Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
“Good night, Carol. Night, Melissa,” Sandra singsongs, giving us an obnoxious salute before disappearing around the corner.
“Good night, Sandra,” Carol calls out to her, before sighing and turning her attention to the cell phone in her hand.
Sandra is our hotel’s second shift front desk receptionist, and she’s kept hopping with new check-ins and guests wanting restaurant and event recommendations.
Carol’s our nighttime front desk receptionist, and I have to agree with her when she says her shift is a boring job.
Most of the time, Carol’s on her phone playing one of the puzzle or merging games she’s addicted to.
“Drive safe,” I call out to Sandra before she disappears around the corner and out of the hotel.
Glancing at my watch and seeing it’s nearing midnight; I begin my rounds.
I started this job a week ago, and what a cakewalk it’s been so far. Working night security at the Renaissance Hotel is easy money. Hardly anything ever happens on a Wednesday night—or ever. Most nights it’s actually kind of boring, just like Carol’s job.
But I’m not going to complain, especially since I’m the only woman on the security team.
Hmm… I wonder if they put me on overnights because I’m the new person or if it’s because they aren’t sure I can handle belligerent guests.
I’m confident in my abilities, though, and have the black belt to prove it, so I choose to think it’s because I’m the newbie.
The pay differential also helps soothe my pride.
Tomorrow might be different though—it will be my first time here with a fully booked hotel, so I might actually see a little action. We’ll have a large group of ballroom dancers prancing about this place, and who knows what sort of trouble they’ll bring into the hotel.
As I reach the bank of elevators, I inwardly chuckle at that thought, since I’m probably the only one here who would look forward to that kind of trouble. Before I get a chance to touch the up arrow, the elevator my abuela would deem “the devil’s work” opens.
Hesitating for a moment, I chide myself for my foolishness and quickly step inside. Before I can push the button for the second floor, the door slams shut. Jesus.
Even though the building’s only twenty-two years old, some say this building’s haunted, and most are afraid of this elevator—especially with its eerie mirrored glass on the back wall.
Whatever their reasons, I’m not afraid. Even though I believe in some spooky stuff, I choose to ignore speculations and rumors, and just do my job.
When the door opens on the second floor, I get out and begin walking the hallway, making sure it’s clear and quiet.
I peek into the ballroom and note that the Junckers portable wood dance floor has been installed, and it’s beautiful.
I’m tempted to do a few twirls on it, but I have two left feet and right now they are encased in ankle-high tactical boots with black rubber tread—the last thing I want to do is leave scuff marks on the shiny flooring.
My check of this level complete, I take the staircase up to the third floor and repeat the process. I continue sweeping through each floor and stairwell, but aside from a few trays of dirty dishes left outside the rooms, there’s nothing to see. And nothing even remotely troubling.
Another boring night.
At least that’s what I think until I reach the seventeenth floor, which is our top floor.
As I approach the elevator alcove to head back to the lobby, the door of the crazy elevator opens and there stands the most gorgeous Asian man I have ever seen.
His alluring, dark brown eyes meet mine and my heart begins racing.
I take a slow, steadying breath before I do something stupid, like ask the man to marry me.
Dos mío. Get a hold of yourself.
Normally, I’m good at keeping my emotions tight as far as where my sexual attraction toward someone is concerned, but the second my eyes meet his, my entire body comes alive, as if I know this man to the marrow of my bones.
So strange.
I open my mouth to say something—say sorry, although I’m not sure what I’m sorry about—but nothing comes out.
“Crazy elevator,” he murmurs, keeping his alluring dark brown gaze to my face. His voice is soft but there’s a hint of frustration in his tone.
I want to move back, out of his way, so he can step out of the elevator, but my feet won’t listen to my brain.
“I guess I’m going to be standing here until you move out of my way.” The sharp edge to his words cuts through my rattled brain-fog and I step to the side to let the guest pass.
“I’m sorry,” I finally say, clearing my throat. “You just caught me off guard.”
His eyes widen as he hurries out of the elevator. In his rush, he bobbles the shiny, black shoes he was clutching in his hands and they fall to the floor and land in the elevator’s open doorway. As he turns around and bends down to pick them up, the damn elevator door begins to slam shut.
Thanks to my quick reflexes and the hours I spend at the gym, I wrap my arms around the guy and yank him out of harm’s way before his head is smashed between the door and the doorframe. There’s no way in hell I’ll let that happen on my watch—especially to this beautiful man.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out again, like the stupid malfunctioning elevator is my fault. My face floods with heat, and I can barely pull oxygen into my lungs. There’s electricity in the air, and when I realize that I haven’t yet released him, I blame it for my distraction.
For a full five heartbeats, we stand there, my arms still around him, and all we see is each other. His fast breathing matches mine and a cute blush crests his cheeks.
There’s a tiny smile forming on his lips, but when it falls away I quickly release him and step back, with another apology. “Are you okay—are you hurt? I swear the repairman is coming tomorrow to fix it.”
“Um…” He looks around, then at me with shock. An emotion, maybe bewilderment, crosses his face before he swallows hard. “No. I’m not hurt, but… thank you for saving me from decapitation.”
“I’m just glad I was here to do it,” I say, rubbing my hands together. “We have a tech guy coming tomorrow to fix this elevator, but that’s still no excuse for any guests getting hurt.”
“What is your name?” he asks, his voice soft, almost coaxing.
“Melissa Lopez. I’m the night security,” I explain. “And you are?”
“My name is Simon Cheng. It’s nice to meet you, Melissa.” He sticks out his hand tentatively.
I take it and a surge of… something I can’t describe, runs up my arm. It’s like I touched a live wire and then my hand goes numb for a second. My mind flashes back to the electricity I felt in the air when I pulled him from the doorway. Weird.
Before I can say anything, Simon lets go and walks away.
For a beat or two, I stand there cursing that this meet-cute happened while I was wearing a typical drab green, androgynous security guard uniform, had on almost no makeup, and my wavy, shoulder-length hair was smoothed back in a professional-looking bun.
I decide to be brave and hurry after him, calling his name.
Since I have to file a report of the incident, I will need the room number he’s staying in. At least that’s what I tell myself.
I round the corner of the alcove and expect to see Simon, but the hallway is empty. It’s like he disappeared into thin air. Which is not possible. He has to be in one of these rooms. But I can’t be knocking on all of these doors at this time of night, just so I can talk to the gorgeous man again.
I tilt my head slightly and listen carefully as I slowly walk to the end of the hall. But the only sound I hear is my breathing. Everything is still and quiet. So strange. Then again, it’s well after midnight and everyone on this floor—except for me, and Simon, is probably sleeping.
With reluctance, I walk back to the elevators, push the down button, and this time the normal elevator opens. Once inside the car, the door slides gently shut, and I refocus on my job. It’s a struggle, though, because I can’t get Simon off my mind.
I decide to forgo filing an incident report tonight, since I’ll have plenty of time to do it tomorrow, and I know I’ll have to explain to the manager what happened.
Hope blooms at the idea I’ll get another chance to see Simon’s handsome face again. Then maybe I’ll have a chance to get to know him a bit more before he leaves.