I wanted to die of mortification. From behind, I thought he was the realtor who I couldn’t stand. This man was a sexy complete stranger, and I had a feeling he was from the Middleton Group. We only had a total of three reservations booked and one was for Jacob Middleton. I didn’t know anything about the Middletons except they were wealthy and successful. Unlike many people, I didn’t have daily access to the internet. My other expenses took priority over a smart phone or cable and internet. Books were all I had to occupy my time. They weren’t the most educational books, well not in an intellectual sense. They were chock-full of romance and sex, but I loved them. I was addicted, but that’s because I wasn’t ever going to end up with my own prince charming, but a girl could dream.
Speaking of dreams, I watched as every woman’s wet dream stood outside, doing something on his phone. He was probably texting his girl that he was at the hotel safe and sound. He probably told her how much he missed her and how he couldn’t wait to get home to her.
“Stupid, Harley,” I muttered under my breath as I let my wild imagination get jealous over a stranger. I rushed to my place behind the old, beat-up desk and waited for him to approach.
Turning on the professionalism I learned after working here for the past year, I greeted him cheerfully, “Hello, welcome to the River’s Peak Hotel.” My smile was wide as I hope to make him forget my gaff.
“Hello, Harley,” he said, reading my name tag which I now noticed was upside down. My entire body flushed. Freaking wonderful. Could I look any more like a fool? I was sure I would do more to look foolish before he left. So much for making a good impression.
“How can I help you today, sir?” I asked as calmly as possible, but I was shaking inside. He said my name and I wanted to faint. His chiseled jaw was groomed with a soft layer of brown facial hair. I made a whimpering sigh that I didn’t think he heard. His body seemed much larger now that we were mere inches from each other. He had light brown hair and a killer smile. His eyes were brighter than mine and they were looking at me with a smile in them. I was going to make a bigger fool of myself if I didn’t get it together.
“Sir? You make me sound old. I’m only twenty-four,” he said, holding his chest, faking a heart attack. I felt the tension leave me and I relaxed for a moment. I don’t know what magic he worked, but I was lost in his eyes so much that I wasn’t nervous.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t know your name, so sir would be appropriate,” I offered back with a bit of sass, trying to get it together. I had to treat him like any other man who came onto me. And that’s what he was doing.
“It’s Jacob Middleton,” he said, holding his hand out for me to shake. I reached out and took it, but I pulled back as fast as I could. Electricity shot through my hand and straight to my heart. My eyes jumped to his nervously then back down to my hand like there was some imprint from his touch.
“Mr. Middleton, we have your room ready,” I stuttered out weakly.
“Again, making me feel old. Call me Jacob.” He smiled at me, and I saw that I lost some of the ground and distance I tried to create.
“I think it’s better if I keep it formal, Mr. Middleton. The entire staff knows why you’re here.” He was interested in buying the hotel, and with all the debt and dilapidation, the hotel needed it or we would all be out of a job.
“Then it would be prudent to do as I asked and call me Jacob,” he said. It came off as sexual.
“I suppose, Jacob. Now, let me get you checked in so you can head up to your room.” I looked down at my old computer screen and checked him in, avoiding his eyes that I could feel were on me. My pulse was racing. Something was happening to me, and I couldn’t be this attracted to him, could I? I looked up again at him and our eyes connected.
“How old are you, Harley?” he asked, his voice deepening as he swallowed hard.
“A bit too young for you.” It was something I told all the customers that asked because it was true, but with him, I didn’t want to say it. I wanted to say eighteen so he would sweep me off my feet like in some damn fairytale, but that wasn’t the truth.
He tilted his head back like I struck him. “Wow, you wound me again.” The smile on his face made his eyes brighter. Instead of a greyish blue they were sky blue.
I wanted to lose myself in them, but instead I clarified myself for him, which I never did with any other guest. “I mean, my age would get you arrested. I’m seventeen.”
He didn’t skip a beat when he said, “And when will you be eighteen?”
“In three months.”
“Good, then in three months, will I be too old for you?” he asked like he truly wanted to know, but he wasn’t the type to want me. He’d probably been with hundreds of women. I was a virgin with no life outside of this place. Not that I had a problem with it, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Hell, I wasn’t bright enough to go high places, but I’d come to terms with that a long time ago. Community college was the only place I was accepted to and the most I would ever get. Something in my brain didn’t click all the time, but we all can’t be like him. Some of us have to make do with what we’ve been given and be happy.
“In three months, you’ll have forgotten me,” I said boldly. Men like him flirted with me all the time. Only this time the thought of him forgetting me actually hurt.
“I doubt I could ever forget you,” he said, taking the keycard from my hand without making any contact this time, something I didn’t appreciate. I watched him walk to the elevators on the left.
And that was the last time that I saw him. He checked out the next morning.