Can't Help Falling In Love (27 page)

Tony’s mouth went dry and he felt his temperature rise as she did the prowl again.
One foot right in front of the other, her hips swaying and long legs bared by a skirt.
Her golden hair was twisted in a knot behind her head and she was wearing the acid
green glasses.

His naughty teacher, librarian, and secretary, come to life. Right here in the lobby
of the Rock’n’Rolla Hotel.

R
ANDA
W
HITMORE DIDN’T
get nervous when it was time to talk business. Today she could barely contain the
nerves. Sweaty palms and a rapid heartbeat made it hard to concentrate on her prowl,
but she was determined to be sure that both Willodean and Tony knew that even if they
said no to her proposals, she was going to be just fine. Even if she wouldn’t be.
She didn’t want them to know it. They needed to make logical decisions.

This was business. Logic mattered.

When she made it to the desk, her large-and-in-charge invasion stuttered to a halt
as Misty intercepted her and Randa bent down to murmur “sweet doggy” and a few other
choice words into her floppy ears. When Misty was satisfied, she lumbered back over
to her spot and settled in for a nap.

Then every eye in the place returned to Randa. She smoothed her hand down her skirt
again and pasted on a cool, professional smile.

Willodean was having none of that. “I told your brother to let you know we were waiting.
I’m sure happy we didn’t have to wait long.” She wrapped her arms around Randa and
gave her a tight squeeze.

“Trip’s already been here?” Randa flailed a little as she tried to figure out how
to return the hug. Whitmores were not traditionally a hugging people. Before she got
a good handle on it, Willodean stepped back.

“You aren’t here to make another failed attempt at buying my hotel, are you?”

She was hoping to get out of the hotel business for once. The idea turned up the level
of nerves again. Hotels she knew. This was a brand new ballgame. Randa licked her
lips. “No, I’m here for a job interview.”

Willodean pursed her lips. “Now, I was not aware that we were hiring. Tony, did I
miss something on your list?”

Tony didn’t answer. No answer was needed.

Randa shifted one shoulder uneasily. “You may not be hiring yet, but I have all the
proof you’ll need to change your mind.” She patted her briefcase. “Give me twenty
minutes. That’s all I need.”

Willodean pretended to consider it then waved a hand. “Come on back in my office.
Tony’s just on his way out, but maybe he’s got time to listen too.”

Randa looked directly at him for the first time. “You’re leaving?” She’d been doing
her best to focus on Willodean. An angry Tony might be more than she could handle
right then. And he sort of had the right to be angry. She should have woken him up.
She should have kissed him goodbye. She should have told him in that stupid note how
much she appreciated everything he’d shown her or how much she was going to miss him
or asked him to call her. She might have if she’d known before she left how much all
that was going to hit her.

She should have kept her promise to be honest with him. She should have asked him
how he felt. She should never have left Memphis without telling Tony every mixed-up
emotion she was experiencing.

She should have called him just to hear his voice.

Instead, she’d hatched an ingenious plan.

She hoped they agreed. She’d get herself an important job here and she’d apologize
every day for as long as it took to convince Tony to take another chance on her. She
might even scrub toilets again if it would help.

“Just a vacation. One week. Strictly enforced.” Tony looked more resigned than pleased.

“Oh.” Randa was a little disconcerted. The first step of the plan was to wow them
with her business acumen, long-range planning, and creative thinking. Then she was
going to try to do the same on a personal level with Tony. Over a burger and sweet
tea because it had been entirely too long since she’d had one.

Or talked to Tony, of course.

“You’ll never guess where Tony’s headed,” Willodean trilled as they walked back to
her office. She rolled up what looked like architectural drawings to clear her desk
and settled in her chair. “One of your favorite places.”

Randa carefully placed her briefcase on the desk and opened it. She had no idea what
her favorite places were anymore. This might be at the top of the list, but now that
her favorite person was leaving and soon, judging by the duffel bag in the lobby,
she wasn’t sure. “Oh, Hawaii, maybe?”

Tony tilted his head and threaded his fingers together to rest them on his amazing
abdomen. “Chicago. I was headed to Chicago.”

