“What, you think I don’t have a job?”
I realized I had no idea whether he did or not. “Do you?”
“I work for my father too.”
“Oh.”
“See, we have even more in common than you thought.” He smiled.
The smile was enough to curb my anger and move my thoughts to happier places, like what almost happened on the sand. I suppressed a smile of my own.
“All right, I’ll take you home.”
“Good seeing you.” Hailey tossed my flip-flops over to me from where I’d dropped them in the sand. I caught them before pulling the hoodie over my head, this time heeding Levi’s advice.
“You look too good in that,” Levi said, taking me in wearing his oversized sweatshirt. He moved behind me and pulled me into his arms.
“Bye!” I called to Hailey and Owen just as Levi took off.
As weird as it sounds, I was slowly getting used to flying. It was definitely one of those things that didn’t lose its appeal the more you did it. Instead, any fear disappeared and the intensity increased.
Landing on my balcony, Levi jimmied the door open. “This was an interesting night.”
“Did you just break into my room?” I asked as he opened the door.
“Yeah, but the lock will still work, I promise.”
“Except for one key problem.”
“Which is?” he asked.
“It won’t keep you out.”
“Like you want that, babe.”
I groaned. “Do you realize how frustrating you are?”
“Of course I do, but I like you all flustered and hot.”
“Okay, shut up and get out of here.”
“No goodnight kiss? Maybe a night cap?” he teased.
As badly as I wanted to feel his lips on mine again, if I planned to spend the night alone I needed him to leave—immediately.
“Goodnight, Levi.”
He shrugged. “Oh well, see you in your dreams.”
Before I could come up with a snappy retort, he was gone.
“So much for swearing off men,” I said quietly as I closed the balcony door behind me.
Chapter Ten
Morning came entirely too soon. I hit snooze on my alarm twice before dragging myself out of bed and into the shower. Thankfully, the hot water did the trick and after a quick breakfast, I made it down before my 9:00 a.m. shift.
The desk was relatively quiet at first, and I took the chance to talk to Natalie about Jess’s sudden departure. I hoped it wouldn’t mess up the schedule too much. Prepared to offer to pick up extra shifts, I filled her in.
“It’s fine. You two were doubling up all the time anyway, so the only difference now is that we won’t be paying two people to do the same job.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t thought about how inefficient it was to have Jess and I working together all the time. I guess I took it for granted.
“Is everything okay though? It seemed like she was enjoying it here up until the past few days.”
I hesitated, contemplating my answer. “Yeah, I think she just needed to get home.”
“I see. Well, I hope you still manage to have fun without her. I know the two of you are close.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m sure my dad will be back soon anyway.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Natalie agreed even though she probably knew just how unlikely that was.
I walked back to the main desk where a small line of irritated guests waited to be helped. I put on a smile and helped check out the first couple. The one nice thing about how busy we were is that the morning moved quickly. Later on, Billy came over to hang out at the desk. He was definitely still disappointed about Jess leaving.
“She’s definitely not coming back?” he asked.
“No, I think she’s planning to just stay home until school starts.”
“That’s too bad. Tell her I said hi if you talk to her. Okay?”
“Sure.” As I agreed I thought about what it would it be like when I finally saw Jess again. It’s not like she left because of me, but somehow I knew that our friendship would never be the same. I only hoped it survived. As imperfect as our friendship was, I didn’t want to lose it.
“Oh, look it’s your friend.” Billy’s sarcastic remark brought me out of my thoughts.
I looked across the lobby to glimpse Levi flanked on either side by guys in suits. He glanced up at me but didn’t acknowledge me at all. I watched as he headed to the elevator, trying to quell my annoyance that he hadn’t even smiled. I reminded myself that I had no reason to expect more from him than some fun nights out. Besides, I was the one to rebuff him the night before. Maybe I had denied him one too many times.
Evidently noticing my disappointment, Billy awkwardly patted my shoulder. “Ouch. Sorry about that, Allie.”
“Oh, I don’t care. It’s not like we’re really together or anything.”
“Who aren’t you really together with?” Alex strolled in and I realized it was already time for the bar to open.
“Oh, no one important.”
“Allie’s been hanging out with one of them, you know that all important one, and he just snubbed her,” Billy explained.
“Well, it’s better that way. I already told you to stay away from those guys; really there is something so off about them.”
In all of the craziness of the past week, I had pushed Alex’s warning out of my head, even if I had thought about the basement once or twice. “There you go, lecturing me again.”
“I’m just looking out for you.”
“Sure you are,” I smiled before excusing myself to go through some papers. I made sure to stay busy the rest of the morning.
By lunchtime, I decided that as much fun as I had hanging out with Levi, I needed to take a break. The hurt I felt at his remoteness made me realize that I was moving into caring too much territory. The whole reason I had sworn off men was to avoid that kind of drama.
Natalie came out of her office around noon. “Hey, you want to grab some lunch?”
“Yeah, sure.” I jumped at the opportunity. I needed to cool my thoughts, and some lunch conversation sounded like a good cure.
We decided to eat right at the hotel restaurant to save time. Over Cajun chicken salads, we shared some small talk.
“Are you from around here?” I asked.
“I’m originally from Baton Rouge. I moved to New Orleans after college and never left.”
