38. Sloane #2
I take a deep breath to stop the urge to scream.
“I’m not bitter, Cody. I’m relieved that I dodged a giant, lethal bullet.
But that doesn’t change the fact that you did not help run anything around here, and I’m not lying to whomever you are going to fool into hiring you—oh shit.
” It dawns on me. Right. It’s Friday. “The job fair.” Frank said he heard Cody was aiming for a position there.
“Yeah. And it would really help me if you could tell them how great I was as an employee. Come on, Sloane. How about it?” He’s shifted to wounded-animal mode, with pleading eyes and a docile tone.
“You mean lie?”
He sighs with exasperation. “Yeah, sure, fine, if you want to call it that. But what do you care, anyway? It’s Wolf. You hate that place.”
“What’d it ever do to you?” a deep raspy voice calls out.
My head snaps to where Ronan fills the doorway between the two sides, still shirtless but with runners on. How long has he been standing there, listening?
He meets my gaze, long and steady, before sizing up Cody through a sip of his coffee.
“Who’s this?” Cody asks.
“Nobody.” My life is none of my ex’s business, and I want him out of here as quickly as possible.
Ronan scoffs, presses a hand over his bare chest. “After all that we’ve shared?”
Cody’s chuckle is dark. “You couldn’t have shared too much if you didn’t know what a hate-on she has for that place.”
“To be fair, we didn’t spend a lot of time talking.” Ronan winks at me.
“You’re not helping.” Seriously, why is he here?
The back door creaks open. “Am I mistaken or is that Dead Man Walking’s truck in our lot?” Frank appears behind us, his presence eating up space in my tiny shop like a grizzly bear entering a small cabin. “Oh, look. Hey, Dead Man Walking. What, you don’t need your arms anymore?” His voice booms.
I could kiss Frank right now.
“Whatever.” Cody backs away, shaking his head. “Sloane, I thought you’d have the decency to get over yourself by now, but if not, fine. They’ll hire me without your help. I mean …” He holds out his arms as if presenting himself. If there’s one thing he doesn’t lack, it’s self-confidence.
“Good luck with that.”
His responding smile is smug. “I’d say the same to you and the Sea Witch this year. Not sure how you’re gonna run things without staff.”
“Fuck you. We have staff.”
“You sure about that?”
“I already know about Dave and Teddy leaving.”
His eyebrows arch. “Dave and Teddy too ?”
A swell of panic hits me. “Why? What do you know?”
He shrugs. “Nothin’ about nothin’.” With one last wary glance at Frank, he yanks the door open. The bell jangles noisily with his departure.
I’m relieved that he’s gone, but my mind spins as I run through names. I employ sixteen seasonal staffers here, and I’m already down seven. Who else might be bailing on me?
“Ex-boyfriend?” Ronan asks casually.
“Ex fiancé,” Frank answers for me, earning my glare as he passes by, on a mission for a cup of coffee.
Ronan lets out a low whistle as he shifts out of the doorway, closer to me. His shorts are damp from his swim and, while not clinging to his groin anymore, hang low enough to highlight the V of muscle cutting downward into his pelvis. It’s not helping my concentration.
“Come on.” I gesture at the No shoes, no shirt, mediocre service sign on the wall while inhaling the scent of clean sweat and salt water that follows him.
He sets his coffee cup on my counter and pulls his shirt on, allowing me one last admiring gaze at a torso that should never be covered. “The hotel hasn’t even opened yet. Seriously, what’s the hate for?”
“That hotel has haunted me for the past five years, and it won’t stop. First, it came after my peace, and now it’s trying to ruin my business.”
A strange flicker of recognition passes across Ronan’s eyes. “ Fuck … You’re the crazy rooster commune lady.”
“ Crazy rooster commune lady ? ”
Through the open door, Frank barks with laughter.
“You own the property next door to the hotel,” he amends, and it’s followed by a muttered curse.
“Employees have heard about me?” That’s surprising. Despite all my efforts, I assumed I was nothing more than a gnat on a horse’s ass to them.
“Well, yeah, the hotel manager …” His words trail.
“The hotel manager what ?” I’ve never met this manager. I have no idea who they are. What are they telling their staff to do—stay away from me? Harass me until I’ll sell?
“So, that’s what that reaction back there was about?” Ronan jams a thumb in the air toward the beach, not answering my question. “You ditched me because I work for Wolf?” His tone is mocking.
When he says it like that, it does sound petty, but it’s not even 8:00 a.m., I’m already tired, and now I have to worry about how many more staff members plan on deserting me. “Don’t you have a job to get to?”
He checks his watch and collects his coffee cup. “Actually, yeah, I do. Thanks for the help in the water. See you around. Maybe.” That last word is a mumble. He may as well have said not likely .
