“So,” Jade said, getting the woman’s attention, “you’re here for an entire month?”
“Yes.” Arlene turned back to her. “I’m just starting my self-discovery trip.” She turned back to her. “And you are going to be a part of my journey.”
Jade balked. “Me?”
Arlene laughed and pulled out her phone and, before she could respond, she started recording.
“Hiya, I’m here at the Emerald Resort, one of my all-time fav resorts to escape to in the Bahamas, and with one of my besties, the owner of the resort, Jade Oswald.” Arlene threw an arm over Jade’s shoulders and pulled her in closer while Jade stared into the phone. The image of herself looking slightly shocked and out of sorts glared back at her. “I’m on my first leg of self-discovery, and Jade here has agreed to help me out.”
At that moment Wyatt set Arlene’s drink down in front of her. Arlene switched the camera around to show Wyatt.
“And this tall drink of sex appeal…”—Wyatt stepped out of view by turning around quickly. Arlene frowned but switched the camera around to them again—“is my sexy bartender for my journey. Don’t worry, he’s a little camera shy. I’ll make sure to get plenty of pics for you to drool over.” She went back to chatting about her self-discovery trip and how Jade was going to be helping her through the month-long trip.
The entire time, Jade had a sinking feeling that, once again, Arlene was going to be a pain and suck up all of Jade’s free time from Josie and, more importantly, away from Wyatt.
CHAPTERTWELVE
For the rest of the evening, Wyatt avoided the end of the bar area and the woman sitting next to Jade. He knew his job. He knew the risks of being exposed. He couldn’t afford to be videoed for the entire world to see him.
Not that his cover would be blown. At least he didn’t think so.
Thankfully, Josie seemed to pick up on his hesitation to serve Arlene and had stepped in quickly and continued to fill the woman’s drinks.
The group of teens, after realizing that the famous woman wasn’t going to give them any attention, quickly disappeared. Which, thankfully, left the bar area much quieter.
“What’s the deal with,” he asked Josie when she had a moment, nodding towards Arlene.
“Her?” Josie chuckled. “She’s Diane’s niece. She was practically raised here after her parents abandoned her with her aunt. Instead of going to college like Jade and I, Arlene decided to go into social media. She’s one of the top influencers among the pre-teen to twenty-somethings. Last I heard, she has well over eleven million followers.” Josie shook her head. “I have less than a thousand. And most of those are men after I accidently showed my…” She glanced down at her top and then rolled her eyes. “Accidently,” she clarified.
He chuckled. “Right. Okay, so she and Jade…”
“Oh my god.” Josie’s voice dropped to an almost whisper. “So, Jade has tolerated Arlene most of her life. Every time Arlene comes back to the resort, it causes an uprising among the staff. The last time, Patrick had to fire six staff members.”
“For?” he asked as he watched Jade laugh at something Arlene had said. He could tell instantly that Jade wasn’t really into the conversation, as she kept glancing his way. He winked at her and smiled when her cheeks flushed.
“This and that,” Josie answered. “I think there was a plot about room keys. Someone trying to sell keys to her room and break into her suite to take photos. Not sure.” She shrugged.
After that conversation, the teenager’s party let out and they were once again flooded with teens wanting drinks. Arlene had disappeared an hour after she’d arrived, which had given him plenty of time to flirt with Jade. He had every intention of having some alone time with her after his shift. However, Josie grabbed Jade’s hand and the duo quickly disappeared. He had no doubt that the friends had retired upstairs for the friend time that Josie had talked about all day.
He had to admit, the woman knew what she was doing behind the counter. This was either going to make his job here easier or a whole lot harder. He had the impression that nothing got past Josie.
He wondered about letting her in on his mission but knew that he’d have to talk to Jamerson first.
He was just leaving the bar half an hour after Josie and Jade had left when Arlene strolled back in.
“There you are,” she said, making her way towards him.
He held in a sigh and smiled for her. “Did you forget something?”
“Um, yeah.” She plastered herself against his chest.
His hands came up and stopped her from leaning up and kissing him.
“Oh, what’s wrong? Married?” she joked and then laughed. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“I’m involved,” he said easily. “Very involved,” he added for good measure.
Her arms dropped as she let out a loud sigh. “Oh well.” She shrugged. “If I can’t have the fun I want, then how about you make me up another drink?”