LYDIA

I spot him while I'm on the resort tour. That guy. The one from the other night who kissed me but whose name I did not get. He's just as perfect as I remembered. He makes my heart race and my pulse beat even faster than I remembered. Holy shit, I think he might work here. Which basically means I'm going to sleep with him, right? Right. It's totally happening. Meant to be. Kismet. Fate.

If he's interested, that is. But he did kiss me, so he might be interested in having sex with me. I think. I'm not exactly sure how that works for men. I've kissed men I didn't want to sleep with, obviously, but I think men are less picky than women. Aren't they? God, I hope he's less picky than I am, 'cause I think he's the one.

The one I'd like to have sex with, not the one one. No, of course not. I'm not so crazy that I'm planning marriage and babies with some man I do not know based on one perfect kiss. I still want to fall in love with the perfect man, whoever he is, and live happily ever after with him. It's just that I don't know when he's coming, that guy. What if I'm thirty before he shows up? I shouldn't have to wait until I'm thirty to experience sex.

So no, I'm not planning on marrying him. I just want to give him my virginity, because I do think that he'd be really good at deflowering me based on that one perfect kiss. Because I feel something when I see him. Something I'm not that familiar with but that I'd classify as unbridled lust. A longing. A stirring, if you will.

Deflowering. What a ridiculous word. I make a mental note not to use it when I ask him to have sex with me.

"I think I saw that guy," I tell Payton when I see her in the employee cafeteria at lunch. By cafeteria I mean the swankiest cafeteria I've ever been in. There's a salad bar, a sandwich station, a pizza station and a variety of hot selections that look like they might change daily, based on the printed menu. And it's free! How crazy is that? The employee benefits are top-notch, which is part of what attracted me to this job. Though it was more the 401k matching and health insurance plan than the free lunches for employees, but still. It's a super-cool perk. The entire staff has access to this cafeteria too. Front-of-house, back-of-house, it doesn't matter. The general manager and the housekeeper will all use the same cafeteria, which I think is amazing and equalizing and all that stuff. It's a huge space, more like a buffet really, which will be necessary to accommodate the number of employees who will be working here once we're at full staff.

"Which guy?" Payton asks before taking a huge bite from a slice of pizza. She's a tiny slip of a thing despite chowing food with the metabolism of a boy in high school.

"The guy from the bar. From the other night."

"Shut up." She drops the pizza onto her plate and grins a grin that would make the Cheshire cat proud. "Here?" she questions, one brow arched in delight at the potential entertainment this will provide her.

"Of course here. I haven't been anywhere else today but here." I cut the chicken breast on my salad into smaller pieces before piercing one with my fork, ensuring I get a perfect portion of lettuce and dressing included.

"So he works here? Did you talk to him?"

"I think so, and no. I spotted him as I was walking through the hotel lobby with my orientation group. It's kind of cool being in here before it opens, isn't it?" It really is super-cool. Have you ever been in a Vegas casino after hours? No. No, you haven't, because once they open, they're open. Twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. How many people get the opportunity to see a place like this before it opens? Not many, I'd bet.

The lobby was a bustle of activity. Construction workers on scaffolding making adjustments to the lighting while another group was tiling a decorative fountain the size of a small pool. Deliveries were being dropped at the lobby retail shops as empty cardboard boxes were being broken down and carted away.

The casino floor was much the same. Gaming tables in place, but vacant. Rows of slot machines were lit up but silent, and the entire floor was empty of people save for a bar in the center that was still under construction.

It smelled of new paint and carpet, but something else too. It smelled like a first day. Like potential and untapped energy and the whispered promise of an impending adventure.

It was eerily cool.

"Lydia, focus." Payton shakes the ice in her cup before taking a sip. "I need details!"

"I saw him in the lobby. I think he works here?" I say, but it's more of a question than a statement because I don't have a clue. "He was standing near the front doors with a couple of other guys. They were looking at a tablet and pointing at different spots in the lobby ceiling. Oh! Maybe he's in security or something? Shoot, I don't really know, but he looked like he belonged here. I suppose it's possible he's a contractor and I'll never cross paths with him again." I wrinkle my nose and shrug. It'll really suck if that was my one shot and I blew it. Even if he does work here, will I ever cross paths with him? This place is the equivalent of a small city. With thousands of employees, there will be plenty of people I rarely, if ever, see.