10. Morgan
Morgan
It took everything in me to keep a straight face when Scarlett Moore walked into my office.
It’s no secret that I recognized her immediately. Actually, it is a secret. My secret. But how could I not recognize her? Those lips. Those hips. There isn’t an inch of Scarlett I didn’t recognize when she sat down in front of me. And it took every inch of my composure not to give that away.
I’m aware that pretending I’d never seen her in my life is kind of fucked up. But at the same time, I’ve never been one to wear my emotions on my sleeve. Scarlett has a gorgeously tempting name and a way of stirring up my emotions. More than I care for anyone, her included, to know.
Not only that, but it wouldn’t exactly be professional to bring up where I’ve seen her before. The last thing I want is for her to think I am hiring her because of that. Because obviously, I am not. She really is perfect for the job.
And yet. She turned me down. Well. Not entirely. If I had to guess, she’ll come around. This is a power play on her part. And the thing about power plays is I always win in the end.
But what are the odds that she’s a journalist? A travel journalist, nonetheless, who writes stories and reviews about her experiences around the country? Around the world, from what I am just now seeing.
MooreToExplore.
It’s catchy. Smart. Interesting.
As I scroll through her photos, they give me glimpses into who she is. Everywhere she’s been. Her outfits transform from floral dresses and gypsy skirts as she pads through sandy beaches and around foreign towns to canvas shorts and leather backpacks as she hikes through the woods and mountains.
She’s both lovely and unafraid to get dirty.
Authentic. And her followers know it. They comment on it, heart it, share it.
Her life is viral. Contagiously so. It’s why she would be perfect for this job.
If she can portray Bale Resorts with the same authenticity as she does her other endeavors, no amount of spitefully written anonymous articles will be able to touch our reputation.
No, it’s all very fortunate. Fortunate enough to seem ironic. Ironic enough to be suspicious.
Especially considering the article came out shortly after that night at the Sapphire. Of course, it’s entirely possible there was more than one journalist at the resort.
But a travel blogger?
The bucket list book should have made that much obvious.
Surely she wouldn’t write a review like that after a night like that. Right?
I wipe my hand down my face, trying to connect the dots when suddenly my office door flies open.
“Goddammit, Donovan, when are you going to learn how to knock?” I snap, bolting upright.
“You have a lock,” he says. “Use it if you want privacy. But when you hear what I have to tell you, I think you’re going to be glad I came in here.”
“You’re making a lot of assumptions right now,” I tell him, rubbing the knot forming in the back of my neck.
But Donovan ignores me. He’s also lacking his usual salt in his tone, which tells me whatever he has to say is serious.
Awesome. Just what I need. More shit to deal with.
“Two things,” he says, handing me his tablet. “One. There’s another article.”
“Another article?” I echo. “About Bale?”
“Mostly about you.” He grimaces, pointing at the tablet with his eyes. Then he continues to talk as I read. “Apparently someone saw you leaving the Sapphire.”
“So what? I was alone,” I say, scrolling through the article. But then I come to a screeching halt on one of the photos.
“When you left, yes. But before you left, someone else left. A woman…”
I don’t need the narration at this point. It is a woman. It’s Scarlett. Leaving the executive suite not long before me.
“So what?” I ask. “Am I not allowed to have a personal life? In my own hotel?” I’m trying to brush it off as nothing, even though I know as well as he does that it doesn’t look like nothing. It looks bad.
“It looks bad,” he says what I am thinking. “It looks like you sleep around,” he says.
“Okay? A lot of rich CEOs sleep around,” I snap back.
Donovan sighs, taking his glasses off. “It looks like you’re fucking your guests, Morgan,” he states, and I bite my lips with a scowl. “Which, considering everything else right now, looks bad. Are you?”
“Am I what?” I spit out.
“Are you fucking your guests?”
“I don’t think that’s anybody’s business,” I state.
“And yet they’re going to talk,” he says.
“They don’t know the whole story,” I say. “Or who she is, or why she was there.”
“So they’re going to make up their own story, decide who she is, and assume why she was there. You know, it would look a lot better if you weren’t single.”
I scoff at that. “I’ve been single for a long time,” I say.
Honestly, that’s an understatement. I haven’t been in a serious relationship since I was in my early twenties.
And even then, it wasn’t all that serious.
I mean, I was in my twenties. The idea of adding a permanent plus-one to my life sounds even more exhausting than all the shit I’ve already got on my plate.
“This girl,” Donovan goes on. “From the hotel. Who is she?”
“Just a girl,” I state, refusing to look at him. And the words don’t feel right coming out of my mouth. But that’s all I am going to give him.
“Really?” he presses, and I sigh, shoving up from my desk to face the window. “I have to admit, Morgan. Even though her face is hidden and a bit blurry in that photo…she looks familiar.”
Fuck.
“You think you know her?” I ask.
