Chapter Twenty-One
Callie, the receptionist, had mentioned that Ben took the elevator down from his second-floor office at three o’clock sharp every afternoon to check the evening schedule. Even during the week, the banquet rooms were rented out, and Ben always doublechecked to make sure that the events were fully staffed and there were no issues with the menu.
So, wearing a sexy blouse paired with a short leather skirt and high heel boots, Aylin planted herself in the back of the employee elevator at five minutes before three.
She wore dark glasses and pretended to be on the phone when he stepped onto the elevator, distracted once again by something he was viewing on his tablet.
Sometime during the day, he’d removed his suit jacket and had his shirt sleeves rolled up.
As they approached the ground floor, she suddenly stepped behind him, running her hand across the length of his incredibly muscular arm, pressing her body against his.
“I had to see if you were for real,” she whispered into his ear.
He cleared his throat, most obviously uncomfortable. “Uh, ma’am. I’m sorry I’m not uhhh…”
When the elevator door sprang open, he rushed out from inside, spinning on his heels to check her out.
She thought his eyes were going to pop right out of his head when she slipped her sunglasses down on her nose, winking at him before pressing the button for the fourth floor.
As he tried to jump back onto the elevator, the doors finished closing tightly and she was on her way up.
By the time she reached the fourth floor, Aylin had finally been able to control her laughter. Yes, she was pretty sure that Ben might still be interested in her—even ten years later. Since she wasn’t staying at the Inn under her real name, Ben wasn’t going to be able to find her.
But tomorrow, she would find him.
* * *
He was going crazy. Ben had tried to call Mom first and then Dad to see what the heck might be going on, but for some strange reason he wasn’t able to get a hold of either one of them.
Running his hand through his hair in frustration after checking the names on all the room reservations, he finally started thinking about what had happened.
And started laughing uncontrollably. It was deliberate, of course. It had been no coincidence when Mom had told him she’d talked to Aylin.
And geez she’d looked great.
His body had responded like a lightning bolt as soon as she’d touched him. He should have known it was her since there’d never been any one else that he’d reacted to as strongly as he had Aylin.
But now he needed to figure out what was going on. As far as Ben knew, her half-brother had never been taken into custody.
Even though she was in the spotlight, Ben had heard that she never went anywhere without bodyguards.
She was probably getting tired of living that kind of life.
And maybe that’s why she was here, Ben realized, finally glancing over at Rene’s old shop which had recently been sold.
Duh, he thought, slapping his forehead. His mom had already told him this afternoon, but he just hadn’t been paying much attention.
Aylin was the one who owned the shop.