in for a hug. “Okay.” She didn’t sound convinced.
“We need to have cocktails soon,” Sierra said.
“Tell me when, so I can get Mrs. Jenkins to watch Ollie.” With a wave, I hurried toward the elevators. I needed to get up to the third floor. It was midmorning, and most people were out doing whatever they did when they came to Windward.
Including the ESG who would be out on the mountain by now.
Drug dealers . I still couldn’t believe it. Operating right under everybody’s noses.
I pushed the cart down the corridor. I stopped at the first of the ESG’s two adjoining rooms and knocked. “Housekeeping.”
There was no response. I knocked again, being prudent. Unfortunately, I’d walked in on plenty of stuff that I couldn’t unsee. My team had some hilarious stories.
I held my card up and the lock beeped. I grabbed a stack of towels off my cart and entered the room.
It was empty. The two queen beds were rumpled and unmade. The rest of the place was a mess. There were clothes on every surface, and the carpet was littered with food wrappers and empty bottles.
My nose wrinkled. Pigs .
I found used towels piled on the floor in the bathroom. I set out the fresh towels, then snatched up the old ones. I looked around. Nothing looked odd or out of place, except for the mess.
After dumping the dirty towels in the cart, I remade the beds. Then I raced around, collecting trash and wiping down surfaces. As I did, I discreetly checked in the closet, the drawers, under the bed.
No sign of drugs.
Time for room number two.
The second room was only marginally tidier than the first. As I tidied the desk, I spotted some white residue on the wood, and froze.
It could just be talcum powder or sugar from some snack. My gut tightened. But I bet it wasn’t.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a couple of photos. Another quick search of the room didn’t yield any criminal motherload of drugs. I pulled a face. I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. These guys had gotten away with this for a long time.
I finished cleaning up as quickly as I could. I didn’t want to risk running into any of the ESG. I hoped they were out biking for the rest of the day, but I disliked the idea they could also be out there, dealing drugs to people.
When I slipped into the empty hall, I released a breath.
I needed to tell Caden about the powder. That meant seeking him out and speaking to him again.
My chest tightened. Whatever. I was an adult.
I’d talk to him, calmly and rationally. There would be no touching. I’d be keeping my hands to myself.
This was more important than my hurt feelings.
I headed back downstairs into the back of house, and dumped the dirty laundry, then parked the cart.
I checked in with my team. We only had a few more suites that needed cleaning before the new guests would start checking in.
I slid my phone into my pocket and headed for the security room.
One of the security team, Hugh, was sitting in front of the bank of monitors.
“Hey, Hugh. Is Caden around?”
“Last I knew, he was checking out the renovations in the new security room. Want me to radio him?”
“No. No, that’s fine. I’ll find him.”
Strolling through the lobby, I noted that there were a few late checkouts at the reception desk. Enzo was escorting some guests into their cars. I walked around the concierge desk, and into the new security room. The buzz of power saws and the bang of hammering hit me.
Wow, the place was going to be huge. I spotted a burly worker in a hard hat. “Hi. I’m looking for Caden. Mr. Castro.”
The guy gave me a chin lift. “He’s back there.” He pointed toward some draped plastic sheets.
I pushed through the plastic. The work sounds dimmed a little, and then I spotted him with a measuring tape measuring up the wall.
I dragged in a deep breath. “Caden?”
His head jerked up. His face looked as though it was carved from stone.
I lifted my chin. “I need to talk to you.”
His dark gaze narrowed. “What is it?”
Glancing around, I noted there were no workers close by. The plastic sheeting made it feel like we were all alone. I swallowed, suddenly feeling like an insect, pinned under his gaze. “I cleaned the ESG’s rooms.”
A dangerous look crossed his face and he tilted his head. “You went in their rooms?”
His tone made goosebumps prickle across the back of my neck. “They weren’t there.”
“I told you to stay away.”
“News flash, I didn’t listen.” I put my hands on my hips. “I’m not stupid, Caden. I didn’t do anything risky. Well, I did look around a little, but I didn’t find any drugs.”
He made a low sound.
I was done being intimidated by him. “I’m not letting my team members in there if they’re dangerous.”
Waves of something powerful were emanating off him.
“I saw powder on the desk.” I licked my lips. “Maybe we could take a sample of it, or something.” I pulled out my phone. “I took some pictures.”
He moved. One second, he was standing there, the next he gripped both my arms. “You went in there.”
I shoved against him. “Back off, Broody.”
His face darkened and he looked intensely lethal. “I told you to stay away from them.”
“I heard your order, but I had to do what I think is right. I?—”
“Put yourself in danger.”
My heart kicked. That was why he was pissed? “We can test this stuff and get proof.”
“It would be a trace amount. It would prove recreational use, at best. They’d get off with a slap on the wrist.”
I sagged. “Oh.”
He leaned in, his face an inch from mine. My heart beat went into overdrive, and my hands clenched on his chest.
“If they’d caught you…” He leaned closer and pressed his face to the side of mine.
Shit, I wasn’t supposed to be touching him again. It was like we were a magnet and metal. Anytime we got close, bam, we stuck together.
“They didn’t catch me.” I smelled dark spice. I wanted to roll around in that scent. God, I trembled, wanting to touch him. “I had a legitimate reason to be there. I’m housekeeping.”
“You have no idea what they’re capable of. They could hurt you.” A shudder went through him.
What was going on? “Caden, I’m all right.” I pressed my hand to his stubbled cheek.
Our eyes locked.
“What if they hurt you and I wasn’t there to help?”
I swallowed. A part of me needed to reassure him. “I won’t go there again without telling you. I want to help. Let’s do it together.”
His own hand came up and cupped my cheek. I pressed into his rough palm.
“Okay?” I asked.
He blew out a breath. “Okay.” Then he released me and stepped back. “I’m looking into them.” He paused. “If there’s a way you can help… I’ll let you know. Don’t do anything risky. Promise me.”
“Caden—”
“Promise me. Please.”
The word was short and sharp, but I knew him well enough now to hear the seething feelings underneath it.
Besides, I knew please wasn’t a word he used very often.
I nodded. “I promise.”