Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
STEVIE
Adding a layer of lip gloss across my lips, I do one last check in the mirror, messing with my bangs, then pack my things away in my locker.
I am on the morning shift at the hotel where I work. It is like my second home; I love working alongside the people I see as a second family.
Living with my Aunt Cassandra, or Cass for short, is a whirlwind all on its own. She is a free spirit, loving herbal teas and creams. The house we live in is filled with potted plants, rainbows, wind chimes, and throws. She makes her own soaps and creams from home. So you get the idea.
Here at the Continental Sun Hotel, all staff are seen as family. We are a four-star hotel but we are not stiff like some other posh hotels are.
Stepping out into the lobby, I smile and greet guests as they walk past me. Service with a smile as they say.
“Good morning, Katie.” I greet the other receptionist on this shift with me.
“Good morning, Stevie. How are you this morning?” Katie is a sixty-four-year-old woman who lives for her kids and grandchildren. “How is Glory after the whole wood incident?”
She is like another grandmother to me.
“I am good; I actually slept last night. No late-night murder documentaries for me.” I chuckle. “Glory is good. They removed the piece of wood from her gum, thankfully no stitches were needed. She is back to being her sassy self.”
“Well, I have dog treats for her for you to take home. Remind me when we finish.” I nod and touch her arm.
“She does love the treats that you make her.”
Glory is my four-year-old Siberian Husky, and yes, she is as sassy as the videos on the internet. She throws toddler tantrums if I make her leave the dog park, or if I refuse to give her more treats. She is a sucker for anything peanut butter.
Sometimes with her, I feel like I have my own teenager living with me. Aunt Cass loves it. She says that Glory was a sassy diva in her past life.
“Hi, I would like to check in.” A guest approaches the front desk and I slip into work mode.
I advise guests throughout the day on what to see and visit while staying here for a mini vacation.
Talking about some of the places they should visit makes me think of old friends.
Taking my break out in the Phoenix heat, I’m thankful we have air conditioning outside in the break area, and I let my mind wander to the past few years.
Valarie and I were best friends from the age of six, and all through high school were as thick as thieves. Where there was one of us, the other was close by.
We did everything together, from dating silly crushes to working summer jobs.
That all changed when he moved into town. Logan Vaughan. He caught the eye of both of us, but I was the shy one, so Val made her move and ended up dating Logan, as I crushed on him from afar.
We remained besties, but Logan took up a lot of her time, and it was hard on my teenage heart seeing the boy I liked kissing and then hearing about him having sex with my best friend.
So I hid my feelings, often making excuses to not go out with them, not wanting to be a third wheel on their dates. As we got older and things got serious between them to a point I thought they would get married, things took a bad turn.
Valarie’s brother Vinnie was getting into trouble, and Logan would have to bail him out of the situation a lot of the time. I am not one hundred percent on all of the facts but I heard that Vinnie got into drugs while racing.
We all loved cars, I still do. I would love watching Logan and Vinnie race; they were saving money to buy a garage to become mechanics, and for a while it was good. They were winning, people would travel to race Logan who was far better than Vinnie and he knew it— hated it but knew it.
The ladies liked to give Logan attention also, because come on, that man was fine with his light blond hair, blue eyes, and a perfectly chiseled jaw. He used to be slim, but defined like a swimmer’s body; I used to love watching him in the pool.
Valarie hated girls looking at him, and believe me I had to get into a few fights because of her temper over the years. I have the freaking scars as proof.
Slowly we drifted apart, and she became focused on Vinnie and Logan, but I saw her changing, Logan did not. When I talked to him about it, he thought I was seeing things, but the prick told Valarie, and she flipped her shit on me.
The distance between us grew, until one day I stopped trying to fix things between us.
It was not worth my time or energy when she had no intention of fixing.
That is not to say that I am not still worried about her; I hate seeing her around with the bikers who look like they eat snakes for breakfast.
Plus the street crew who I know are trouble and deal in drugs, as some of them have been picked up by my cousin, Sheriff Grady Palmer.
Logan left after something big went down, but what I am not sure, as I kept my distance from them all. It hurt my heart when he told Valarie about our conversation, I thought he had some respect for me to listen to my worries, but clearly, he thought very little of me.
“I knew I would find you out here.” I smile looking toward the door, seeing Davis walk out.
Why can’t I find it in me to date this man? Tall, handsome, and sweet, sometimes too sweet. He has asked me out a few times, but each time the timing was off, and I had to turn him down. I am not sure I want to date anyone I work with; can you imagine the drama if we broke up.
No thanks, I hate drama. I am a drama-free girly.
Give me ice cream, Glory, and any Transformers movies and I am done for the night. My friends tease me for being obsessed about the movie franchise but come on, who doesn’t love Bumblebee?
“Just taking in the summer’s heat,” I offer.
“Honey, no one likes Arizona heat,” he quips, making me giggle.
“True. How are the functions’ planning coming along?” Davis plans all the events at the hotel, because this man can plan anything.
Give him a job and he will deliver one of the best events or parties you will ever witness.
“Good. Well, the mayor’s ball is almost ready, just need confirmation on a few things, but the bride who has booked for next month is a fucking bridezilla. Damn, she is testy about every little thing.”
“I am sure you can handle her.”
“I can handle any woman.” He winks at me.
“You are also shameless, Davis.”
“Yup. You are working the wedding with me, I am sure I saw your name.”
“I am.” I nod. “Aunt Cass is taking Glory with her for the weekend, so I am all yours for whatever you need from me.”
His eyes darken at my words and I groan inwardly. Shit.
