Fierce Family (Greenview Manor Tales #1)
1. Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Sheila
M y heart almost stops when the sound of the fire alarm suddenly pierces the silence in the office. Tommy looks at me, and for a second we are both stunned before our training takes over.
I have been the General Manager of the Greenview Manor Hotel for almost two years, since Tommy, the owner, decided he needed more time to enjoy life, especially after he’d gotten married to Ella. Now that they have a newborn baby he spends even more time out of the office, leaving day-to-day management to me. And I love it, at least most of the time. I certainly could have done without the alarm today, when we have a large conference in house.
“You get Ella and Nicky, I’ll take care of the guests,” I shout over the alarm. My fire marshal vest hangs on a hook next to the door and I grab it as I move out into the corridor.
I’ve been through plenty of fire evacuations to know that despite my racing heart and weak knees, if I stay calm and collected (at least on the outside) I can keep control of the situation. The last thing the staff and guests need to see is me running around like a headless chicken. And keeping control is my second priority, right after making sure that everyone gets out unharmed. We are responsible for over three hundred people and that responsibility never weighs heavier.
I walk swiftly along the corridor keeping an eye out for stragglers and signs of an actual fire. Most likely a guest has set the alarm off by mistake, but I can’t allow myself to get complacent.
“What the fuck is that noise?” A young man steps out of his room dressed in boxer shorts and T-shirt.
“Sir, this is the fire alarm; can you please evacuate by the nearest exit?” I point towards the evacuation route.
“Oh, come on, the football’s starting in a minute!”
“Sir, the fire alarm is going off as you can hear. We need to evacuate until we can confirm the building is safe,” I try again in my calmest but sternest voice. Every fucking time there are at least one or two twats who think we set off the alarm because we are funny.
“Let me get my suitcase,” he whines and turns toward the door.
“No, sir, I need you to leave now,” I point again towards the stairs.
“I’m in my underwear!” he protests and holds his hands in front of his crotch.
“Just imagine they’re swimming trunks. Please, can you leave now?” I give him the same look I give to my sons when they try to have yet another argument with me about the state of their bedrooms.
He mumbles something but I can’t hear him over the alarm. His ears have turned a dark shade of red and he hovers between me and his door, unsure what to do, but eventually heads towards the stairs. Numpty! I fight the urge to put my fingers in my ears to protect them from the shrill fire alarm as I have a final look down the corridor and head down the last staircase to the ground floor.
The bright glare of the sun makes it difficult to make out all the people, but eventually my eyes adjust and I head towards the spot where most of our reception staff assembled.
“We’ve done a roll call and John is just checking the second assembly point to make sure everyone is accounted for,” Marisa approaches me. As Operations Manager, she organises assembly points and addresses guests’ questions during an evacuation, leaving me or Tommy (whoever is on duty) free to deal with the fire brigade.
“Great, thanks. Any clue what caused it?” I ask just as Tommy and Ella exit the hotel and head towards their car with baby Nicky. I appreciate that he trusts me enough to get on with it. Plenty of owners would want to take the lead in a situation like this.
“No clue, but I can guess—” The sudden silence as the alarm cuts off stops her from finishing her sentence. Good , I’m sure that means it wasn’t an actual fire. Juri, our Head Housekeeper, would have checked the location our fire alarm system indicated and would have only silenced the alarm if there was no danger. We have a strict fire emergency plan and I’m relieved that it all seems to have gone smoothly, just as practiced.
The minute the alarm cuts off guests try to re-enter the building, but our staff are trained to keep them out until we’ve found out what’s happened. Luckily it doesn’t take long for Juri to leave the building and give a thumbs up to all the staff .
“It was Mr Wilkinson,” he explains as he joins me and Marisa.
“Great, the fire brigade will be pissed. This is the third time in as many months they have come here because of Mr Wilkinson,” John, our young receptionist who has returned from the second assembly point with his clipboard, sighs. We all look towards the street as the fire engines are approaching at high speed, their sirens blaring. Our alarm automatically sends out a call to the emergency services if not silenced within a minute. It’s a sensible security precaution given how many lives are at stake here, but in situations like today it’s also a pain in the arse.
“John, please tell Tommy that all is okay,” I ask the young receptionist. “Marisa, get everyone back in. I’ll deal with the fire brigade.” A knot forms in my stomach.
“Want the hot fire chief all to yourself?” Marisa laughs. Originally from the US, she married a local lad she met while studying in Manchester. After living in the UK for over ten years, she has developed a somewhat peculiar accent, shifting between British and American. However, she takes great pride in it, often declaring proudly, “I represent both of my homes.”
“He’s watch manager. We don’t call them fire chief over here,” I reply, “And I’ve told you before that I’m not interested.”
