Chapter 16
Adriana
I didn’t have much of a choice but to stay with Landon that night.
My underwear and stockings had been completely torn, and I couldn’t exactly walk to my room in the staff quarters in the state that I was in.
Landon promised that I’d have new clothes by the morning, and nobody would know, but I wasn’t so sure. It was my best option, however.
Landon’s suite was enormous, but minimalist. Most of the decor was in black and white, with some wooden tones thrown in. Everything was as neat and clean as I would have expected. The bedsheets were Egyptian cotton, and I couldn’t even begin to guess the thread count they had.
There were two more rounds of wild, passionate sex before Landon fell asleep and I went to take a shower.
When I eventually went to bed myself, I wasn’t sure that I’d ever be able to fall asleep myself. My mind was clear now, and I was slowly realizing just how much trouble I was in romantically. Not only had I not followed Sierra’s advice, I’d done the complete opposite of what I’d told her I’d do.
I should have broken it off with Landon, and never gone to that beach with Nolan.
What am I doing? I thought as I rolled onto my side under the most comfortable sheets I’d ever been in. I should stop this. Right now. I need to tell him in the morning that we can’t do this anymore. I shouldn’t see Nolan outside of the kitchen. And Bryant…
The thought of Mr. Thatcher sent me reeling ever further.
He’d obviously been flirting with me ever since the first time I’d met him.
While I was pretty certain that he was flirty with most women, I didn’t think that he invited many to private dinner meetings.
He definitely didn’t ask anyone else for the wine.
If he did, it was a really convoluted way of picking up women.
But he was also obviously playing a game. I wasn’t sure what it was, or what his intentions were, but they weren’t wholesome. And I definitely couldn’t add a third man to this mess. I was already way over the line with just two of them.
So why do I want to do this again? I found myself thinking. Why am I excited to wake up with Landon? Why can’t I wait to see Nolan tomorrow? Why am I still thinking about Bryant?
This was ridiculous, and I knew it. Rationally, it was completely nuts. But emotionally, I was consumed entirely, and I was well aware of my addiction. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop.
The next morning, Landon had left before I woke up, which was disappointing. As he had promised, a newly pressed uniform was ready for me, and I snuck down to the lobby without getting caught. I pretended like nothing had happened, and nobody was looking at me strangely.
I was in the clear, at least for now.
Checking my tablet, I realized that today was Dahlia’s bridal shower. Most of the morning was blocked out for prepping the food, which meant that I’d be spending a lot of time with Nolan.
My heart started beating faster. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or anxiety, but I couldn’t let either show.
I checked in with reception, and let them know where I would be if there were any guest requests that needed to be addressed. Then, I marched to the kitchen, keeping my expression neutral and focused.
As soon as I walked in the door, I could hear Nolan yelling about pastries. When he saw me, however, his expression softened somewhat.
“Good morning, sunshine!” he said, somehow both sarcastically and cheerily at the same time. “We’ve been here for hours. Got half the pastries baked already.”
“Well, then I’m glad I’m not kitchen staff,” I joked, pulling out my tablet and catching Nolan rolling his eyes. “Calm down, I’m checking the menu. Shouldn’t be any changes, at least as far as I know.”
“Better not be,” Nolan said, before continuing dramatically. “Honestly, I’ve been slaving over a hot stove for so long, I don’t think I could deal with it if I had to start over.”
His antics were making me laugh, even though I’d promised myself I’d stay stony and stoic.
In my periphery, I noticed the suspicious looks from the others in the kitchen, but I ignored them.
As long as nothing inappropriate happened, I could just excuse all of this as Nolan being in a particularly good mood.
“Seems like everything is in order,” I said as I read through the menu. “No allergens or other dietary restrictions violated.”
“Oh, that’s great news,” Nolan said, holding his hand over his heart like he was incredibly relieved. “Could you imagine what would happen if I’d been the one who caused Dahlia’s demise?”
He seemed to notice that almost everyone was now watching us with an eagle eye. His face quickly changed to an angry one as he glared at the kitchen at large.
“Did I say you could all just gawk?” he yelled. “Don’t you have a cake to finish? Chocolate ganache to make? Get moving!”
Luckily, the sheer authority in Nolan’s tone was convincing enough to have people return to their tasks. I was certain, though, that they’ll all be talking about their suspicions as soon as he and I were out of earshot.
That was a little bit of a problem, too. Landon and Nolan didn’t exactly know about one another, and I didn’t know how they would react if they did. If the hotel was filled with rumors about Nolan and I, then Landon was definitely going to hear about it. And that meant trouble.
“Anyway,” I said firmly, reading through the menu on my tablet. “You know the starting time, right? Food placement?”
