Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 126098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Tex bit his tongue to keep from laughing. “You know it’ll tighten back up afterwards.”
Shooter glared at him over his shoulder as he headed toward the office. “You have rules. I have rules.”
“Yes, Sir,” Tex replied with a grin.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Abby felt trapped behind her desk and ran her hand through her hair. She glanced at the clock for the thousandth time. She loved the Custer, but paperwork was not high on her list of favorite things. She picked up a vendor sheet for Blue Orchid Floral Services and frowned at it. Earlier that morning, she had done a walkthrough of the hotel. There were a few arrangements in the lobby. A pair of potted fruit trees that flanked the large grand staircase that led to the ballroom and a small arrangement in the elevator lobby of every floor, but that was all. Certainly nothing to justify the exorbitant fees the company was charging for providing and maintaining the Custer’s floral arrangements.
She’d already submitted a claim to her boss to look for a cheaper company, as per instructed. But he’d informed her that they would be keeping the Blue Orchid as a contractor, and then proceeding to tell her she wasn’t finding enough cuts in the budget. She’d wanted to hit him. Instead she’d picked up the phone and dialed Blue Orchid to try and negotiate a smaller monthly fee. She’d gotten no answer then and she got no answer now as she held the receiver to her ear with one hand and drummed her fingers on the desk with the other.
Unwilling to leave another voice mail, she scooped up the vendor sheet and decided to kill two birds with one stone. She could get out of her office for a bit while, hopefully, slashing her budget at the same time.
She stood up and smoothed down her knee-length black skirt. Her blazer was new, and fitted, and her dark blue silk blouse showed not a hint of the matching bra and panties that Mark had gotten for her. But she knew they were there and she had to admit it had always made her feel sexy to wear pretty underthings. More so now with the memory of Mark choosing them for her.
She grabbed her purse and headed to the parking garage on the corner. Traffic was light for a Monday and she only had to circle the block once to find the building she was looking for. She’d expected a nursery or a garden center, but then with that the Blue Orchid was charging for replacing a few lilies every month, they could afford to have an office space as well as a nursery.
She parallel parked on the street and headed through the three story building’s lobby doors. The glassed-in bulletin board put Blue Orchid on the top floor and she slipped into the elevator. The doors opened across the hall from a pair of glass doors that were propped open. Abby walked through them and spotted a receptionist to the left. Which was a little irritating since every time Abby had called, she’d gotten no answer.
She smiled anyway at the woman behind the desk. The woman smiled back.
“Do you have an appointment?” the woman asked.
Abby shook her head. “No, I was-”
“That’s okay. Helen isn’t booked this afternoon. Did you bring headshots?”
Abby hesitated. “Um. No.”
The woman shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. Helen’s got a photographer that she likes to use, so between you and me and the lamppost she would’ve made you get new ones, anyway.” She looked Abby up and down. “You from around here?”
“No,” Abby replied.
The woman nodded. “I can tell. You’re prettier than a lot of the girls we get here.” She pressed a button on the phone and it rang back to the desk. The receptionist answered it quickly. “I’ve got a walk-in.” She listened for a moment and then looked up at Abby. “Did you see us on the website?”
Playing it safe, Abby nodded.
The woman hung up the phone and gestured to the door off to the side. “Good luck!” she called enthusiastically.
Abby adjusted her purse on her shoulder and walked through the closed door. To her relief, an older woman in a fitted business suit was on the other side of the door, sitting on a couch. Abby glanced around to make sure they were alone.
The woman gestured for Abby to take a seat and so Abby did, even though she would have rather made a beeline for the elevator.
“Well, I haven’t seen you before,” the woman noted.
“No, ma’am. I haven’t been in town long.” To Abby’s relief, the woman did not ask for a resume. Did hookers even have them? Abby doubted it.
“Tell me about yourself,” the woman prompted.
Abby smirked inwardly. A typical question she, herself, would have asked any interviewee. She straightened in her chair. “Well, I just graduated,” she replied, sticking as close to the truth as possible. “And I have student loans.”