A Perfect Fit (18 page)

“We’re all here, so Blake is on his way to join us,” Lana
said. “He’ll have all the details, but the fact is, we’ve had another media
hit, and it’s going to cost us in the pocketbook big time. And more if word
gets out.”

“If it’s an article, I don’t see how we could possibly keep
it quiet,” Sage said. She pulled her feet up onto the sofa beneath her, leaving
her sandals on the floor.

“What’s going on?” Cami asked.

Lana peered at her computer screen. “It’s in the Market
News.”  

Confidence in the Six DiCarlo Daughters Wanes as the Opening
Date of the Latest Resort Approaches

The DiCarlo Hotel chain has received a fresh infusion
from the family line since George DiCarlo’s death, but confidence in his
daughters has waned and stock in his company has hit an all-time low. 

“There’s still plenty of time to see what his daughters
make of the newest resort in the chain,” Vice President Clark Thomas of DiCarlo
Hotels, Inc said. “I wouldn’t count them out yet. The proof is in the pudding,
as they say.”

The opening date for the new resort grows ever closer and
rumors of security problems, late deadlines and unfinished projects abound.
With an executive staff made up almost entirely of inexperienced family
members, many worry nepotism will be the downfall of this venture.

“Oooh, that’s slander,” Jonquil said when the room had been
silent for a long moment.

“Libel, but it actually toes the line very closely. There’s
nothing absolutely false in the article. Alex said they’d take a look at suing
them,” Lana said with a grimace.

“More bad news,” Cami continued. “Less than an hour ago I
received an email from the reservations department. The prince of Denmark and
his entourage have canceled their reservations for January, citing concern
about their security while on site.”

“That’s ridiculous, as if they weren’t bringing a phalanx of
their own staff, in addition to the super-tight restrictions Joel was going to
run while they were here,” Sage argued.

“Yeah, but apparently they weren’t interested in
reassurances or discussing security in more detail.” Lana’s face was grim.

“It gets worse,” Delphi said. “Well, no, nothing’s worse
than losing the prince as a client, but we have an additional snag. The Buehler
wedding has been cancelled. Or rather, it’s been moved to an alternate location.
I was on the phone with the mother for over an hour this afternoon, offering
almost everything from discounts to a free cake.”

Rosemary glowered at her. “You’re not giving away one of my
cakes. They’re works of art.”

“Art everyone eats,” Delphi said.

“Once it’s been appreciated and photographed, that’s
fine—cake is meant to be eaten.” Rosemary folded her arms over her chest. “It’s
still art.”

“I offered her an equivalent price break on the package,
which she turned down despite some serious temptation. The only thing she didn’t
have a problem with is Jeremy’s photography skills. Apparently
he’s
good
enough.” Her tight mouth broadcast her take on that. “Then again, her future
son-in-law went to school with Jeremy, they were buddies, and he couldn’t
possibly dump Jeremy too—not when so much of the work had already been put in.”

“Let’s forget the hours you’ve spent with her on details, I’ve
put in on cake design, Jonquil has spent discussing flowers,” Rosemary said
with a twist of her mouth.

“Of course, those details are so minor and our time isn’t
worth anything to her.” Delphi shot Rosemary a grin. “Don’t worry. She isn’t
getting her deposit back, and they’ll be paying penalties as well. But it’s not
a good omen if the locals won’t even use us.”

The doorbell rang and Lana rose to answer it. Blake strode
in wearing jeans and a T-shirt, which was the most casual thing Cami had ever seen
him wear. “Hey, ladies.” He took a glance around at the food piled on the
table. “I can always get behind a meeting that includes food.” He took an empty
spot—the one next to Lana’s laptop—and grabbed a Coke.

Though Lana shot him a dirty look, she moved the laptop and
sat beside him.

“So have you filled everyone in?” he asked.

“Yes, plus apparently we had a wedding cancellation.”

Delphi gave a short explanation.

“Well, it seems like we need to do more about the bad press.
Any ideas?”

Lana looked at Cami. “There’s the Franklin’s summer party.
The prince’s cousin almost always attends, as do several others with whom you
are far friendlier than I am.”

