SIX
Aiden and Cat stood outside the door to her room, which was up on the third floor. Cat was holding the key card in her hand, but she had yet to move toward the entrance and give it a slide. He gave her a little wink as they came to a full stop.
“Well, this is the place,” he said, wishing she would ask him to come in but knowing full well that she wouldn’t. “You should enjoy the room, by the way. They each have a balcony that directly faces the ocean, and the breeze that will come from it should be quite wonderful. If I were you, I’d open the back door and air out the place. I’m sure it’s probably been closed up tight ever since the last visit from the building inspector.”
He realized as soon as the words were out of his mouth that it was information that he shouldn’t know as Scott, the diver candidate. He’d come down to the resort thinking to blend in and find himself a bit of breathing room for a time, yet pretending to be someone else was already becoming a big waste of his time. The only reason he didn’t confess to his nonsense right then was the very real possibility that finding out she’d been literally rubbing elbows with the big boss all afternoon might just piss Cat off.
Then too, it might piss her off if she didn’t find out until later. Either way, he supposed he was screwed. That was, unless he managed to impress her enough over the next week that by the time she did know the truth, she wouldn’t even care. Yeah, that wasn’t such a bad idea. Worked a lot better than getting a slap in his face right now.
“So, tomorrow?” he asked with hopeful eyes. “We both have to eat sometime, don’t we? How about if we try eating together again?”
“Yes, I suppose that could work,” she agreed, blushing. “Preferably without the peanut gallery though.”
“Great, I’ll look for you there at dinner time,” he said, smiling as he turned to go.
“I look forward to it,” she told him before she shut the door.
Aiden headed back down the stairs feeling unaccountably excited. Because all that had just happened was that two potential employees of the Whitney Resort had agreed to eat a meal together tomorrow. He hadn’t arranged a date with the girl or anything, so why was he so on top of the world?
Not bothering to change his clothes, Aiden headed straight for the docks, where he expected his two friends to be waiting for him. Sure enough, he found them both standing around and laughing about some joke, most likely one involving his interest in Cat.
“Hey, Scott’s finally here,” said Bob, snickering when he spotted him. “Only twenty minutes? Must have been a quickie.”
“Stop it, will you?” Kevin reminded him. “These jobs aren’t totally in the bag, remember?”
“So, would you mind telling me what that was all about?” Aiden grumbled as he stepped up to them. “I thought I told you guys not to blow my cover with the potentials, and then here you go telling Cat things that are bound to give her a clue.”
“Yeah,” Kevin chuckled. “She’s potential, all right. But I highly doubt hiring her to make the beds is the first thing on your mind.”
“I sure wouldn’t mind if she helped to mess up mine,” Bob added with a lascivious grin plastered on his face. “She is quite the looker, I must say. But the real question here is, what gives? I thought you told me that you weren’t the kind of man who would cheat on his wife, even if things between you aren’t exactly right. And why are you down here early and pretending to be a potential hire? This whole situation is teeming with curious nuance.”
“And the number of questions you’re asking cannot possibly be discussed out here in the open,” Aiden added. “However, it just so happens that I have a master key in my possession that will help us out. How would you gentlemen like to be the first to sample the new bar? It won’t be open for business during the job fair, but I’m pretty sure they’ve already received a large shipment of liquor.”
“Well, now, Scott no-name, now you are talking our language,” said Bob, grinning. “By the way, had you thought as far as what your last name is supposed to be, if you are indeed trying to be a potential employee?”
“Of course he chose a last name, you idiot. Does he look like a moron?”
“The truth is, I hadn’t thought much about the whole thing before I flew down,” Aiden admitted ruefully. “I just didn’t want to sit around waiting another week in Miami, and I didn’t want the complications that would arise if these people realized who I actually was. Can you imagine if I was forced to interview all seventy-five people to fill only fifty positions? I don’t even like the sound of that. Kellen is meant to weed through and deal with them all. That’s what he’s good out, you know? I want all of that taken care of so I can just swoop in and select my administration team.”
“Oh, admin? Was that why you were so interested in the lovely Miss Cat?” Bob chuckled. “You just want her to work in the same office with you, side by side, day after day, and that’s it? Well, I could see how that might be an enjoyable pastime.”
