Can't Help Falling In Love (12 page)

Feelings had been dangerous, especially early on in his Rock’n’Rolla assimilation.
The place really did feel like family and one thing he’d learned was that family made
a man vulnerable. Because like returning Misty to her owner, that loss was inevitable.
Sometimes it was desertion or changing schools or graduating or leaving boot camp
or… sometimes it was a camouflaged bomb on the side of the road. Life meant loss.
Pulling back meant he didn’t get too attached, didn’t have to face that.

But first there was Willodean. And Misty. And Laura. And now even KT was starting
to feel like the brother he never wanted.

The numbness that meant survival was fading. He was happy about it but scared to lose
the protection too.

Randa Whitmore made him think of possibilities and futures and choices and things
he’d always wanted but had been afraid to hope for a long time. She might be even
more dangerous than Willodean. They both held out hope, but in very different ways.
If only the person she pretended to be was who she really was. It would be easy to
stay away. But she wasn’t. He was uncomfortable with how much he liked the real Randa.

Sitting here at the bar, eating a burger and fries, wiping the dribbled dipping sauce
off her chin and wiggling her toes to make the flower on her foot dance in time to
the Elvis song playing in the bar, she looked like a normal girl. Somebody who liked
the same things he did. Maybe she even wanted the same things he did. And, God, that
was a dangerous thought.

“What? Did I miss some?” She pulled up a napkin and dabbed at her chin. “You’re appalled
at my table manners, aren’t you? It’s okay. You should be. Thank God the lights are
too bright for me to see clearly in the mirror.”

She smiled at him then took a drink of the sweet tea. “I should really order one of
these and take it back to my room so I can love it in super-secret darkness, wantonly,
and as I wish.”

Tony shook his head. “Just a good thing you aren’t wearing glasses or something. That
would really turn my stomach.” When she wrinkled her nose at him in answer to his
teasing, he smiled. Cute Randa was hard to resist.

Randa pushed her plate back. “I’ve spent a long time being hungry. I like being stuffed
better.” Then she let out a happy sigh and stared up at the ceiling. “What a fabulous
day.”

Tony did his best to ignore the thrill of satisfaction that raced up from his gut.
He couldn’t argue with her. She was absolutely right.

“And now, thanks to you, I have books to make it a truly rocking night.”

Tony choked on the water he was drinking because an image of the two of them rocking
. . . naked… spread out across a bed immediately flashed across his mind.

She thumped him on the back and added, “And because I am in such a fabulous mood,
I am going to say thank you in the best way you could imagine.”

Tony coughed and would have choked again if he’d been able to get any air in the first
place. He held up a finger and forced himself to take deep breaths while ignoring
the desperate hopeful shouting of his body. Finally he took two slow drinks of water
and said, “What did you have in mind?”

She signed the ticket Cat placed in front of her with a flourish and said, “I am going
to help you with your housekeeping shortage.”

This was going to be good. It wasn’t that hard to see through the generosity of the
offer to the real reason behind it. For some reason, she wanted to see the other rooms.
She’d already hinted once at the pool. This was one way to do it. He couldn’t imagine
how letting her see the other rooms would hurt the hotel, and an extra pair of hands,
even if they were Randa’s, would be helpful. “Oh, yeah? How?”

She pulled over a napkin and took the pen Cat had left to number one through five.
“Did you forget that I am a management consultant? Normally, companies pay big bucks
for advice like mine. You did me a huge favor, so I am going to give you five easy
suggestions on how to get more good employees in the door and how to keep them beyond
the first six months.” She arched a brow. “Are you ready for this?”

So she hadn’t quite worked through it in her mind. He felt a flash of satisfaction
at being more than one step ahead of her. Maybe it was just the idea of actually cleaning
toilets had never occurred to her. Seduction, yes. A little hard work, not so much.

Tony sighed. “Well, I do appreciate that, but you know, my biggest problem is tomorrow.
Elvis Week is one of the biggest weeks of the year. Under normal circumstances, we
manage. It’s just tomorrow, when we’re at full capacity, that we’re really needing
help.”

Randa deflated slowly. “Oh, well, I just thought you might like some ideas.”

