“Yes, absolutely.”
“Well, take me though how you would fix a leaking toilet?” Raina said. She didn’t bother to mention that she would have no idea if he was giving her the correct info or not as she herself would have no clue as to how to fix a toilet.
But as she listened to Christopher explain the process, she noticed he spoke haltingly and hesitantly—a contrast from his earlier demeanor.
He knew the basics, but he seemed to be reciting from a textbook rather than from acquired knowledge. Something about Christopher, though, would not let her dismiss him. Besides, maintenance wasn’t exactly rocket science, Raina told herself. She was definitely not—no way, no how—giving him the benefit of the doubt because of his charming smile and handsome looks. Nope, she told herself, she was definitely above that type of thing.…
She looked at his worn shirt and jacket and made the snap decision to hire him anyway on a trial basis. If it didn’t work out, she could always let him go. They were short on maintenance staff and the repairs were piling up.
“Well Christopher, you have the job,” she said. “However, it will be on a three-month trial basis, how’s that?”
“I’m very grateful ma’am. Thank you.” His smile reached his eyes and she would have sworn they … twinkled.
He was the charmer, Raina thought. Her pulse jumped slightly, and she recalled her earlier conversation with Kelly. It had clearly been way too long since she’d been on a date and gotten a little action. She couldn’t be a good manager if she was going to be swooning over the handyman—how would it look?
She cleared her throat. “Call me Raina; we’re not very formal around here.”
“OK, Raina, I will. Can I ask what the owner is like?”
“You mean the owner of the Del Mar?” She waved her hand. “Don’t worry about him. You’ll never see him. Even I’ve never met him. He owns so many buildings and properties all over the world I doubt he even realizes the Del Mar is one of his.”
“Some boss, huh?” he replied.
“I guess. The person from the company that we see on a more regular basis is the district manager,” Raina said. “But I doubt Pervy Rog will be bothering you.…” she muttered under her breath.
“Pervy who?”
Raina waved a hand. “Never mind. Forget I said that. But yes, from what I understand, the owner’s a pretty decent person, gives a lot to charity and so on, very private, but I suppose that goes with the territory when you’re one of the richest people in the world.” She gave a small laugh.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Then he asked a question she wasn’t expecting. “Do you like working here?”
It was an unusual question to ask in a job interview, but she liked him all the better for it. “Well,” she spread her hands on the desk between them, “I’ve been working here since I got out of high school. And I worked my way up from being a room attendant, to now managing this entire hotel.” She turned her hands, palm upward and gestured at the grandeur that surrounded them. “I’m very grateful to this company.
There aren’t many places anymore where something like that can happen.”
She felt him watching her carefully, and she put a hand to her cheek as she felt the heat rising to her face. Pull it together, Raina, she chided herself silently.
“No,” he said slowly, carefully, his voice a deep timbre, “No, I guess there aren’t.”
Their eyes met for a brief moment and he held her gaze a little longer than was strictly necessary. Raina surprised herself by being the one to look away first.
He broke the tension by making a benign comment about the weather, and they chatted a little longer before Raina directed him to the Human Resources department to formalize his employment.
As the day wore on though, Raina found her thoughts drifting often to the enigmatic handyman. There was something about him that she was drawn to apart from his good looks. He spoke with charm and grace. Whatever his circumstances were, Christopher carried himself with dignity, and like someone who was used to getting what he wanted.
Then there was that smile—easy—as though everything in the world would fall in place before him as it should.
Raina shook her head. “Idiot,” she whispered to the air and to herself. Realizing how much thought she was giving a new employee—one who had likely already forgotten her name— Raina laughed at her ridiculousness and turned back to her work.
2
Christian Del Mar couldn’t keep his eyes away from the hotel manager’s lips.
They were large, and wide, and he wondered what they would taste like. And when she smiled, her whole face lit up and her serious demeanor faded away.
Her mouth begged to be kissed and he longed to be the one to do it.
Christian pulled hard on his jeans, willing his cock not to betray the direction of his thoughts. He swallowed hard and scolded himself. That wasn’t the reason he was here. He had far more pressing matters, and getting the maintenance man job was the first step to accomplishing his goal. He hoped the quick study he had done in the last couple of days would help him pass the interview.