The thought of being stuck for a full evening at the stuffy
affair when she could be here with Vince made Cami’s teeth grind. “Yes, but you’re
the hotel manager, I’m a lowly serf in comparison.”

“Give me a break. You have the golden touch with people. We
need you to go rub elbows with a few of them. In addition, I’ll send a note to
the prince’s secretary expressing our disappointment about the miscommunication
and offering to put up his representative for a few days at no cost so they can
review protocols and safety measures on location. It may net us nothing, but it
can’t hurt.”

“Both good suggestions.” Blake turned to Delphi. “Is there
anything we can do about the wedding?”

“I’m not sure I want to deal with them after all of this,”
she said, but she twisted a pen between her fingers. “They said the groom is
friends with Jeremy. Maybe he’s also friends with Vince?” she smiled at Cami,
hopefully.

When did this all become her mess? “Oh no, I’m not asking
him for that kind of favor. You can stop that train of thought right there.”

“I’m not saying he should step up and try to convince them
this is the best place, the only place. I just think some schmoozing might be
in order. You know, he gets together with friends and you happen to be there.
Isn’t there some barbecue coming up? You two discuss the way the landscaping is
coming along, what great photo opportunities it’ll afford—a sensible segue if
Jeremy is handy.”

“You talk about how excited you are to see the whole place
come together, the amenities, the gleaming glass, the perfect tables and
chairs,” Lana picked up the line of thought.

“And how excited you are for the big opening gala we’re
going to hold and invite all of the press to, because this
conference-slash-reception center—the whole hotel—is something special,” Rosemary
finished.

Cami growled. “Fine. Fine. I’ll see what Vince thinks and we
can give it a try. I’m not making any promises.”

Jonquil’s mouth split into a smile. “They won’t know what
hit them.”

The doorbell rang and Cami saw Vince through the patio door window.

“Perfect,” Lana said. “The man of the hour.” She smirked at
Cami. “Now you can’t weasel out of asking him.”

Cami glared at Lana as she moved to answer the door. Tittering
came from several of the other women, which she chose to ignore. She had a
moment to debate the best way to bring up the issue with Vince as she crossed
the room. When Rosemary laughed at something Jonquil had whispered, Cami knew
what she was
not
going to do—she was not bringing him into the house so
everyone could embarrass her. When she opened the door, she smiled. “Hey,
there.” She nudged him so she could join him on the patio, shutting the door
firmly behind her.

He took her hand. “I stopped to see if you in the fifteen
minutes I had before my meeting tonight, but it looks like you’re in the middle
of something.”

She led him to the railing and leaned against it. “There was
a bad article in the paper that’s cost us some bookings. We’ve been discussing
strategy.” She pursed her lips, then took the plunge. “We were just talking
about how you could help, if you’re willing.”

He slid his hands onto her waist and moved in close. “I’m
game. What do you need?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the light
scent of his cologne, the softness of his hair under her fingers. She filled
him in on the wedding furor and the plan the others had hatched. She thought
she was being very casual about the whole thing, so she was surprised by his
response.

He stroked his hands up her back, then down to her waist
again. “Now why did telling me make you nervous? Did you think I’d refuse?” He
pulled her closer, holding her gaze.

The breath sucked out of her lungs when she saw the glint in
his eyes. “I guess I’m not very good at asking people for help.”

“So you don’t expect your sisters to step up and help solve
the problem?”

“That’s different. It’s their job.” She didn’t know how to
deal with this man who wanted to be there for her through everything. Trent
would have milked the favor for payback many times over.

Vince leaned in, his lips a scant inch from hers, his breath
feathering across her skin. “And I thought such a slight favor was my job,
since you’re my woman.”

Normally such a possessive comment would have raised her
independent hackles, but coming from him, it didn’t. Their lips met in a soft
caress and her brain went spinning. “Am I?”

“Most definitely.” Then his mouth took hers. His hands
skimmed up her back, drawing her to him. She reveled in his taut chest muscles
beneath her hand and the feel of his support surrounding her.

