“Mr. Montgomery, guests are arriving.”

I groaned and squeezed Layla tighter. The last thing I wanted to do right then was make nice with the contentious people of Sweet Bay.

She stroked my back for a moment but then pulled away from me. “We can dance some more later. I’m not going anywhere. Come on, let’s go greet our visitors.”

Did she mean forever, or just for tonight? Now that I knew she felt the same about me, I’d do anything to convince her to stay. I didn’t know if that kiss would be enough to keep her there.

I slid a hand down her arm then locked her fingers with mine and pulled her towards the door leading into the dining room. She let go of my hand when we stepped inside, though. Was she embarrassed to be with me?

The room was filling up quickly with people sampling the food and drinks. They circled around the vendor tables and carried plates full of food to the dining tables. The low hum of eager chatter filled the room. I was glad to see guests, but were they only there to enjoy the free food and check out the resort?

I tensed as I made my way towards the lobby, expecting to see it empty since so many people were already in the dining room. But to my amazement, the lobby was buzzing, too. The staff at each table gave their spiel to a crowd as people hovered around them. Some departments garnered more interest than others, but all of them were seeing some action. Of course, the incentive program table had the biggest crowd. Everyone seemed excited about the chance to earn a percentage of the profit.

I turned to Layla and gave her a relieved smile. “I can’t believe how many people are here. You did it, Layla. This is all because of you.”

She grinned back at me. “We did it together. I think we make a pretty good team.”

I’d never had a partner before, never worked together with anyone. I’d had personal assistants, but I’d never given one so much control. But working with Layla had taught me that other people had value, too, and I wasn’t the only one with good ideas. If anything, Layla had more insight into the market than me.

I wanted to reward her for her efforts, but I wasn’t sure how. I could start with a raise, for one thing. I was still looking for a general manager, but Layla had been doing the job all along, on top of managing me. Maybe I should offer her the position. Would that motivate her to stay? I was thinking about that when she hissed and stiffened beside me.

I followed her gaze to the front door where her parents were standing by the welcome table. Her mother wore a suit the color of a lemon drop, with a matching bag and heels, and she had her teeth gritted into a forced smile that looked like she was sucking on one. Her father wore a bland, gray suit befitting a banker — nice, but nothing like my designer Ermenegildo Zegna. But at least he seemed a bit less antagonistic. They caught sight of Layla and headed over. I froze like an animal being stalked by a predator.

“Should I stay or go? Your mother doesn’t look friendly,” I murmured to Layla, keeping my eyes on her parents and trying to keep a calm face.

She muttered back to me with the same frozen smile. “It’s too late to leave now. They’ll think you’re rude. Stay and say hello, and I’ll try to keep them from causing trouble.”

Her mother took Layla’s head in her hands and air-kissed her cheeks then stepped back so her father could hug her and kiss her forehead. It was kind of sweet, in an ostentatious way. Her parents obviously loved her, even if they were critical and pretentious. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been hugged or kissed by my father, if ever.

“Hi Mom, Dad. This is my boss, Calvin Montgomery.” She gestured towards me.

“Thanks for coming, Mr. and Mrs. Emerson.” I held out a hand to her mother who looked at it and cringed but eventually shook it. Her father did as well, without the theatrics, then tilted his head back and scanned the room.

“Nice place you’ve got here, Montgomery. Like something you’d see in the big city.”

That sounded like a criticism in disguise, but I decided to treat it as a compliment. “Thank you, sir. I wanted to build a place worthy of Sweet Bay. Your daughter has been a great help to me. Invaluable, really. You should be very proud of her. Feel free to explore the property and enjoy the party.”

“It’s very crowded.” Mrs. Emerson flinched when someone walked too close to her.

Layla flicked her eyes in the barest hint of an eye roll. “It’s a party, Mom. It looks like half the town is here.”

“Yes, well, everyone wanted to see what kind of place was worth destroying the peace and privacy of our town.” She clutched her handbag to her side like she thought someone would take off with it.

“This resort will cater to only the most distinguished guests, ma’am, like yourself. They’ll bring recognition to the town, but not trouble. I assure you, the town will benefit from their presence.”

Mrs. Emerson didn’t seem convinced, but Layla looped her arm through her mother’s and steered her away from me. “Speaking of distinguished guests, did I tell you Beau Bennett was planning to make an appearance tonight? We’re giving away a prize package to one of the applicants at the end of the party, and he’s presenting it.”

She didn’t mention that Cara Lawson, a local reporter, was there to interview Beau, in hopes that her story would get national coverage. Cara wanted to see her name somewhere bigger than the local newspaper, and I wanted the free publicity for the resort. But I knew residents like the Emersons wouldn’t be happy about Sweet Bay getting the attention of the whole country.

