Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (5 page)

“I have a suite on the sixteenth floor.”

“But I thought you owned this place.”

“Along with some other investors, yes, I do.”

“And you choose to live here? Among a bunch of tourists?”

“I happen to like it here.” He grinned loftily. “What can I say
- I’m a people person.”

She was beginning to get the feeling that she’d sold her soul to the devil by accepting this position. “Great.”

“So I’ll see you Monday. If not before then.”

Okay,
fine. Since she had little other choice she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was a cutup with a twisted sense of humor and not some pervert who was trying to abuse his position. Hopefully that was the case. “See you then.”

“I look forward to it.”

Sure, maybe he did.

But she sure as hell didn’t.

CHAPTER THREE

Samara was at the front desk familiarizing herself with the property management system software when the very person she’d been hoping to avoid sauntered up. Dressed in cargo shorts and a golf shirt, he looked like the king of the country club set.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Morning
…right. Did he not realize it was well past noon? Of course nobody at the front desk bothered to correct him, choosing only to reciprocate with an overly enthusiastic round of greetings. The sugary sweetness from the female check-in clerks was enough to make her want to hurl. Apparently brownnosing ran rampant through Vestal Sands.

He’s your
superior. Play nice.

“Hey, Ash,” she mumbled, barely looking up from the computer screen.
That was the most he was getting out of her.

He paused to lower his sunglasses - why was he wearing sunglasses indoors anyway, as some kind of
see-how-cool-I-am
fashion statement? - and shot her a patronizing look. “Miss Porter. As an employee here I believe it would be more appropriate if you would refer to me from now on as
Mr. Reid
.” His condescending tone held none of the previous humor.

Sami felt her cheeks burn while Stuart, Logan and the two front desk clerks watched the exchange with rapt fascination. She wanted desperately to slug that patronizing bastard right in his smug face. What kind of an asshole would go out of his way to attempt to humiliate a new employee on her very first day on the job?

As usual, her mouth preceded her brain and there was no stopping it. “Of course,
Mr. Reid
. I do apologize,
Mr. Reid
. Have a nice fucking day,
Mr. Reid
.”

Her audience stood frozen in silent shock. Apparently you didn’t smart off to
Mr. Reid
.

And then, t
o her complete surprise, his lips twitched and suddenly he seemed to be trying very hard to hold back a smile. “Why, thank you. You have a nice day too, Sami.”

Logan
’s mouth dropped open comically and they all watched as Mr. Too-Big-For-His-Britches strolled leisurely out the front entrance.

“What just happened?” one of the
clerks muttered to the other.

“I have no idea,” her coworker replied.

Stuart burst out laughing then, so hard that he doubled over coughing and one of the clerks whacked him on his back. “Oh…that was priceless,” he chortled, removing his glasses to wipe his eyes. “I owe you lunch for that one, Sami. Damn, that was beautiful.”

“
Are you kidding? If anyone else had pulled that, they’d be escorted out of the building faster than you can say
I need directions to the unemployment office.
” Logan shook his head in bewilderment. “You better watch your back, girl.”

Discouraged,
Sami folded both arms on the counter and dropped her head into them. “Tell me something, Stu. Did I screw up by taking this job?”

He was quick to reassure her. “Oh no, not at all! Don’t listen to
Logan. Reid’s fair enough as long as you do your job and never question anything he tells you to do. If I had to give you one piece of advice when dealing with him, it would be that. He doesn’t like to be challenged.”

“He doesn’t, huh.”

“I guess with all his money and influence he’s used to getting his way.”

“Great.” This was never going to work out
, not in a million years. Her smart mouth would have her sacked in no time. There was just something about the man that brought out the worst in her. She was gasoline and he was the match that sparked her.

“If it’s any consolation, you probably won’t be seeing that much of him. He comes and goes a lot,”
Logan offered helpfully.

“It wouldn’t bother
me
if he wanted to hang around more,” one of the women at the desk announced. “You have to admit, he’s mighty easy on the eyes.”

“I get the distinct impression he knows it, too,” Sami remarked, though it went without saying. It was clear that the man was so full of himself he was overflowing. God help any woman who got herself mixed up with the likes of him.

~*~*~*~

Abby
Spencer took a sip of her iced tea while keeping an analytical eye on the restaurant’s entrance for the appearance of Eva’s fiancé.

Fiancé
…God, how off-the-wall that word sounded, especially when used in conjunction with her own daughter’s name. Everything was happening so
fast.
Just last night she’d breezed back into Fremont from her sabbatical in Scotland to announce that not only was she getting married, but she planned on moving to some remote village near Mount Hood, Oregon. Abby had Googled the place out of curiosity. A population of less than a thousand - holy smokes. No mall, no fast food joints, no movie theater…

Did the girl have any idea what she was getting herself into?

Mr. Wonderful was staying in a hotel while Eva and Abby had some time together, so she at least had to award him points for tact. Of course, if he was anything like his father he’d be quite the charmer indeed. To think, all the years they’d lived next door to Julian Winter he’d never once mentioned having a son. Funny. She’d never have pictured that elegant man as a deadbeat dad. Well, his offspring better not have inherited those tendencies or he’d have
her
to contend with. She might be a pushover when it came to everything else, but let someone hurt her daughter and there’d be hell to pay.