They had been walking together up the path, and now they were back in the main part of the compound. Since all of the rooms’ windows faced the ocean, and the hotel was behind them, Aiden had little concern that anyone would notice as he fit the key into the lock and let him and his friends into the bar. Naturally he closed and locked the door behind them.
“Remember, boys, don’t get too drunk though,” he added. “Tomorrow, I’m taking you two out on a dive. If you’re hoping to work for me, you’re going to have to earn your stripes. I’m not going to play favorites, all right?”
“No way, that’s not all right,” Bob scoffed. “Especially while you’re busy asking us to keep your secret for you. Details, man. I need details. And whiskey. Details and whiskey would really be nice.”
“Fine, then you shall have both,” said Aiden as he rummaged around and produced a bottle. Drinks in hand, the three men each took a stool, with Aiden in the middle, and he began to explain the whole story.
“Okay, so Brynn filed for a divorce,” Aiden sighed. “Which I don’t mind, except for some crazy reason she’s got it in her mind that she’s entitled to half of the assets despite signing that prenuptial. Something about the notion that once I turned those gyms into spas, she automatically became part owner. I don’t know. She texted it to my phone while I was flying down, and I was so pissed off I threw my cell right out the window.”
“Where did she get a crazy notion like that?” Bob scoffed.
“Who knows?” Aiden said, downing his drink and pouring himself another. “I’ve got my lawyer trying to figure all of that out right now. And also, I sent out a private eye to see if he can get any goods on her while I’m at it. Hell, I wouldn’t mind giving her a severance package of some sort, you know? But I don’t think she wants to go quietly. From what I can tell, she wants to hit me where it will hurt the most. She’s trying to force me to sell my resort.”
“No way, man, that just ain’t right,” said Kevin, disgusted beyond measure. “Didn’t you dedicate this place to your father?”
“I did,” said Aiden with a nod. “It’s his money that paid for it, too. But because I had it built during our marriage, the wench may just be able to force me to either give it up or find another way to cough up some dough. Thing is, though, there’s still one loophole. If I can prove she’s been cheating on me, I won’t have to sell anything at all. She won’t be entitled to one plug nickel.”
“Not to sound insensitive here, my friend, but that woman has been cheating on you every chance she can get,” Kevin pointed out.
“I know, but I don’t have any evidence to show,” said Aiden, sighing deeply. “I’ve got the guy working on that, though. I’m not going to let Brynn ruin my dreams anymore. She can go spread her malice in somebody else’s playground.”
“And the man has come to his senses at last,” said Bob, clapping. “Bravo!”
“Aiden, I get that Brynn’s got you so upset you’ve already downloaded four whiskey sours, but what has any of that got to do with going around masquerading as some guy named Scott instead of just laying low in that new condo you just bought?”
“They’re still renovating my new condo,” said Aiden in a longsuffering tone. “It’s not going to be ready, ironically enough, for another week. Which was exactly the reason I timed the job fair to coincide with the date I’d finally get to take possession of the thing.”
“Man, that’s rough,” said Kevin with a frown. “I really do feel for you. So why didn’t you just go stay in one of the rentals?”
“They’re being renovated too,” he replied. “They took a bit of damage from that hurricane. No, I was completely stuck about where to go, and I thought if I came down here early, I could take a vacation from myself and get my head back into gear. Trouble is, now that I’ve begun, I’m sort of stuck playing the role. How was I supposed to know I’d actually meet a girl?”
“What’s she got to do with anything?”
“I lied to her just now,” Aiden said, sighing. “I’m terrible at lying, especially when I’d be a lot happier if I simply let her know. If she finds out I’m not Scott Perry now, she’ll never be able to trust me.”
“Yeah? Well, truthfully, you shouldn’t be worrying about a woman right now anyway,” Bob chuckled. “You still haven’t even gotten your neck out of the noose.”
“I’m not stupid, Bob,” he sighed. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know. But I really like her though.”
“So what’s stopping you from telling her the truth then?” Kevin wanted to know. “You could tell her all about it tomorrow, and explain it just the same.”
“No, I don’t think so,” said Aiden. “I’ll just have to play this out and see how it goes.”