“I had something to say about that, actually,” Nolan answered, seeming to catch on that we had to turn things down a bit. “The way they’ve got the floorplan laid out is inefficient for the waiters.”
I stood somewhat closer to him with the plan open on the tablet, and we spent some time dryly arguing about what should be done to optimize food delivery during the event.
The entire time, I was fully aware of how closely Nolan was standing to me.
Flashes of the cove were returning to me and making it difficult to focus on what I was doing.
“That’s better,” Nolan finally said once he was happy with the new floorplan. “Can you get that sorted and get back to me?”
“Sure.” I was relieved to walk away for a few minutes. My heart was beating wildly and my focus had all but disappeared. Things were getting complicated. Too complicated;.
I have to make a choice, I found myself thinking as I walked to the ballroom. Don’t I?
But how could I choose between the two of them?
Landon, who had so many layers hidden beneath the mask that he wore, who helped me find both passion and calm.
Nolan, who was the epitome of adventure and promise, who could show me worlds that I could never dream of.
Both of them had something all-consuming, something that would draw me in no matter how much I tried to resist.
These thoughts filled my head while I was busy delegating the rearranging of the furniture in the ballroom, and even more so when I was making my way back to the kitchen.
Just focus on your work, I told myself as I stood in front of the doors and took a deep breath. Pretend nothing happened. Don’t let anyone have real evidence. It’ll be fine.
I was still trying to convince myself when I walked in and saw Nolan furiously stirring something at one of the counters.
He had that same focus on his face that he had when I was with him in the cove, and it made a shiver run down my spine.
I shook my head at myself and approached him, waiting for a pause in the stirring.
“Got everything changed up for you,” I explained, pretending like I was looking closely at my tablet to avoid eye contact. “You happy with this?”
I handed it over, and Nolan seemed to deliberately touch my hand as he took the tablet from me. “Perfect. Actually, can you help me with something?”
When I actually looked at him this time, there was an expression on his face that drew me in with a power that I could not resist. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, and followed him through the kitchen.
Everyone around us seemed to be working incredibly hard not to look our way.
Their fear of Nolan was keeping them in line, at least somewhat.
I realized that he was leading me to the pantry, and immediately started wondering where this was going. But I didn’t have it in me to turn away, and curiosity won over being careful.
Nolan waited close to the pantry door as I went inside. I heard the sound of something being moved and the door shutting before I turned around to face him. He had a grin on his face like he was a teenager who had just found a way to skip school.
Behind him, the crate of persimmons had been slightly moved, just enough for the door to close entirely. Like on my first day, we were now stuck in there, alone.
“Oops,” Nolan joked, already closing the distance between us. “Looks like we’re going to be here a minute.”
I wasn’t too sure about that. If someone noticed, they’d probably open the door for us fairly fast, especially if they had any kind of suspicions. Or, maybe they’d be too terrified of upsetting Nolan, and would leave the door closed for a while. Either one was possible.
“This is crazy,” I pointed out, but I didn’t back away when he got even closer. “We shouldn’t…”
“Well, if you don’t want to,” Nolan said with a shrug. “Then we don’t have to.”
“No, I—” I answered, far too quickly, and Nolan chuckled. “What happened on the beach… I loved it. I want more.”
“Ah,” Nolan slowly put his arms around my waist, smiling. “You know, I’m happy to give you everything you want, any way you want it.”
He leaned down to kiss me, tasting of cinnamon and danger, and I instinctively kissed him back. I realized how much I had been craving him instantly, and I couldn’t imagine ever saying no to him.
Our tongues clashed together hungrily, as if we had longed for this moment for years.
We pressed our bodies together and wrapped our arms around one another tightly like we never wanted to let go.
We both knew that we didn’t have a lot of time, and that this couldn’t go too far, but it was clear that Nolan wanted to get as much out of the few minutes that we did have as I did.
I was quickly breathless and a slight sheen of sweat covered my body, but I didn’t want to pull away. The intensity of the moment was overwhelming and had taken over every sensation. I craved so much more, grabbing at Nolan’s clothes tightly and trying to resist the urge to rip them off.
He did the same, his fingers clawing at the edge of my skirt, his self-control obviously at the very edge.
Until we were interrupted by the heavy door being pushed open from the outside.
The sound was enough to rip me out of my fantasies, and Nolan and I immediately jumped away from one another. It felt as if my heart had leapt into my throat and the entire world had frozen around me.
Nolan’s new sous chef stood in the door with her jaw on the floor as she held the door open; but she wasn’t the one that had my blood running cold.
Behind her, with an expression like stone, was Landon.