“Is that him?” She eye
d a short, stocky man with glasses and thinning hair who entered the restaurant solo.

Eva didn’t
even look up. “When you see him, you won’t have to ask. Trust me. The resemblance is uncanny.”

“
Well, he must be a looker then. From what I remember of his father, he was something else.”

“Oh, he’s something else all right.”
Fidgety, Eva tapped a tune on her water glass with her nails, then paused to wipe the condensation from her fingers with the linen napkin unfolded across her lap. “Don’t forget, you promised you’d be nice.”

“When am I not nice?”
Honestly, what did she think she was going to do? Shine a penlight in the poor man’s eyes and interrogate him? Ask to see his financial and medical records? She had no reason to resent him for wanting to marry her daughter. If anything, it only showed that the guy had superior taste.

“Would you like to order an appetizer while you’re waiting?” The waitress, a perky girl who couldn’t have been more than eighteen, stood poised with her pen and pad in hand. There were pink streaks in her
frizzy hair and her nose was pierced on one side. Abby couldn’t help but wonder how she managed to blow her nose without injuring herself. Kids these days…they picked some bizarre ways to express themselves.

“Did you want an appetizer?” Abby asked Eva, glancing across the table at her.
She didn’t respond, didn’t even hear the question. Her attention was focused instead on someone across the room, and the way those green eyes lit up indicated that the rest of the world no longer existed for her.

Mr. Wonderful had arrived,
apparently.

“No thanks hon, we’ll wait for the rest of our party.”
Abby turned her head in the direction of the entrance, and the first thought that ran through her mind when she caught sight of the blond approaching their table was
holy hunk on toast!

No wonder Eva was
infatuated.

“Ms. Spencer? Julian Winter. It is a pleasure to
finally make your acquaintance.”

Not only
was the young man a remarkably identical replica of his father, he sounded like him too, down to the mild English accent and articulate pronunciation. He had a voice designed for movie narration. And a face designed for magazine covers. “Nice to meet you, too. My goodness, you
do
look just like your father.”

“That is the only similarity, I can assure you.” He slipped into the booth beside Eva and smiled warmly at her. “Hello, darling.”

With his accent it came out sounding like
dahling
. Abby watched the way the couple interacted with interest. There was no mistaking that these were two people who were very much in love. The way they were looking at each other bordered on salacious. Was this the way she looked at Grant? She’d better watch that. The entire medical staff would know she had the hots for him if she wasn’t careful.

“Have you ladies been waiting long? I’m not late, am I?”

“No, we got here a little early,” Eva assured him.

The waitress sidled back over to take their orders, and once that was
taken care of Julian addressed Abby before she had the chance to confront him.

“I expect this all must seem a bit precipitous to you, Ms. Spencer…”

“Abby.”

“Abby. I hope I can
ease your concerns by assuring you that your daughter will not only be protected and well provided for, but she will be loved and cherished every waking day of her life.”

Abby wondered with amusement if he’d rehearsed that charming little speech beforehand. “
Well, I hope so. Because I expect nothing less.”

Eva rolled her eyes. “Mom…”

“On my honor, she will receive nothing less than my constant devotion.”

Was he always this formal?
“Relax, hon. No need to be uptight. I promise I’m not going to bite you.”

The couple exchanged
clandestine smiles as if they found her off-the-cuff remark humorous. Maybe she’d inadvertently used some new idiom she wasn’t up to date on. Youthspeak was fickle. A few years ago she’d heard Eva call someone a dillhole and assumed it had something to do with the spice.

Yeah…apparently it didn’t.

“So Julian…I understand you’re a musician?”

“I do
dabble in musical composition, yes.”

“What instrument do you play?”

“Classic piano, keyboard, cello, violin, acoustic guitar…”

“I didn’t know you played the guitar,” Eva
remarked.

“It isn’t my instrument of choice. I prefer the piano.”

“My goodness, you
are
accomplished. I could barely get Eva to sit still long enough to master
Mary Had A Little Lamb
.”

“Pfft. Just as well. Dad took the piano with him when he moved out,” Eva pointed out
, then added facetiously, “Do you suppose Michelle is musically inclined?”

“Oh, honey. I’d be surprised if Michelle could figure out how to get the fallboard up.”
Whoops. Maybe she should watch the ex-bashing in present company. She didn’t want to give him the impression that she was some bitter old harpy.

And s
peaking of disappearing men…“So how
is
your father these days?”

“I’m afraid we haven’t spoken in years,” Julian confided. “I was not a priority in his life
, you see. We never had a typical father/son relationship.”

“And your mother? Where does she live?”

“She passed away when I was twelve. After that, I was sent to live with my grandfather in London.”

“Oh…I’m sorry.”
Situations like this always felt awkward to Abby. After all, what could be said that didn’t come off as insincere?

“No need to be. You couldn’t have known. Besides, I still have Lainie.”

“Is that your grandmother?”

“Lainie was his nanny. She practically raised him,” Eva explained.
“She’s the friend I told you about, the one I stayed with in Scotland.”

“
That’s right, I remember now. Thought the name sounded familiar.”

“You’ll meet her at the wedding,” Julian promised.

“Which brings me to my next question…when will that be?” Abby leaned forward and targeted her daughter. “Have you set a definite date yet?”