“Sure. I mean all that flirting you guys do, it’s all nothing,” she giggles.
“We're not flirting. We argue. All the time,” I protest. Josh is cocky, self-assured, and knows that most women have a firefighter fantasy. Admittedly, he's easy on the eye. You wouldn't believe he's only a year younger than me at forty-one, because he looks at least ten years my junior. Well, unless you look closely and notice the laughter lines around his eyes and the few stray grey streaks in his thick brown hair. Okay, yes, I’ve studied him closely and paid extra attention when the receptionists gossip about him. But I don’t have the time or patience for someone like that. So, there's definitely no flirting going on.
“Sheila maybe if you stop biting his head off every time he turns up here, he might set off some fires in your bedroom," Marisa whispers before starting to round up her troops and guide the guests back into the hotel. I’m not just Marisa’s boss, we are also close friends. That’s the only reason she can get away with saying things like that to me. I shake my head and watch the fire engines rolling up the long drive.
“Juri please stay, the fire brigade will need your statement,” I hold the housekeeper back. I think I need a buffer because despite my earlier objections, Josh definitely flirts with me whenever he turns up, no matter how much I try to put him off. Oh, to be ten years younger with no responsibilities.
The fire engines slow down and roll to a halt. Josh jumps from the driver’s cabin of the first engine, his helmet in his hand and his jacket open.
“Let me guess, another false alarm?” he sighs and nods towards the guests heading back to the building.
“I’m really sorry—”
“Steve, radio the control room to stand down the volunteers,” he cuts me off, giving instructions to the driver who had also climbed from the engine. “Fiona, Aaron, check out the location—"
“I can show you,” Juri interrupts and waves the two firefighters to follow him .
“That’s really not necessary. It was Mr Wilkinson again,” I try to stop them.
“Tsk tsk, Sheila …,” as always when he says my name, he over emphasises it, “by now you should know that we have to check it ourselves. For the report.” I know he’s right but there is a mischievous look in his eyes that makes me think that there’s something else going on.
“Yes, but you should also know by now that we can spot the difference between a raging fire and an old gentleman smoking in his bedroom.” I put my hands on my hips and glare at him. We will already have a barrage of complaints as long as my arm because of the alarm. The last thing we need is extra drama of firefighters roaming the halls.
“We have our protocols,” he grins and waves off his two colleagues and Juri, who had been watching us like it was the latest episode of a soap opera. “Now, Sheila , what are you going to do about all of these false alarms?” He takes his jacket off and throws it through the open passenger door onto his seat. His muscles flex when he leans against the engine and crosses the strong arms that conjure up all sorts of fantasies. I mean, this right here is a calendar-worthy shot— Mr August, makes you feel hot and gets you sweating .
Josh raises an eyebrow at me and for a second I wonder if he’s been reading my thoughts.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do about them. Nothing. Because I can’t. We have already told Mr Wilkinson multiple times that he can’t smoke in the room. We’ve charged him a penalty for the extra cleaning. We can’t have someone in his room all day.”
“When is he checking out?” Josh asks, his eyes locked on mine. I swear they should be illegal. His eyes are a dark chocolate brown with golden flecks, surrounded by lush dark lashes. When he smiles the thin laughter lines are accentuated making him look even more handsome. Fucking hell. I’m a forty-two-year-old, divorced mother of two teenage sons and I’m here drooling over the local firefighter heartthrob like I’m a teenager myself.
“He’s not checking out.” I finally find my voice again.
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that he has a permanent room here. His is an old contract we have to honour.” I shrug.
“Well then you have to do something, because I will start charging you for coming out.”
“You can’t!” I protest.
“Try me,” he replies with another smirk.
“Tell me what I can do?”
“It’s your hotel,” he counters looking a bit less sure of himself.
“Well, yes, but short of disabling the fire detector in his room, which is illegal, I might add, what can I do?”
“We can change it to a detector like we have in the kitchens. One that reacts to heat rather than smoke,” Juri, who has returned with the fire crew, suggests.
“You should put him in charge,” Josh laughs causing me to gasp. That cocky bastard!
“How dare—” Before I can finish my sentence, he steps closer. He is so close that I can feel the heat coming from his body. His scent, manly and musky, surrounds me. For a second I forget where we are and how complicated my life is, and I just wonder what it would feel like for him to kiss me.
“I was just joking. Sheila .” I swear his eyes have just gone a shade darker. Okay, wow, fuck, this has to stop.
“We’ll get the detector changed. Thanks for coming out, and sorry,” I whisper flustered, turn on my heels and walk to the hotel entrance. I can feel his eyes on me every step of the way. Yes, we will change the sensor, even if I have to do it myself, because I can’t have another moment like this.