At first, his answer did not compute. She pulled out three reports.

Then his answer hit her like a ton of bricks. “Chicago? Like… where I live, Chicago?”

Willodean pursed her lips and picked up the top report, opened it in front of her
face and thumbed through the pages.

Randa turned to look at Tony just in time to see him roll his eyes.

He snatched up a report and muttered, “Exactly like where you live, Chicago.”

And Randa realized she had her plan all out of order. But she hadn’t known Tony would
be standing in the lobby or be leaving on his way to see her. Her churning stomach
quieted and she realized the Tony part of the equation mattered a whole lot more than
the job part. She felt the sting of tears as she realized that she owed him another
big apology. At some point, he was going to get tired of hearing her say “I’m sorry.”
She hoped this wasn’t the time. Randa cleared her throat and flipped through the pages
of her report as she tried to remember her well-rehearsed speech.

“Well, as you can see, I’m here to pitch my idea to you. A hotel like the Rock’n’Rolla
has to stand out from the less expensive, business class hotels in this town to attract
repeat visitors. You already do this very well. In order to strengthen your position
as a destination hotel, I believe you should expand a bit. You do hotels very well,
but you’ve probably never considered a day spa. I’ve created a proposal with a menu
of services and market-average prices for the Taking Care of Business Salon and Day
Spa.”

Willodean frowned. “Well, it is a good name.”

Randa flipped open her own report. “It’s you, me, and Elvis all at the same time.
Plus, it leaves us plenty of room to operate. Not just haircuts and color or manicures
or massage, you can provide any service you like. As long as you have the space for
it. And the staff. And it’s profitable. And fits with the hotel’s goals.” Randa shrugged.
“There are a lot of things to consider still but I think it could be done and pretty
quickly.”

“Maybe by December?” Willodean raised an eyebrow. “Could it be done in four months
or so?”

Randa had no idea if it could be done in time. She did know that if anyone could pull
it off, it was her and Willodean. “I believe so. I know you’ll have the décor settled
and I have some”—Randa coughed—“passing familiarity with spa services. Together we
could do this. I was thinking maybe a little more low-key Elvis than the rest of the
hotel. Something relaxing. Easy.”

“Low key.” Willodean said the words as if the taste was unfamiliar and not altogether
pleasant before she winked. “Got a line on the staff we’d need? Maybe some top performers
for Whitmore?”

Randa shook her head. “No, Whitmore hotels don’t feature amenities like this. It doesn’t
fit the profit model, which depends on clean, basic accommodations and consistency
across the country. Business travelers stay there because they know they’ll find one
in Cleveland to be much the same as Miami.” Randa smiled. “But that’s not to say I
don’t have some ideas, contacts who can help us find the talent we need. Of course,
to be honest, I’ve never done anything like this before, built a new business or run
a spa.”

She shot a look at Tony, who was definitely not looking at her. “I want to be totally
honest at the very beginning. I don’t have a track record in spas but this is really
important to me. I’m going to work hard to make you a lot of money.” Randa shrugged.
“But that’s only important to me. What you need to know is that this will make guests
happy. It’s just another way to ensure that guests enjoy their stay here and leave
feeling better than when they walked through the doors.”

Willodean flipped through the pages. “What in the world’s a ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ massage?”

Randa took a deep breath. “Well, I figured you’d want to stick with the hotel’s theme.
Sandwiches in Viva Las Vegas have names. Services in the spa should too. Maybe we’ll
be giving the same haircuts and colors as other places, but here we’ll call it the
‘Change of Habit’ or something else if you like. That will be a Swedish massage, which
is all about relaxation and soothing, as opposed to ‘All Shook Up,’ which is deep
tissue massage.”

When neither Tony nor Willodean responded, Randa said, “I thought we could offer packages
too, especially tailored for hotel guests. ‘Beginner’s Luck’ is pretty much the basics,
a facial, manicure, and pedicure. ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ could be a group manicure
and pedicure, which would be perfect for bachelorette parties or reunions. ‘Love Me
Tender’ for a pampering day-long package including massage and facial, mani, and pedi.
‘Do Not Disturb’ for couple’s massage.” When she realized that neither Tony nor Willodean
was reading along with her, Randa stumbled to a stop. “But maybe you don’t like the
idea.” And she just couldn’t believe it. Just saying the word “facial” made her skin
feel tight and in need of deep relaxation.

