Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After loading the grocery bags into the back of his SUV, Xander glanced at his watch.
He had an hour before he had to pick Freya up from work.
He swung by his house to drop off the groceries and then made his way to the Pacific View Resort.
Entering the main lobby, he made his way to the reception desk.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Bonetti,” the man at the front desk said. “I’m Drew. We met briefly the other day. How can I help you?”
He appreciated that the other man recognized him.
Not that Xander thought he was special enough to be recognized on sight, but rather because it boded well for the front desk.
It was more than just greeting guests. Situational awareness and facial recognition were critical to the position.
It not only would set them apart in terms of customer service, but also in security as the front-desk staff were the first line of defense.
Hudson Security had recommended additional training for both the security and front-desk staff, which included tactics on reading body language.
“Hello, Drew. It’s good to see you again,” Xander said. “Is Sam Abbot from Hudson Security here?”
“Yes, sir. Miss Abbot is in the security office. Feel free to go on back.” Xander arched a brow, and the man rushed on as he placed an access card on the counter. “Mr. Kwon let us know that you have full access to the resort, sir.”
“Appreciate it,” Xander said with a nod. “Have a good day.”
Stepping away from the front desk, he made his way to the frosted glass door at the edge of the reception area.
Before he could scan his access card, a discreet buzz sounded, unlocking the secure entrance to the resort’s management offices.
He pulled the door open and stepped into a smaller reception area. This time, the desk sat unattended.
“What’s up, dude?” a voice called out from the office to his right.
“Hey, Abbot,” he said, stepping into the resort’s security room.
It was a large room and was as frigid as a damn meat locker.
His colleague was seated at a long desk with a slew of monitors in front of her, all showing various feeds from around the resort.
How she kept track of everything, he had no clue.
But given the resort’s setup was smaller than Abbot’s setup at Hudson Security, this was probably child’s play to her.
He tilted his head toward the empty reception desk. “Isn’t that supposed to be manned?”
She spun in her chair to face him and rolled her eyes. “Ortiz’s assistant is allowed to step away from her desk to pee, you know.”
He held up his hands. “Hey, I’m just making sure.”
“Right. What brings you to the resort? In need of another haircut, Viking boy?”
“Holy shit,” he muttered, running a hand over his jaw.
“Hey, what can I say? Our office loves to gossip. You should probably stop cutting your own hair, because you always make it look like shit.” She grinned at him and made a circular motion with her hand.
“That haircut makes you look good. Still tough-looking and definitely more put together, but way less DIY.”
He furrowed his brow. “I don’t know what that means, so I’m just going to say thank you. I think. Anyway, as you probably already know, I’m picking up Freya—”
She snorted. “Of course, I already know that.”
“But I wanted to check in with you first.” Yeah, Abbot was definitely trying to give Tash a run for her money on giving him shit. “How’s the security camera installation going?”
“Fine, we’ll talk about work. You’re no fun,” she grumbled before waving at the monitors.
“Good. No issues. Ortiz gave the go-ahead on all our suggestions including the upgrades. The install for the perimeter security fencing is about two weeks out, and when that goes up, so will the perimeter game cameras. Within the resort, the only cameras left to install are the ones around the meditation center and yoga facility on the north side and the ones at the outdoor challenge course. Those are all on Witherspoon’s docket for tomorrow. ”
Xander nodded. “Great. Any new info on the vehicle vandalisms?”
Abbot wrinkled her nose. “One, I’m sorry to hear that happened to your lady’s car.
And two, unfortunately not. Cameras are up in the employee parking lot now, but the old cameras didn’t pick up anything.
Just to be sure, I sent the footage from all the nearby cameras to Bean.
She has some program that . . .” Abbot shook her head.
“You probably don’t care about specifics, but basically, B can pull all the faces off the security cameras and cross-check them against the resort guests and staff.
She can see if there was someone at the resort who wasn’t supposed to be here and also see who was anywhere near the employee parking lot yesterday. It’s a long shot, but you never know.”
“I appreciate that.” It was indeed a long shot, but it was all they had at this point. He nodded at the monitors. “Want to run through the cameras that were installed today?”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Have a seat, my friend,” Abbot said, kicking out the rolling chair beside her. “You know I love this shit, but I’ve been staring at these feeds all day. I could use another set of eyes.”
