Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
After easily hefting her suitcase into the back of the vehicle, he escorted her to the passenger side and opened the door. As he watched, she lifted the heavy bag onto the floor and then scrambled up into the cab. When she lost her balance, she fell backward, colliding with him. He stabilized her by wrapping his hands around her slender waist and giving her a boost.
“Sorry, I guess I’m tired,” she murmured.
“I love this vehicle. It goes almost everywhere, but it is high to get into,” he said before jogging around the front of the jeep and climbing into the driver’s side.
Starting the engine, he waved to the security guard and promised, “I’ll make a call when I get back to my office about the drop-off point.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“It’ll take five minutes to get there,” he assured the woman sitting stiffly in her chair. “I’d ask if this was your first time to the resort, but since we just reopened, that’s pretty obvious. May I ask your name?”
“I’m Ce… I’m Molly Smith.”
“Hi, Molly. I think you’re going to love it here. Over on the bluff, you can dare to try rock climbing. There’s snorkeling and scuba diving in the water. Hiking, swimming—even helicopter tours. Pretty much anything you could want to do on vacation,” he informed her after ignoring her bobble when giving her name.
“Oh, that sounds lovely,” she said with an air that told him she’d be too busy to do that.
“How did you hear of Danger Bluff?” he asked.
“I saw an ad on the internet.”
“Great. I’ll tell the ad staff they’re doing a great job,” Hawking said as he pulled up to the front of the hotel. He jumped down from the jeep and rounded to help her out before grabbing her suitcase. “Let me walk you in to the desk.”
“I can get there. Thank you for the ride.”
He watched her eyes study his shirt as if she were memorizing his name. “My pleasure.” He pulled his business card holder from his pocket and handed her a card. “If you have any concerns, let me know. I hope I’ll run into you, Molly.”
“Thank you, Mr. Winther.”
“Call me, Hawking. This is an informal place.”
“I’ve never met anyone named Hawking,” she murmured, not moving. He wondered if she was delaying leaving him.
“Neither have I. Thanks to my mom, who lived near a reserve with red-tail hawks and the internet, there is now a Hawking. It means hawk-like or fierce.”
“Are you fierce?” she asked.
“When it comes to something or someone important to me, I’m the fiercest.”
“I’m glad to meet you then, Hawking. You’re a good person to have on one’s side.” She tilted up her lips as she looked over her shoulder, then pulled her suitcase toward the open door.
“Call me if you need anything,” Hawking called after her. That smile.
Chapter Four
Celeste almost ran into a man standing in the line at the reception desk. Jerking herself to a stop, she shook her head at her own silliness. Here she was, running for her life, or at least running away for her research’s continued existence, and she wasn’t paying attention to where she was headed.
“Hi!” a friendly woman called from behind the desk. Celeste pushed her thoughts from her head and moved forward.
“Hi. I’m Molly Smith. I’d like to prepay for seven days, although I’m planning to stay longer than that.”
“I can certainly take care of that for you. We’ll need a credit card on file,” said the receptionist. Her nametag read Liz Foster.
“I don’t use credit cards,” Molly said bluntly, pulling out a thousand dollars she’d tucked into a pocket of her purse.
“The hotel policy is to have a credit card on file in case of incidentals,” Liz informed her.
Celeste tightened her lips. “I don’t have a credit card.”
“I see. May I see your ID?” Liz requested as she waved toward a woman behind her.
“I don’t drive,” she lied. Crap, crap, crap! Celeste did not want anyone to know her real name. What was she going to do if they didn’t let her stay here? She’d gotten lucky and jumped in the car of a rideshare driver who was dropping someone off.
“Hi, Liz. Is there something I can help you with?” the woman asked when she was near.
Celeste read her nametag, Sadie Miller, Front Desk Manager. Crossing her fingers behind her, Celeste hoped for the best.
“Sadie, this is Molly Smith,” the clerk said. “She has a reservation and will stay for an extended vacation with us. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have an ID or a credit card.”
“Hi, Molly. I saw your reservation and noticed you didn’t have a departure date. How would you like us to handle your stay?” Sadie asked with a smile.
“I would like to start with a thousand-dollar deposit on my account. I won’t charge anything to the room and will add additional funds to my account as the room charges deplete this amount,” Celeste proposed.