Tony sighed. “Gonna show her or not?”

Randa looked from Tony to Willodean to see that they were silently communicating with
their eyes, and finally Willodean reached for the drawings she’d moved before they
sat down.

“Before I do, I gotta ask. Did you tell her about our plans? Maybe some pillow talk
before she left?” Willodean didn’t look worried. She looked excited. When Tony slowly
shook his head, her smile dimmed a little but she rolled the plans out with a flourish.
“You didn’t even try, did you, kid? She’s perfect in every way for this. Thought you
were smarter than that.”

Tony said, “Too bad you didn’t see that before she left.”

Willodean narrowed her eyes at him before she turned back to Randa. “I see you’ve
been working hard, Randa. Now let me show you what we’ve been working on.”

Randa leaned over and tried to make sense of what she was seeing but Willodean stepped
up to help. “Here’s the hotel. Here’s our expansion.” She pointed at a rendering of
the front of a new building off to the side of the hotel, beside the pool area. “Top
level’s meeting rooms and a small conference area. Bottom level’s going to house a
small chapel and reception area for weddings on one side and a spa on the other. Hadn’t
named either one yet, but I can’t argue you’ve done a fine job with the spa.” She
plopped back down in her chair. “Now, what do you think of that?”

Randa sighed. “I should have known you were already planning this.”

She was deflated. Discouraged. This was going to be the place she made her mark. She’d
thought her brainstorm would add something that would make her a valuable asset here.
She should have known Willodean Jackson already had a handle on what was best for
her home.

Willodean leaned forward. “How come you don’t look happier? I couldn’t have dreamed
it would work out this well.”

Tony leaned forward too. He stacked his report on top of hers and said, “Randa doesn’t
understand how much we needed her help, Willodean. She thinks we had a clue on how
to build and staff a spa.”

Randa laughed. “Of course you did. It’s just… logistics and stuff. And if you
didn’t you’d have figured it out. I mean, look at the success of the hotel.”

Tony nodded. “Turnover’s too high. I implemented both of your suggestions to offer
an incentive for referrals and for service. We’ll see how that goes. Talked with Laura
about pricing in Viva Las Vegas. She agrees with you and had suggested raising the
menu prices across the board when she began managing the restaurant back in April,
but we’d made zero headway with Willodean until your idea to offer different price
points. That allows us to serve great food at higher prices and still serve families
and budget travelers.”

Willodean nodded.

Randa shrugged. “Yeah, well, that’s nothing. I mean, it is but…”

She honestly didn’t know what to say.

“The point is, I’m listening, Randa. Tony and Laura are using your suggestions. And
when it comes to this spa, I got no plans to do it any differently.” Willodean picked
up the notepad she’d carried in from the front desk. “All right. That ain’t doing
it. How about this?” She slid the pad over and Randa picked it up.

“Tony’s to-do list… advertise for spa manager.” She dropped the pad.

Willodean pointed at it. “After vacation, we were going to start the search for a
manager who understood my vision and knew a thing or three about spas.” She shook
her head. “Because Tony and I are like headless chickens here. My idea of a spa day
is a bubble bath and a good whiskey. And Tony’d rather be boiled in oil than have
a pedicure. We need a pro.” She smiled. “And I only want the best for my place. So,
are you going to join us or not?”

Randa looked from Willodean to Tony and tried to figure out what she wanted. Did she
believe them? She wasn’t going to go to another place where she was nothing more than
a placeholder. She had enough faith in herself and her abilities that she could make
something great here. “I want to talk salary. And I want the apartment I stayed in
while I was here. And I need a contract.”

Willodean clapped her hands. “All right. I’ll get all that drafted up and we’ll talk
again in a week or so, how’s that?”

Randa suddenly realized she really ought to talk to Tony before she took the job anyway.
Maybe he didn’t want her here. And that mattered more than a salary. “Fine.”