I looked around for Beau, but I didn’t see him or any crowds of fans converging on one spot. I was glad he wasn’t there yet, though. As soon as he arrived, all attention would be diverted to him. I wanted people to check out the available positions first, and apply for jobs. In fact, we hadn’t even told anyone but Cara that Beau was coming, so he wouldn’t be the focus of the night. He’d be a surprise bonus for everyone who came.

While Layla kept her parents entertained, I roamed around the room, making sure everything was going smoothly and answering the random questions that were posed to me. Thanks to my status in the town, not many people were interested in talking to me, but that suited me just fine.

Everything seemed to be going all right, and I felt the tension slowly seep out of me. Layla was right; it looked like half the town was in attendance, and they weren’t just there for the party. They were exploring the department tables and filling out applications at the computers.

If there was a problem at all, it was that the space was too crowded. What was the maximum occupancy on the place? I’d never considered we might surpass it. We were bound to run out of food if the people kept coming. I was about to go check with the vendors, see if they thought they had enough to feed all the guests, when an unwelcome one came through the door.

My brother Steven. I flinched at the sight of him. What was he doing there? I’d outright told him I wasn’t willing to hire him. There was no point in him coming to the job fair. Maybe he just wanted to check the place out, but it was more likely he was there to cause trouble. That was his favorite form of entertainment. His presence alone was enough to sour the evening for me. No one else wanted him there, either, if the distasteful looks on their faces were any indication.

He wore his usual grungy jeans and tee shirt with a filthy ball cap that wasn’t enough to hide the overgrown, greasy hair that stuck out around it. At least a week’s worth of stubble covered his jaw, and he scratched at it like it was infested with fleas as the woman at the welcome desk gave him her speech. By the strained look on her face, I had a feeling his smell was worse than his appearance.

He staggered into the lobby then stopped and looked around, his body wobbling. Was he drunk? I expected a belch to burst out of him at any moment. I didn’t want to have a confrontation in the front of the lobby, but I also didn’t want to let him burrow his way into the crowd.

I caught the attention of someone on my security team and made my way towards Steven, playing out different scripts in my head, trying to think of a way to get him to leave without causing a scene. But all of them ended badly. There was just no way to rationalize with my brother, or anyone in my family, for that matter.

“Steven, what are you doing here?” I grabbed his arm and attempted to steer him towards the exit, but he dug his heels into the floor.

“Hey, it’s an open party. I got as much a right to be here as anybody.” His voice was loud, but not quite loud enough to attract attention.

I lowered my own in hopes he’d follow suit. “It’s a job fair, and I already told you, I’m not willing to hire you.”

“Come on, man! I need a job! And I heard you got a ton of openings. I’m your brother.” He smacked me in the chest, throwing himself off kilter. I held tighter to his arm to keep him from falling over. My security guards moved closer, but I shook my head at them. That kind of thing was normal for my family. It wasn’t a sign of aggression. Yet.

“I know, and I know you too well. I know what kind of employee you are. That’s not what I’m looking for.”

“I told you, I’ll do better if you just give me a chance.” His voice was high, whiny, desperate.

“Steven, you came in here drunk, filthy, and reeking. Why should I think you’d do any better as an employee? Get a job somewhere else and prove that you’ve changed. Then I might consider hiring you.” I had no intention of hiring him even if he suddenly turned into the world’s greatest employee, but I was hoping that would give him some motivation.

He poked me in the chest, each jab more powerful, and shoved his face into mine, spraying spittle as he spewed insults at me. “You think you’re so special cuz you got this fancy place and boatloads of money, but you’re still nothin’ but a lowlife Montgomery to these people. But you’re even worse that that, cuz even your family don’t like you. Nobody in this town cares about you!”

His tirade was loud enough to draw the eyes of everyone around us. So much for not making a scene. I should’ve let security take care of him and been done with it, but I couldn’t let it go. I was sick of everyone treating me like crap because of him and the rest of my family.

I grabbed the finger stabbing my chest and bent it backwards then hissed at him. “You don’t like me? Well, guess what, I can’t stand you. I’m embarrassed to be related to you. And none of these people care about you, either, but at least I’m not a total loser like you. I made something of myself, and there’s one person in this town who cares about me. Layla’s in love with me.”

A gasp went up beside me, and I looked over to see Layla’s mother, eyes glazed and mouth open, clutching her chest like she was having a heart attack. Layla stood next to her, looking back and forth between her and me with a horrified expression on her face. A small crowd surrounded them.

When I let go of Steven’s finger, he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own shoelaces. One of my security guards caught him and hauled him outside. I shook my head and sneered in disgust.

Layla quickly dragged her mother away. Had I ruined things between us? She was obviously embarrassed by me and mortified for her parents to learn how she felt about me. Did she even really love me, or was it just a ruse to get something from me?

I stalked away, needing to cool off and hoping the crowd would dissipate once the drama was over. How many people had seen the confrontation? Hopefully just the people directly around us. But the place was too crowded for me to tell who all was watching.

Had I just proved to the whole town that I was still a no-good Montgomery and destroyed everything I had worked for?