“No. Not know her per se,” he answers. “But I have a feeling I just met her…”
When I don’t say anything, Donovan knows that it’s true. It’s not like I’m going to lie to him. It wouldn’t work even if I tried. That’s how well he knows me.
“I bet that made for an interesting interview,” he says, with just the hint of a lilt in his voice.
“The elephant in the room never came up,” I say with a sniff, and Donovan’s eyebrows raise.
“Neither of you said anything? That’s impressive.”
“No, it’s professional,” I correct him. “The interview was about the job and nothing else. I pretended not to recognize her, and she played along.”
“Was she playing, or did she really not recognize you?” he presses.
I scoff. “There is no way she didn’t know who I am. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that she didn’t know who I was as soon as I walked into the executive suite. She was probably playing back then too.”
“Well, rendezvous reunion aside, how did the interview go? She’s a good match, isn’t she?” Donovan asks with a tone that implies he’s looking for belly rubs for his job well done.
“She’s perfect,” I admit.
“So you hired her then? The sooner we can start cleaning up our last mess, the sooner we can focus on the new one. And speaking of that, I do still have another point to make.”
“She didn’t accept the job,” I say, still pacing myself through this entire conversation.
“She didn’t…what?”
I take in a deep breath. “She said she would be in touch.”
“Ballsy…” He shakes his head. “I knew that girl was fiery when I met her. I also told her not to talk so much. I am starting to think she doesn’t like to listen.”
“She’ll learn,” I say. “And she’ll accept the job too. She’s too desperate not to.”
“I hope you’re right,” he sighs.
“So what is the second thing that had you breaking my door down a couple minutes ago?” I ask. “Might as well tackle that too while I’m in such a good mood.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. You got mail,” he says, handing me a manila envelope.
It’s addressed to me, from the Sapphire Keys.
If I had to guess, some kind of bargaining gift to keep me from firing their entire staff after that review.
I wasn’t going to do that, obviously. Though I do like the idea of keeping them on their toes.
I shove it into my messenger bag, back-burnering it while I deal with the bigger issues at hand.
But before I can say anything about anything, Conrad walks in.
What kind of fucking déjà vu is this?!
“Let me guess,” I shout, already pissed. “You’re here to ruin my day?”
“I should be saying the same thing to you,” he spouts off. Then he scrolls on his phone and sets it down in front of me. “Who the hell is that?”
The article. Scarlett. Of course he’s seen it.
“She’s nobody,” I tell him.
“Nobody?” he asks, taking his phone back and studying it. “Well, nobody is leaving your suite. And nobody looks a little walk-of-shame-ish if you know what I’m sayin’.”
“Like everyone else, you should mind your own damn business,” I tell him.
“Morgan Bale blowing off steam in all the best ways. Morgan Bale goes to new lengths to make sure guest satisfaction is a five out of five. Morgan Bale hasn’t lost his touch after all,” Conrad is literally reading the headlines back to me.
“I don’t know if you know how family business works, brother, but this is kind of my business.
Because it’s going to affect our business. ”
Conrad is pissed, obviously. And yet he is smirking. Of course he is. Because this fiasco works directly in his favor.
“My lawyer is going to eat this for breakfast. No leftovers,” he chuckles. “Who knew my angsty big brother was a fuckboy?”
“I am not a fuckboy,” I grit out every word.
“Then who is she?” he asks.
Why I say the words that come out of my mouth next, I couldn’t tell you. But I do. And like everything else that’s happened in the last month, I can’t take any of it back.
“She’s my girlfriend,” I state, and I swear I hear Donovan’s jaw hit the floor. But I hold face.
“Girlfriend?” Conrad scoffs. “You don’t have a girlfriend,” he says, and he studies me. My stone face jacks his arrogance down a notch, and I swear to God he looks a little bit nervous. “Since when?”
“A while now. I’ve kept it private. But it is serious. She and I are serious.”
“How serious?” he asks.
And since I am already in over my head, I say, “I’m planning on proposing.”
Conrad’s jaw goes slack. Then he glares at me before storming out. And the tension in the room deflates like a balloon.
“What the hell are you doing?” Donovan asks before sinking into a chair.
“Relationship clause,” I tell him. “In our parents’ will. While they hoped we would run Bale Resorts together, with neither of us dominating over the other, there is a relationship clause. If either of us were to be married…”
“You’d unofficially have the CEO position,” he says, and I nod.
“And while that doesn’t necessarily mean a lawsuit can’t change any of that, it does give me an edge.”
“True. True.” He nods, standing back up again. “Except now you have two hurdles to bound. Making sure Scarlett actually accepts the job and convincing her to play along with this charade.”
Right.
I have thought about that…in the thirty seconds I’ve had to think about it. It’s a sticky situation for sure. And yet. I have a gut feeling it’s going to work in my favor.