I bite my bottom lip with a mixture of reluctance and regret as I watch him and his deliciously powerful back stroll out.
Frank sticks his head in. “Making friends everywhere these days, hey, Parker? Or should I say crazy rooster commune?—”
“Shut up,” I snap. “You live in that commune, remember?”
“I’m getting T-shirts made.” His deep chuckle trails him back into the coffee shop.
Rebel appears then, holding out a warmed macadamia scone and wearing a sympathetic smile. “Hungry?”
“You’re a godsend.” I clamber for the treat—my favorite. “ It’s so nice having you guys back.” I add loud enough to carry, “Frank never does nice things for me.”
A responding grunt is all I get.
“So?” Her dimples flash as I moan through a mouthful. “Who was that guy?”
“A customer from the other day.”
“Who’s got a thing for Sloane,” Frank hollers.
“Stop gossiping!” I scowl at the wall between us.
“Could be a customer with benefits.” She waggles her eyebrows.
“Not my style, you know that. Plus, I think those benefits just walked out the door, never to be seen again.” Ronan is not my concern right now, though. “Have you talked to Jeremy lately?” He and Rebel occasionally wake up in each other’s beds together—naked.
“Yeah, briefly. Why?”
“Because he booked today off and …” I collect the newspaper from my desk and hold up the Wolf job fair ad. “Do you know about this?”
Her gaze darts to the floor but not before I catch the grimace of guilt.
My shoulders sag. “So, it’s true. He’s applying to Wolf?”
“I don’t want to get in the middle of this!”
“Come on. I know I’m putting you in a tough position, but I need to know.” I already have nine reservations for next week.
She hesitates, glancing behind me, no doubt to search for help from Skye, who is conveniently still hiding. “Jeremy mentioned something about applying there.”
My arm flops to my side with the article. “Great. I knew it. He’s as good as gone.”
“Not necessarily?—”
I glare at her, and she presses her lips together. We both know Jeremy’s a shoo-in .
“So, I’m going to be down to one captain for high season.” We normally run three boats a day.
She winces. “I think AJ might be applying there too.”
“Are you kidding me?” I shriek. “Why are you just telling me this now?” My anger flares.
The coffee shop door jangles and Rebel uses that as her excuse to scurry back to the other side.
Frank swaps places with her, his expression grim.
“What do I do?” I look at him helplessly.
“They got a right to leave if they want to.”
“Yeah, fine, but don’t commit to me for the season, then!
And when are they going to give me notice?
” I press a hand against my chest as panic sets in.
“I have to stop taking bookings today. Now. At least until I know what’s happening.
” But if I close Sea Witch’s calendar, people won’t wait, they won’t call in.
They’ll just move on to our competitors. I’ll lose business either way.
Frank holds up a brown paper bag with another scone inside. In his giant hand, it looks miniature. “Why don’t you take this to Gigi?”
So she can talk me off the ledge , he doesn’t have to say. “She’s at the pool all morning. And I don’t want to stress her out about this.” She wasn’t any happier about the hotel opening than I was. Frankly, I blame Henry Wolf for her waning health.
“Okay. I’m gonna head down to the docks to do maintenance on the boats and then I’ll be movin’ equipment, if you need me.” He sets the paper bag on the desk and wanders away, leaving me to stew.
Skye is sitting cross-legged on the floor in the office, surrounded by file folders.
“What do you know about this?” No doubt she heard every word.
She smiles uneasily. “Jer’s tired of juggling jobs through the year. He wants somewhere full time, with benefits and all that.”
“Yeah, I know.” I can’t blame him. And he did come to me, asking for more hours. “What about the others? Who else besides AJ?”
She hesitates. “Ron texted me a few weeks ago?—”
“ No . Are you kidding me? Ron too!” I paid for that guy to get his USCG Captain’s license for pulling riders on that stupid giant inflatable banana boat that Frank convinced me to buy.
“He’s supposed to be staying in Surf’s Up this summer!
” What does he think, I’m going to let him pay next to nothing in rent while working for someone else?
“I don’t know for sure!” Skye says, her voice high-pitched. “He didn’t say anything specific, but I got the feeling he’s curious.”
How many others are “curious” about the new hotel in town? Is there going to be anyone left? My eyes burn with the threat of tears. “What is Wolf paying people, anyway?” Could I match it?
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I always knew I was coming here.”
“Because you are a perfect angel who would never betray me.”.
“Exactly.” She presses the backs of her hands under her chin and bats her eyelashes playfully.
But the weight of my dilemma is too much to shed with laughter. “I can’t just sit around here. If I’m going to lose half my staff, I need to know, like, now .”
Skye gasps and declares, “I have a crazy idea.”