Page 34 of Faking It With My New Boss

“I'm glad. I was worried all the ghosts in the big scary house would keep you awake,” I said.

Courtney gave me a playful whack on my bare stomach and glared at me. I laughed and reached over to pull her into my arms. She kissed me but wriggled away before I could turn it into anything else.

“I would love a shower,” she said. I gave her a look and she laughed, shaking her head. “An actual shower.”

“Our shower from last night was a lot more fun than that,” I said.

“Maybe I'll need a reminder sometime soon,” she said with a devilish little glint in her eyes.

As she climbed out of bed and scurried naked across the room toward the bathroom, I couldn't help but think I was creating a monster. And I was loving every single second of it. If I had my way, I was going to keep right on feeding that monster and seeing what would come of it.

I drifted in and out of sleep while she was in the shower, but I was on the phone to the kitchen when she came out of the bathroom wearing one of the robes that were put there in preparation for our arrival. As she dried her hair with a towel, she gave me a questioning look.

“Mushroom and onion quiche sounds delicious. Bacon and sausage on the side. Croissants. Any fruit you have around would be nice. And plenty of coffee, please,” I said.

I hung up and Courtney went to the dresser where she'd put her clothes.

“That sounded like the most awkward telemarketer conversation I've ever heard,” she said. “Were you doing some sort of breakfast survey?”

I laughed. “Not exactly. Well, kind of, actually. I called down to the kitchen to have Grandfather's cook send up breakfast for us.”

She immediately looked unhappy with the idea. “No. You shouldn't have done that. I don't want them thinking I'm here to push them around.”

“You aren't pushing them around. First, I'm the one who made the call, not you. So if they were to think anybody was pushing them around, it would be me. But the staff wouldn't think that because this is their job. Maybe you've forgotten what that's like,” I said.

She rolled her eyes. “Hilarious. I would point out that this technically is work, but that might hurt your feelings. So, I won't. But, seriously. Isn't it weird for us to have breakfast delivered up to us? We're not in a hotel with room service.”

“No, we're not. But we are in a very well-managed estate with staff members in that kitchen who have been here since my father was a little boy. They're used to taking care of my grandfather and whoever happens to be in the house with him at any given time. Trust me, this isn't us asking them to go out of their way. I know better than to ask Penny for anything she didn't already have cooking or what would be easy for her to make.

Besides, having the kitchen deliver our breakfast will make this morning a lot easier.”

“Why?” Courtney asked.

“If we were to go downstairs for breakfast, that would mean having to get dressed, hair, makeup, the whole thing. Be meticulously presentable and then deal with the awkwardness of a whole group of people who are going to be staring at us and thinking about last night,” I said.

She cringed a little and nodded. “Have them deliver breakfast.”

I laughed. “It's on its way.”

She finished dressing and I decided it was probably time for me to put some clothes on as well. I reluctantly got out of bed and put on the most comfortable outfit I could get away with without just putting on a pair of pajamas.

The food arrived a few moments after I finished dressing and I stepped aside to let the staff bring in the trays and plates on a rolling cart. Courtney looked impressed, but also thanked them profusely. I brought the food out onto the balcony and we settled in to eat. She took a bite of the quiche first and let out a little groan.

“That is so incredible,” she said. “I've never had a quiche that good before.”

“Penny knows what she's doing,” I said, sipping the rich, robust coffee before ripping off a piece of croissant and eating it.

“I have an idea,” Courtney said.

“Oh?”

She nodded. “It popped into my mind while I was in the shower.”

“I think I like it already,” I said.

“That area of the new hotel. The one that's supposed to be the boutique but you don't want it to be,” she said.

“Yeah. What about it?”

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