Tony shrugged and pulled out his wallet. “Could really use an extra pair of hands.”

Randa stared off into space as she thought about that. She didn’t look particularly
worried or revolted and he thought he could see the realization spread across her
face. She turned to him and said, “Tell me where and when. I’ll be there with rubber
gloves on.” She shrugged and it took everything in him not to watch the bounce of
her breasts. “Well, not really. I mean, unless you’re providing rubber gloves.”

“How about ten? In the laundry room right behind the elevator on the second floor.”
He watched her nod and decided he’d be her partner. The staff usually worked in teams
of two or three. Since they were shorthanded, he was going to pair up an experienced
maid with a temp, but he wanted to watch Randa work. For more than one reason.

They slid off the stools and made a stop by Misty’s palm frond in the lobby so that
Randa could murmur sweet nothings in her floppy ears and Tony could do his best to
ignore how damned cute she was in her neon shoes and puppy love. He shook hands with
the new night guy, Leon, and told him he’d be on duty in a few hours.

Randa finally stood with a sigh when Misty licked her lips and stretched back out
on the cool floor. He said, “Maybe you ought to get a dog.”

Randa smiled up at him but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’d have to make some really
big changes to do that. Other than all the travel I do.”

“Wouldn’t the staff at Daddy’s house help out?”

Randa’s smile slipped and Tony realized he’d just done it again. Throwing up her father’s
money reminded them both of their differences, and it made him feel like an ass. “Possibly,
but only if Mommy moved out first. Dogs do not fit the décor.”

“Not even for the baby girl?” To him, that was the way it should be. He’d seen it
more than once. Baby girls got away with murder. He hoped he had a chance someday
to carry on that tradition.

“Nope, nothing trumps the décor.” Randa tried to smile. “Someday, maybe, the rules
will be different at my place. I just have to settle down somewhere first.”

Tony reached for her hand and squeezed it as they turned down the hallway to her room
and the staff apartments. “Maybe a dog would make the changes worth it.”

Randa blinked and said, “Yeah, maybe.”

She opened her door and he stepped in to grab his books off the table. Then they stared
at each other. Now he could hear very faint strains of guitar from the restaurant.
And his breathing. He wanted to kiss her but the idea of putting his hands on her
without stripping her naked seemed impossible.

So he raised his hand in an awkward wave and said, “See you in the morning, then.”

Randa nodded and put one hand on the doorknob. She was so close. He could have his
lips on hers just like that.

But he was strong. And he had to go to work. In an hour or two.

He was manning up to do the right thing and had almost convinced himself to step back
out into the hallway when she inched closer, raised up on her tiptoes, and pressed
her lips to his. The crinkle of the bag in his hand was loud when he wrapped his arms
around her waist and tugged her tighter against his body. It was impossible to ignore
how well she fit his arms. Pressed against him like this, he could feel her breasts
on his chest and her hips rested against his like she was the lock to his key.

She started the kiss but he took it over. Sweet turned into hot and a little rough
as he claimed her mouth. He had a tight grip on her hips and was about two seconds
from pushing her back into the room and closing the door behind him. But he pulled
back to look in her eyes. They were bright and her cheeks were flushed and he wanted
to put the better-than-sex look from the bar back on her face. He glanced over at
the bed and saw her laptop set up like she was ready to sit down and go right back
to work. That was all he needed to get a little more control. One more day. Then Willodean
would be back.

As much as he wanted to demand answers right now, he could hear Laura’s voice telling
him to wait. The only thing he cared about more than doing his job to protect the
hotel was pleasing Willodean. And the place was hers. The Whitmores were rich enough
to cause trouble if he didn’t like Randa’s answer, not that Willodean would worry
much about that. So far all Randa had done was… exactly nothing. So he’d wait,
even though it rubbed him the wrong way, and talk to Willodean. Then he’d confront
Randa to ask what she was really doing there and do his damnedest to convince her
not to leave without seeing where this explosive attraction would go. He knew it was
a mistake. But he expected the payoff to be so worth any suffering he experienced
when she headed back to Chicago.

