Chapter Excerpt #2
“Don’t look so surprised. Why the heck would I want to wear a cheap wig, thick glasses and a fake nose?
I already know everything I need to. Once we replace the existing personnel with my people and fully implement my resort standards, it won’t take long to turn the outdated and glorified roadside inn into a five-star destination.
This walk-through is just a technicality. ”
“Technicality?” The tone of Ava’s voice shifted to one she might use when dealing with an unusually dense underling.
“The employees are people with families and bills to pay. They’re more than numbers on a spreadsheet.
It would do you good to see that for yourself.
Besides, some of the TV show participants only need a new hairdo and—”
“Off-the-rack clothes.” Brad laughed at the idea. “Like I said, no thanks. I’m not putting on a dog-and-pony show for anyone.”
“You’d look good with a new nose,” John deadpanned.
“Let me know when you go undercover, and then maybe I’ll think about it.” If Ava and Angela had not been in the room, Brad would have offered a different comeback. Something hitting a little further below the belt.
“I already have. Sort of.” John shrugged.
“Remember I spent my vacation here in Kona as regular Forrest Maplewood, not CEO John Maplewood. Besides if that doesn’t count, Father had all of us work at least one summer in high school for his company.
To appreciate the value of a buck. In his infinite wisdom, Ironman Maplewood decided I needed to work with the janitor. ”
Billy tipped his beer bottle at him. “That explains why you wield a mean mop.”
“Ha ha,” John teased back.
Angela shrugged at Brad “You have to admit. John’s got a point about his visit here. None of us had a clue he wasn’t just an ordinary construction guy.”
“I think you should do it.” Ava stared at Brad. “It will be good for you and the hotel.”
He could hear the dare in her tone, see it in her stare. Blast, she might not be a business mogul, but she had that don’t-mess-with-me stare down pat.
“Why would I want to carve out a week or more of my already overloaded schedule? This place is no different than any other hotel we’ve bought out. We have a proven takeover strategy. I don’t have to see the place to know what has to be done.”
“It’s one thing to be presented with a shiny new toy. It’s another thing to be the person who shines it.” Ava crossed her arms, and Brad ignored the prideful smile John bestowed on his wife.
“No,” Brad repeated more sternly. The whole idea was absurd. By the time he had turned thirty, he’d bought and sold more companies than his old man had in his entire life. Brad didn’t need to play doorman to evaluate the latest acquisition.
“She’s right.” John Maplewood was an imposing man who could get his way with just a look.
A look that didn’t work on Brad. He shook his head.
A buzzer sounded from the kitchen, and Ava pushed to her feet. “Dinner will be served in ten.”
“I’ll go get Izzy.” Angela stood and smiled at her sister-in-law. “The cat will be thrilled.”
Crossing the room, Ava paused at Brad’s side. “Every good CEO should know what it’s like to be at the bottom of the totem pole.” Then she walked away.
Shifting his gaze from his wife’s departing back to his brother-in-law who merely shrugged and smiled, and finally settling on Brad, like the cocky jock he’d always been back in school, John cast a wry grin in his friend’s direction. “Afraid you can’t cut it?”
“That look doesn’t work on me anymore.”
John’s grin grew. He leaned back into the leather love seat. “I dare you. No TV cameras. No gimmicks. Just you, a false name, and two weeks punching a clock.”
This was ridiculous. Why was he even discussing something so absurd?
All through high school, he and John had one-upped each other with dares and challenges.
Stupid inconsequential things at first, like who could eat more hotdogs without barfing, but, by senior year, they’d coaxed each other into almost everything regardless of cost or risk, but that was years ago.
They’d both moved on to the real world. Matured.
But still, the look in John’s gaze sent Brad spiraling back to their days in the hallowed halls of one of the East Coast’s most elite prep school, where pissing contests seemed to be the favored pastime.
There was no reason for Brad to do this.
None. He had nothing to prove. To anyone.
John’s smile slipped, his expression blank, his thoughts unreadable, as he leaned forward, pinning Brad with his gaze. “Unless of course, you don’t think you’re man enough?”
Billy burst out laughing, just as his wife and daughter walked into the room. “Oh to be a fly on the wall for this one.”
Brad wasn’t going to do it. There was no reason. No reason at all. Except maybe the two men glaring at him.