Middle Earth, it definitely involves a woman.”
He barked out a laugh. Only Izzy would make a Lord of the Rings reference. After all, she’d been the one to introduce him to the Tolkien series many years ago.
“You know me too well,” he said.
“I certainly do.” She made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go have your fun. Get it out of your system, because there’ll come a time very soon when you’ll have to settle down—”
“You’re breaking up.” He grabbed a stack of writing paper off the table and scrunched it, making crackling sounds. “Love you. Gotta go.”
She grinned, tut-tutting as she waggled her finger at the screen, before it went dark.
He loved Izzy, he really did, but she had a one-track mind when it came to his love life, and if she had her way he would have an express ticket to Marriageville.
His cell rang, and when he glanced at the screen he found himself smiling. How could Harper turn him into that guy, the guy who got a buzz just by seeing her name pop up on the screen?
He stabbed at the “answer” button with his thumb and raised the phone to his ear. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself. How’s your room?”
“You could see for yourself if you popped in.”
“Is that a line?”
“I don’t know. Is it? Do you feel the compulsion to rush over to room 306 and see me right now? I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Sorry, no compulsion.”
“Too bad.” He lowered his voice. “I’m still sore from hefting all those heavy platters in Auckland, and if you want me at the top of my beefcake game for your shoot tomorrow, you could give me that massage.”
She laughed, a joyous sound that shot straight to his heart. Head. Gut. Wherever. “Nice try, but I’ll pass.”
“Your loss, sweetheart. Just think, you could be here right now, having me splayed on the bed at your mercy, all that bare skin to explore, running your hands over my pectorals, my biceps, my latissimus dorsi—”
“I hope that’s not a fancy anatomical term for anything below the waist.”
He guffawed, enjoying their sparring way too much. “You sure I haven’t tempted you?”
She hesitated a moment, before replying. “Maybe a little, but I really have to prep for tomorrow. I’m meeting with the head chef in thirty minutes to run through the dishes, then I’ll need a few hours to go through my planning.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“Just bring the beefcake at eight sharp in the morning.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And Manny?”
“Yeah?”
“If I ever lose my mind and decide to give you a massage, I’ll be starting at your very impressive gluteus maximus.”
21
Harper couldn’t stop grinning as she made her way down the elaborate staircase leading to the hotel foyer. She’d never been good at comebacks, always thinking of a witty retort about ten minutes later than she should. But her parting comment to Manny before hanging up made her feel like punching the air. She just wished she could’ve seen his expression.
Of course, thinking about putting her hands anywhere near his glutes wasn’t conducive to focusing on work, and she needed to get her head in the game to meet with the head chef shortly. She hadn’t had much feedback after the job in Auckland. Not that she’d expected to hear from Wayne Storr himself, but it would’ve been nice to get some kind of response from his minions, who would’ve e-mailed him the layout and shots for final approval after the job was done.
On the upside, she hadn’t received anything negative either, so she took that as a good sign. Thanks to Manny coming to her rescue, she’d done the job to the best of her abilities and had been happy with the result. The fact he’d offered to accompany her down here to help too . . . still blew her mind. Guys needed to get the Manny memo that chocolates and flowers weren’t the way to a woman’s heart; give her a gallant guy who wasn’t afraid to take orders from a stressed-out woman any day.
As she traipsed down the final few steps into the foyer, she couldn’t help but wish she landed these kinds of jobs all the time. There was something inherently luxe about the Storr Hotels, an understated elegance that welcomed and enraptured at the same time.
Whereas the new hotel in Auckland had a cosmopolitan vibe with a funky edge, this one channeled Hamptons chic. Cool and sophisticated met rustic beach casual. From the ash floorboards to the white-painted