Page 23 of Housekeeping

“I’m going to assume you came here to make a deal then?”

This was it. While the VIP section of a club wasn’t exactly a convenient place to make deals, it didn’t matter. The others were off having fun, and I stayed back to make my case for the deal. The others might have had chances throughout the day, before I joined the group when they were playing tennis, even on the drive to the club. I wouldn’t know who got the deal until tomorrow, but I was fairly confident in my abilities.

It was the one thing Dad had to be proud of when it came to me.

Laura was still in my thoughts, but I pushed them aside. As much as I wanted to go back to her, I needed to focus on closing the deal.

By the time the others came back to join us, I was done negotiating. I didn’t last long after that, before I was impatient to be away from all the noise and smell of alcohol.

“If you’ll all excuse me,” I said, getting up. “I’m going to be heading back.”

No one tried to get me to stay. In fact, some of the competition grinned when they heard I was leaving. Not that I cared. I made my way back to the hotel where I took a shower then lay down on the bed. It was a while before I could fall asleep.

The next morning, I got the good news just before I checked out of the hotel. We got the deal. I was grinning all the way back home because I finished my task, and I would get to see Laura. I was in a hurry to relay the news to Trent, then I could find Laura and get back to my own life. When I arrived at the hotel, I had my suitcase taken to my room for me and took the elevator all the way up to the office. Trent was always in there. He even ate lunch in the office, so it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t find him there.

“What?”

I looked up at the secretary; my hand paused on the door handle. She stood up from her desk and rounded it to stand in front of me. I backed up for a moment.

“Is my brother busy somewhere else? A meeting?” I didn’t quite believe her when she said he was out.

She shook her head, her hands clasped together in front of her stomach and a small furrow in her brow.

“Mr. Thompson left, I’m afraid.”

An eyebrow jumped up. “My brother left? The hotel? Is it for work, or what?”

I was getting impatient and hating all this fucking cloak and dagger treatment. Just tell me what’s going on and be done. Why is everyone always so fucking secretive?

“Your sister came to meet him, and they spoke. Afterward, he checked out of the hotel.”

I frowned, glanced at the door, then turned back down the hallway, pulling my phone out of my pocket to call my sister. It took so long for her to pick up I almost thought she’d ignore me. She picked up just before the call cut off.

“What is it?” she asked, her voice subdued.

It was enough to give me a moment’s pause. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I had something much more important to deal with.

“Emily, I heard Trent took off after you said something to him. What the hell happened while I was away? And where’s Kevin?”

She sighed. “I think Kevin is still busy, but Trent’s gone back home. To his home, not the mansion. If you want to know why, you’ll want to ask him, but he dropped everything and left.”

That had me freezing again. Fuck, there was still work to be done, wasn’t there? Especially with this new deal coming in. I couldn’t call Trent and ask why he’d just left, he and I weren’t nearly that close. But he’d pretty much left Kevin and me in charge without a word. It wasn’t like him and it meant I’d be busier now, instead of taking some time off. I let out a groan, looking at the folder I still held in my hand where I’d the signed documents for the deal.

“I’ve gotta go, Emily. I need to get some stuff done here. I’ll call you later so we can talk.”

I would have liked to ignore all responsibility and play hooky, but I knew better. The hotel would survive without someone working in the head office for a day but work still needed to get done. Damn our father and his stupid work ethic. I turned around and walked back to the secretary.

“Is there anything important Trent was supposed to do before he left? I’ll do it myself.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, getting back up. “Please come this way, and I’ll show you.”

I sighed as I followed her into the office, knowing my schedule would be packed for the rest of the day. I could call Kevin later to let him know so we could divide the work up equally.

It was eveningby the time I sat back in the office chair, done with… not everything but enough that I thought I could get some rest and continue with everything else later. Laura immediately came to mind, and I jumped out of my seat.

I’d spent most of yesterday and today just thinking about her, wanting to see her. I’d turned down all the women who’d come onto me on my trip, very tempting women at that. Not one of them had been able to make me stop thinking of Laura just by looking at them. They also didn’t have that spark that attracted me to Laura so much in the first place. That something that made my toes curl every time she was in my vicinity.

After I’d had her in my bed, my interest in her had increased rather than waned. Instead of summoning her to my room again, because she very clearly didn’t like it, I went out to look for her.