He blew out a frustrated breath and then kissed her hard once on the lips before he
stepped back. “See you in the morning.”

He forced himself to step back out in the hallway and to take one step right after
the other until he reached the door to the pool and the staff apartments. He paused
there to look back to see her standing in the pool of light of her doorway. She didn’t
look any happier than he felt. And even if it was cold consolation, he was relieved
as he stepped out into the muggy Memphis evening.

Chapter Seven

R
ANDA HAD NO
trouble finding the laundry room on the second floor. As soon as she stepped off
the elevator, she could hear someone whistling like he was one of the seven dwarves
headed to work. Maybe Dopey. And she knew without a doubt that it could not be Tony.
The whistler was a cheerful, happy soul without a care in the world. She also knew
that if Tony was around, he was seconds from ordering the whistler far, far away.

She raised her hand to knock on the door and heard Tony say, “Okay, Masters, we get
it. You’re happy to be here. The rest of us don’t whistle until at least three o’clock.
Have some respect.”

Happy she could hear what almost sounded like a smile in his voice, she rapped twice
and opened the door just as KT Masters answered, “Sure thing, Tony. The luckiest man
in the world can take pity on the less fortunate. Just take my advice, man. Get a
woman. The right one will bring a happy song to your lips.”

Tony rolled his eyes and Randa did her best not to let her smile slip when their eyes
locked across the crowded laundry room. She also did her best not to blush or replay
the memory of that last kiss in her mind. She’d been doing it all night between worthy
attempts to lose herself in one of her new books. The grooves were so well worn at
this point that her mind slipped back into them easily. His lips on hers. The heat
of his hands in the small of her back. The hard press of his chest against hers.

She’d lost track of the conversation. She could tell because everyone the room was
staring at her. Or, to be honest, most of them were dividing their time between goggling
at Tony and then back at her.

KT Masters, former child star, current television producer, and man in love with Laura,
recovered first. He let out a sharp wolf whistle and held out his hand to Randa. “Well,
maybe you already know what I’m talking about then.” KT wagged his eyebrows at Tony.
Tony’s lips tightened and he sniffed. KT blinked. “Did you just sniff at me? Like,
in disdain or something? Weird. When did you become an old lady?”

When he turned back to Randa, she shook his hand and said, “It’s very nice to meet
you, Mr. Masters. I’m Randa.”

KT Masters had the look of a man who was on top of the world and determined to make
sure everyone was having as good a time as he was. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder
and Randa would have sworn the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. She shot
a look at Tony. As always his face was hard to read. But his eyes… they seemed
a little clearer. At his cold glare, KT laughed. “Call me KT. Everyone in the Rock’n’Rolla
does. And if there’s one way to become family around here, it’s to give up a vacation
day to scrub toilets. Welcome, Randa.”

Randa felt a little warm glow at the idea of being adopted into the family. If she’d
known it was as easy as changing some sheets and scrubbing a toilet, she might have
tried that the afternoon she arrived.

Tony’s voice matched his glare as he said, “She’s a guest, Masters. Not an employee.”

“Well, now, maybe she’s a little bit of both today.” KT squeezed her closer before
he stepped back. “Don’t you worry, Randa. Tony knows some of the best people start
out that way.” He clapped his hands. “I want Randa as a partner.”

Randa started to agree, but Tony’s vehement headshaking stopped her. He said, “Nope,
Consuela’s in charge around here. She sets the pairs and the assignments.” He nodded
at a tiny woman whose Hawaiian shirt reached her knees. She had salt-and-pepper hair
and shiny dark eyes. And she might actually be a thousand years old. Randa had no
idea how old she really was, but she did not wear a floppy hat to the pool, that much
was clear.

“Thank you, Mr. Tony. I think we are all here and accounted for.” She wrote a list
of names on the small whiteboard behind her. “Sheila, Deedee, and Rosa will work with
the temps on the first floor, including the conference rooms and the pool area. Mr.
KT and I will be working on this floor. I will keep a very close eye on him and make
him scrub all the toilets.” The maids laughed at his pained groan. “And that leaves
the third floor for Mr. Tony and his friend, Randa.”