“Do you have any family around here?”
I realized I had no idea whether he did or not. “Do you?”
“I work for my father too.”
“Oh.”
“See, we have even more in common than you thought.” He smiled.
The smile was enough to curb my anger and move my thoughts to happier places, like what almost happened on the sand. I suppressed a smile of my own.
“All right, I’ll take you home.”
“Good seeing you.” Hailey tossed my flip-flops over to me from where I’d dropped them in the sand. I caught them before pulling the hoodie over my head, this time heeding Levi’s advice.
“You look too good in that,” Levi said, taking me in wearing his oversized sweatshirt. He moved behind me and pulled me into his arms.
“Bye!” I called to Hailey and Owen just as Levi took off.
As weird as it sounds, I was slowly getting used to flying. It was definitely one of those things that didn’t lose its appeal the more you did it. Instead, any fear disappeared and the intensity increased.
Landing on my balcony, Levi jimmied the door open. “This was an interesting night.”
“Did you just break into my room?” I asked as he opened the door.
“Yeah, but the lock will still work, I promise.”
“Except for one key problem.”
“Which is?” he asked.
“It won’t keep you out.”
“Like you want that, babe.”
I groaned. “Do you realize how frustrating you are?”
“Of course I do, but I like you all flustered and hot.”
“Okay, shut up and get out of here.”
“No goodnight kiss? Maybe a night cap?” he teased.
As badly as I wanted to feel his lips on mine again, if I planned to spend the night alone I needed him to leave—immediately.
“Goodnight, Levi.”
He shrugged. “Oh well, see you in your dreams.”
Before I could come up with a snappy retort, he was gone.
“So much for swearing off men,” I said quietly as I closed the balcony door behind me.
Chapter Ten
Morning came entirely too soon. I hit snooze on my alarm twice before dragging myself out of bed and into the shower. Thankfully, the hot water did the trick and after a quick breakfast, I made it down before my 9:00 a.m. shift.
The desk was relatively quiet at first, and I took the chance to talk to Natalie about Jess’s sudden departure. I hoped it wouldn’t mess up the schedule too much. Prepared to offer to pick up extra shifts, I filled her in.
“It’s fine. You two were doubling up all the time anyway, so the only difference now is that we won’t be paying two people to do the same job.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t thought about how inefficient it was to have Jess and I working together all the time. I guess I took it for granted.
“Is everything okay though? It seemed like she was enjoying it here up until the past few days.”
I hesitated, contemplating my answer. “Yeah, I think she just needed to get home.”
“I see. Well, I hope you still manage to have fun without her. I know the two of you are close.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m sure my dad will be back soon anyway.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Natalie agreed even though she probably knew just how unlikely that was.
I walked back to the main desk where a small line of irritated guests waited to be helped. I put on a smile and helped check out the first couple. The one nice thing about how busy we were is that the morning moved quickly. Later on, Billy came over to hang out at the desk. He was definitely still disappointed about Jess leaving.
“She’s definitely not coming back?” he asked.
“No, I think she’s planning to just stay home until school starts.”
“That’s too bad. Tell her I said hi if you talk to her. Okay?”
“Sure.” As I agreed I thought about what it would it be like when I finally saw Jess again. It’s not like she left because of me, but somehow I knew that our friendship would never be the same. I only hoped it survived. As imperfect as our friendship was, I didn’t want to lose it.
“Oh, look it’s your friend.” Billy’s sarcastic remark brought me out of my thoughts.
I looked across the lobby to glimpse Levi flanked on either side by guys in suits. He glanced up at me but didn’t acknowledge me at all. I watched as he headed to the elevator, trying to quell my annoyance that he hadn’t even smiled. I reminded myself that I had no reason to expect more from him than some fun nights out. Besides, I was the one to rebuff him the night before. Maybe I had denied him one too many times.
Evidently noticing my disappointment, Billy awkwardly patted my shoulder. “Ouch. Sorry about that, Allie.”
“Oh, I don’t care. It’s not like we’re really together or anything.”
“Who aren’t you really together with?” Alex strolled in and I realized it was already time for the bar to open.
“Oh, no one important.”
“Allie’s been hanging out with one of them, you know that all important one, and he just snubbed her,” Billy explained.
“Well, it’s better that way. I already told you to stay away from those guys; really there is something so off about them.”
In all of the craziness of the past week, I had pushed Alex’s warning out of my head, even if I had thought about the basement once or twice. “There you go, lecturing me again.”
“I’m just looking out for you.”
“Sure you are,” I smiled before excusing myself to go through some papers. I made sure to stay busy the rest of the morning.
By lunchtime, I decided that as much fun as I had hanging out with Levi, I needed to take a break. The hurt I felt at his remoteness made me realize that I was moving into caring too much territory. The whole reason I had sworn off men was to avoid that kind of drama.
Natalie came out of her office around noon. “Hey, you want to grab some lunch?”
“Yeah, sure.” I jumped at the opportunity. I needed to cool my thoughts, and some lunch conversation sounded like a good cure.
We decided to eat right at the hotel restaurant to save time. Over Cajun chicken salads, we shared some small talk.
“Are you from around here?” I asked.
“I’m originally from Baton Rouge. I moved to New Orleans after college and never left.”
“Do you have any family around here?”
