Counterfeit Cupid (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency: Cupid #2)(5)

She pulled out a compact and fixed the smudge at the corner, then noticed the red on her teeth. Her hand shook as she closed the compact and put it away in her purse. “Thank you. I’m a little nervous tonight.” She touched her head to be sure every bottle-blonde hair was in place. “I’m having dinner with a man I haven’t seen in almost forty years.” She wadded the tissue and glanced around.

“I’ll get rid of that for you.” I took it and tossed it in the trash. “You look stunning, Jill. And I believe your car just pulled up.”

“Oh. That was even faster than I expected.” She took a deep breath and smoothed her skirt. “I hope Edward recognizes me. Wish me luck!” She hurried out and climbed into the waiting cab.

Now I wanted to stay for the second shift, in case she came back late. One of the perks of working in a hotel was all the wonderful stories I got to see play out. One of the drawbacks was all the stories I never saw the ending to because my shift ended.

I sighed and leaned against the counter. I hoped Jill and Edward would fall madly in love. And I hoped they’d come tell me about it later.

*

Several people came and went through the lobby over the next hour, some leaving to be a part of the Dallas nightlife and others stopping in Caffrey’s for dinner. The honeymoon couple came out after an hour, holding hands and carrying multiple to-go boxes—far more than could be accounted for as leftovers. They were obviously stocking up for later. I waved as they went by and made a mental note to send up some champagne later to help them celebrate.

Wouldn’t be seeing them again anytime soon.

Three people called down to see if the hot tub was fixed. It was not. Chuck from maintenance had already declared defeat. An outside guy would have to come fix it tomorrow.

A family of four came in from the street and went up the elevator. A few minutes later, the dad came back down because nobody in the group could find their key. I printed him two new cards.

As I hung up the phone to send Chuck up to the third floor to fix a clogged toilet, a guy walked in and made a beeline for my counter. His dark hair skimmed his collar and curled a little, as if he were maybe a week from needing a haircut, but not quite there yet. He pulled his suitcase toward him and pressed the handle into itself. Even that small action caused his biceps to flex.

I swallowed hard and wondered if the AC had stopped working. “Welcome to River Rock. Checking in?”

He took his sunglasses off, revealing eyes so blue I could happily stare at them for the rest of the night.

He leaned toward me. “Flynn. I believe my office made reservations.”

I realized I was still leaning on the counter. And that he was now alarmingly close. I pushed away from the counter and tapped his information in the computer. His account came right up. “Joshua?”

“Yeah. Josh.”

I took his ID and credit card and went through the steps to get him checked in. My fingers grew sweaty, causing me to drop the cards twice. Those blue eyes were kind and patient—possibly amused. I gave my head a small shake to clear it. He smelled like clean laundry and freshly cut grass. I couldn’t tell if it was an aftershave or something else, but it was distracting. I took one more deep inhale, then focused on the reservation.

His room hadn’t been assigned yet, but at that time of the evening, all the vacant rooms were clean and ready to go. Remembering what Stuart had said, I chose a room as far away from the honeymooners as possible, and up on the fifth floor, 512. It was my favorite room, newly refurbished and with a great view of the park behind us.

Michelle, one of the regular servers at Caffrey’s stepped through the glass doors and scanned the desk area. She was probably on her break and looking for Stuart. She caught my eye, and I shook my head to let her know he wasn’t there.

Josh turned to face her, resting one elbow on my counter. His focus on her was intense, as if she were a show horse he was thinking of buying, and a wide smile grew on his face.

She glanced at him, made a small frown, then returned to the restaurant.

Josh grunted. “Who was that?”

I raised an eyebrow at him and stopped moving my hands on the keyboard. “That’s Michelle. She works in the restaurant.”

“Is she single?”

In one second, I went from thinking his eyes were dreamy to thinking they were predatory. Hot guy was no longer hot. He was gross.

What a disappointment.

I clenched my jaw. “She’s already found her true love.” That was a half lie. She was single and waiting for Stuart to fall madly in love with her. She’d been waiting for awhile. I switched the reservation to room 317. Let the honeymooners keep him up all night.

He made an ugly chuckle. “True love, huh?” He shook his head and glanced back at the glass doors, his voice sounding distracted. “I’m always astonished when I hear people still believe in that sort of thing.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me?”

“That whole happily-ever-after thing.” He drew his shoulders into what looked like a rehearsed shrug. “People expect too much out of love. They should be content with happily-for-now. It all fades eventually.”

How could I have been attracted to this guy? He was devoid of a soul.

My voice was cold and formal. “How many room keys will you be needing, sir?”

“One’s fine.” He tried to give me a charming grin, but it fell flat.