For the next thirty minutes, they went over the new video feeds, making slight adjustments to the angles to ensure there were no blind spots.
“Thanks for the assist.” Abbot leaned back into her chair and stretched her arms over her head. “Now get out of here. You don’t want to be late picking up your lady friend.”
When she chuckled, he pursed his lips, his eyes shooting to the monitors. “Please tell me you aren’t going to spy on me.”
Abbot’s eyes widened in shock. Clarification: fake shock that was so obviously full of shit it was ridiculous. “Moi?”
With a resigned sigh, he stood. “I take it there’s no point in asking you not to?”
“You’d be absolutely fucking correct, buddy.”
Abbot’s wide, gleeful grin had him shaking his head as he made his way to the door. “At least tell everyone I swept her off her feet with my charm or some shit.”
She chuckled. “You got it. See ya, Viking boy!”
It was a short walk to the spa building, and with each step Xander took, anticipation had his nerves humming. Using his access card, he let himself into the building. The eucalyptus scent held a hint of lavender today.
A handful of women milled about in the spa waiting area, and another two guests stood at the front desk. Waving at Audrey, he stepped into the salon’s waiting area and came to a halt.
Freya stood a few feet away with a black salon cape in her arms. She grinned up at him, and it was like a punch to the head. Her smile left him dazed every damn time.
“Hey, Freya.” Holy shit, did his voice just crack? He internally cringed.
Clearing his throat, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.
More than anything, he wanted to pull her into his arms, but he was pretty damn sure that wouldn’t be appropriate.
It was one thing kissing her in his car—even if his friends heckled him.
It was another thing entirely to kiss her at her place of employment.
“I’m a little early, so whenever you’re ready. ”
Hours had passed since he’d dropped her off, and he knew she must have been on her feet nearly the entire time, but she still looked fresh and bright. Not a hair was out of place, and she damn near glowed.
“I’m almost done.” She raised the cape in her hands. “Let me just put this away, clean up a little, and I’ll grab my things.”
“Take your time,” he said as she spun and hustled to the employees-only area. Turning, he caught Audrey’s gaze. “How’re you doing?”
She was grinning from ear to ear. “Good. It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Bonetti.”
“Please. Xander is fine.” Mr. Bonetti made him feel ancient. Well, he supposed in comparison to Audrey, he was ancient.
“So, Xander,” Audrey said with a mischievous look crossing her face. “Isn’t Freya just the best? Did you know that in the entire time she’s worked here, she’s never had—”
“Oh no. Don’t believe a thing she says,” Freya interrupted, giving the young woman a stern look.
Audrey simply laughed and waved at them in a shooing motion. “Have a good night, you two. Enjoy your day off tomorrow, Freya.”
With his hands still tucked in his pockets, he nodded at Audrey and popped his elbow out for Freya to take. Once they were outside, she squeezed his arm. “Hi,” she said, glancing up at him with that sweet and slightly shy look coloring her face.
He couldn’t resist.
Stopping in the middle of the empty walkway, he turned to face her and framed her face in his hands.
Pure male satisfaction surged through him when her breath hitched.
He lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
He would have given anything to deepen the kiss, but he was conscious of where they were.
Not only could anyone walk by, but he knew there were at least two cameras on them.
Easing away, he kissed the tip of her nose. “Hi.” He dropped another kiss to her forehead. “You look beautiful.”
She shook her head and started them down the walkway again, but not before he saw her smile and the soft blush staining her cheeks. “Thanks again for picking me up.”
“Anytime, Frey.” When she linked her fingers with his, he wanted to beat his damn chest like a caveman. “How was your day?”
“Oh, it was a day,” she replied with a chuckle.
As they walked to his SUV, with a stop at the front desk to drop off his access card, Freya told him about a couple of fun clients she’d had. When they were seated in his car, she spilled the beans on a very demanding, high-maintenance client.
“Luckily, the woman checks out tomorrow.” Freya frowned as she buckled her seat belt.
He grinned and started the vehicle. “Do I sense a but?”
She scrunched her nose, and it was so damn cute.