Much too soon, he eased back. “As much as I’d like to spend
the next two weeks or so kissing you, I need to grab lunch and get back to
work, and you should get back to your meeting.”

“Right. I better go.” She slid her arms from around his
neck, still light-headed, and more than a little embarrassed that they’d been
kissing in full view of everyone on the other side of the windows.

“Dinner tomorrow?” he asked, nibbling on her lip.

“Yeah, well, I’ll let you know. We should be done by dinnertime.”

“I’ll shoot for six-thirty. That’ll give me time to go home
and clean up. Maybe we can plan another time to hang out with your sisters.”

That got her attention. “Wait,” she set a hand on his chest,
easing him back so she could see his eyes. “Why?” His request to spend time
with everyone threw her. Sure, been around them all before, but this felt too
official or something. How would he fit into her unreliable family dynamic when
so much was up in the air?

He tipped his face toward hers. “They’re your family and
they’re important to you. I want to get to know them better.”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about most of them, so their
importance was debatable, but she decided not to argue. “If you want to, we’ll
have to set something up.”

“Great.” He pressed one last, firm kiss to her lips, then
pulled away, heading for his truck. “I’ll see you at six-thirty.”

Thrown off balance by his dismissal, she crossed the patio
and almost blindly reached for the door knob. The tabby Sage had adopted walked
between her legs and pawed at the door. She nudged him aside, sucked in a
steadying breath and slid through the opening.

She found everyone loading their plates with the sandwiches.

Rosemary cocked an eyebrow. “Whoa, serious lip-lock. I hope
you got a yes out of him.”

Cami felt herself blush as Jonquil piped up. “Totally hot.
You should have invited him to join us for dinner.”

Putting a hand to her hair, Cami tried to adjust to the
teasing—something she and Lana rarely did with each other, and which she never
did with others. It had a distinct sibling feel to it which both intrigued her,
and made her nervous. “I didn’t realize you were all eating or I would have
brought him in.”

Or not, since she wasn’t ready to expose Vince to these
teasing women too often—because even those who kept their thoughts to
themselves gave her amused looks. She walked to Blake’s side and grabbed a
sandwich bun. “He wants to do a dinner thing another time, casual like, so you
can meet some more people and he can get to know you all better.”

“Am I invited?” Blake asked as he passed her the mustard and
shuffled the mayo toward Lana.

“Of course, if you’re in town.”

“Great. Give me some notice and I’ll arrange it.” He glanced
at Lana and slid the American cheese slices to her, then grabbed the Sun Chips
and set them nearby.

Lana’s eyes flew to him, confusion and surprise filling them
before reverting back to her plate. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Cami narrowed her gaze at Blake as he strolled across the
room, returning to his seat. There were two kinds of cheese, and three of
chips, but Blake had known—without prodding—which Lana preferred. This
definitely bore further scrutiny.

The sun was high and hot when Vince saw Blake strolling in
his direction the next afternoon. A man with a mission, even if he did glance
around the hotel grounds, as if taking casual perusal of the beds. Vince was
cleaning away the last of the weeds on the west side flower beds and double
checking the sprinklers and the mowing job his guys had done. “Howdy. Finally
finish your meeting?”

“Yes. This has been an unusual situation. I don’t understand
why someone’s picking on the girls; add to that this ghost nonsense.” Blake
slid his hands into the pockets of his dress pants and rocked back on his heels.

“It makes me mad. Those women are doing their best, and from
what I’ve seen so far, their best is impressive. Why would someone want to ruin
it?”

“I don’t know, but I’m working on it.” Blake glanced at the
snapdragons near his feet, and when he spoke, his tone changed. “You’ve been
busy this summer.” When his eyes shot back to Vince, it was clear he wasn’t
talking about landscaping.

Though it put his back up to have his motives questioned,
Vince covered with a shrug. “You seem rather interested.”

“It’s natural.”

“Because you’ve got a thing for Lana, or because they’re
your employees, more or less?” Vince wiped his hands on his pants, not worrying
about dirt streaks. They were already beyond help of anything but a washing
machine.