Secure Location - By Beverly Long Page 0,9
floors away.”
Meg resisted the urge to scream in frustration and went to find Scott. He was talking on the telephone but he waved her into the room and motioned for her to take a chair.
Scott Slater was a nice man. He worked hard, treated his employees fairly. They’d been peers in Chicago and she’d been genuinely happy for him when he’d gotten the promotion and a chance to run a hotel in San Antonio. When she’d had to suddenly leave Chicago just months later, he’d been a godsend. She’d called and inquired and he’d offered her a job without asking any questions.
In the past year, they’d worked hard to build the infrastructure that it took to keep a six-hundred-room hotel operating smoothly. In the past three months, they’d had dinner a few times. They’d talked about work, mostly.
It had been fine. And wasn’t that enough? She’d had a great love. Now what she needed was companionship. Common interests. Strong regard.
Ugh.
Maybe she should get a dog.
Scott hung up the phone. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“My condo was vandalized. Really wrecked, actually.” She said it calmly, as if she were reporting on the monthly financials. Nobody needed to know that her insides were churning and every time she closed her eyes she could see the cascade of broken cutlery strewn across the kitchen counter. “I’m going to need a place to stay. I was hoping I could have a room here.”
He stood up and came around the front of the desk. He stood close. “Of course. I’ll give you one of the executive suites. But, Meg, this is getting ridiculous. First your car, then your apartment. What do the police think?”
“They don’t know what to think.”
“I’m worried about you,” he said. “You know that...I care about you.”
She did. On their last date, two months ago, they’d gone to one of the new Japanese restaurants. When he’d taken her home and tried to kiss her, she’d tensed up like a board. Embarrassed, she’d mumbled something about needing more time and he’d backed off.
They hadn’t been out again and Scott had never mentioned it. When they were in public, he was always absolutely appropriate. But when they were alone, his glances lingered, his smile was more intimate.
He was being a gentleman, biding his time.
It made her feel even worse that she’d let him be the fall guy when she’d needed an excuse to leave Cruz. During their marriage, Cruz had mentioned a couple times that he thought Scott was interested in more than her work ethic. So he’d readily believed her when she’d told him that Scott had asked her to be with him in San Antonio. Had let Cruz believe the worst.
She was going to be walking a tightrope with both of them in the same city.
“I mentioned Cruz to the police,” Scott admitted. “I know you were adamant that he couldn’t have had anything to do with the threats but I couldn’t be as sure.”
“I understand. It’s okay. He thinks he might be able to help. He’d like the room next to mine. Just in case, you know.”
Scott drummed his fingers on the desk. “Well, now I’m a little sorry I offered up his name.”
She nodded. That made two of them. “He’ll be here a few days at the most,” she said.
Scott picked up his phone and arranged for Meg’s and Cruz’s rooms. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked.
“Can I share the list of terminated employees with Cruz?”
Scott nodded. “Give him whatever you think will be helpful. I want this to be over. And I want him back in Chicago,” he added wryly.
“Me, too,” she said. She turned and walked out of the office. Cruz Montoya had been the first man she’d loved. She suspected he would be the only man she’d ever love. And Scott deserved better than that. Once this craziness was over and Cruz was back in Chicago, she was going to tell him so. Maybe it would mean the end of their working relationship. If so, she’d have to deal with that.
As she walked down the hallway, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. She was surprised when Charlotte picked up.
“Hey, what are you still doing there?” Meg asked. “I was going to leave a message for tomorrow.”
“Just finishing up some things. I checked your speech for tomorrow night, made sure the changes were there. Then I ran the financials that you’ll need next week.”
Meg was insanely glad to be talking about