“Why won’t you go out with me, Stevie?” He inches closer and I can smell his aftershave. “You know we could be good together.”
I close my eyes, because he does affect me, but right now, I need to concentrate on me after my shitty break-up two months ago.
“I am not ready,” is all I say.
I hear him sigh and he inches back, and when his hand cups my jaw, I notice how soft they are. He has not done any hard labor a day in his life, because if so, he would have rough-skinned hands, calloused even.
Looking into his brown eyes, I wish they were blue. Ones I used to dream about.
Shit.
Freaking Logan Vaughan.
“One day, honey. One day.” He leaves, making me slump.
Freaking hell.
Sucking in a deep breath, I go back inside and get back to work.
The rest of my shift flies by and I only see Davis once, when he comes to greet a couple who want to book the main halls. He smiles and waves but does not come to speak to me.
“That man is smitten with you,” Katie whispers. “You do not look at him the way he looks at you.”
I nod to her, not speaking.
We both clock out at the same time and I walk her to her car along with Diego, our hotel security guy. He is married with two little girls who are his world, so he takes women’s safety very seriously.
“You ladies have a good night. Be safe driving home.”
“See you later, D,” I call out as he backs away once we are in our cars.
He salutes us both, and we drive off with a beep of the horn.
I am so glad that I found this job, as I did not want to go to college; it was not my thing. High school was okay and I got good grades but I was never ambitious when it came to having a future, I just wanted a job so I could live comfortably and working at the hotel I have that.
I give rent to my Aunt Cass each month and I know it is not what most people pay, but I give back to her in other ways.
My body sags into my seat as I stop at a red light, music playing softly through the speakers. It is almost six in the evening, and I just want a hot bath to soak my aching body in.
I am in good shape, I run most mornings with Glory before work. Some days though, depending on what I have to do besides being a receptionist, I ache and my feet feel like balloons from being on them all shift.
A song comes on that I love and I turn up the volume, then shimmy in my seat, trying to loosen up the stiffness.
Turning to my left I see Valarie walking down the street. I am not one to judge other people by what they wear or do but freaking hell, she looks like a hooker. Her poor excuse of a skirt barely covers her ass, and the little scrap of material is barely holding her boobs in place.
Like me, she has big boobs. Mine are a little firmer than hers, but she is all ass as well, whereas mine is button tight from all the running and hiking.
Frowning, I watch as she stops by a group of men, laughing at what they are saying but it sounds forced and fake. My mouth drops open when I see her pull little baggies of white powder from the tube top she is wearing, waving at the men. They nod and smile, handing over small rolls of money.
What the frick?
She is dealing openly in public now?
What the hell has happened to her?
Pulling around the corner when the light turns green, I shut off my car and jump out, racing back around to speak to her. She is walking my way as I come to a screeching halt, her eyes flashing wide when she sees it is me, then they narrow.
“What the hell, Val? You dealing openly now?” I accuse her.
“Fuck off, Stevie, this has nothing to do with you.” She tries walking past me but I block her.
“Valarie, this is not you. Are they forcing you to do this? Is this because of Vinnie?”
She scoffs, folding her arms and popping a hip, looking at me with distain. We used to be so close, best friends forever I thought, and it hurts my heart seeing how much she hates me.
We both took different paths and for some odd reason she hates me for it.
“You know nothing about me anymore, so leave me alone. And do not say my brother’s name, you were just like the rest of them— turning your back on us when we needed you, and then thinking bad of us both,” she shouts.
I flinch back, but my anger is building and it takes a lot to make me angry; I am usually a cool and calm person. Being hateful and angry is wasted energy.
How dare she say this crap to me, I was there until she stopped texting and calling around. I reached out to be told she was busy.
“It was you who pulled away from me, and it was well before things got bad with Vinnie. As for thinking you were both bad. Look in the fucking mirror, Val. You are dressed like a hooker and dealing, your brother is in jail for being caught selling drugs,” I shout back.
“You bitch. How fucking dare you say that to me. All fucking high and mighty, Stevie thinks she is better than everyone. Yet, was always second best to me in everything.” She smirks, with a menacing look. “Logan,” she says. “He is back, by the way.”
My shocked expression makes her chuckle, and it is not with a hint of humor.
Logan is back. Shit, are they going to get back together and him get sucked into her illegal stuff? It has been years since I have seen him.
Rolling my shoulders, I keep my voice flat.
“I don’t care that he is back, Val. I care that you are this whole new person and not a good one.”
Her face morphs into pure rage, and she brings her hand up, slapping me across the face before I can react. The sting radiates through my cheek and even up to my ear, making it ring.
My hand flies to my face, the skin already hot, my mouth open in shock that she fucking hit me.
“You are a fucking cunt, Stevie. Leave me alone, and do not speak to me again.”
She goes to walk away, dismissing me like I am nothing, and I catch her wrist—not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough to make her stop and actually look at me. I may not be like her, being bold and confident, but I am no fricking pushover either.
“That is the only time you get to hit me. Next time, I hit back.” My voice is low, firm and holds no room for argument.
She tugs her wrist back, sneers at me and turns to leave. I watch her go, and once she is out of sight, I walk back to my car and it is only once I am inside do I let everything that just happened out.
Tears roll down my face, a sob slipping out. My chest aches for the loss of a friend and my cheek stings from her slap.
Clearly, she is not who she used to be and that is a sad thing, because she had a future with Logan and the garage if things had gone to plan.
Holy moly, Logan is back. I wonder if I will bump into him. I would not even know what to say to him if I did see him. Shaking the thoughts away, I clear my head and drive home. A hot bath and some wine is calling to me.
Hell, I might even spoil myself with some cake.