Page 476 of His Virgin Romance Series

Once we had hung up, I sighed in disappointment. It was silly of me to feel so nervous about Brie. It was just that I’d never been in a relationship like this before. It made me feel weaker and stronger at the same time, and sometimes I wasn’t sure if I liked that. I looked at the pictures on my wall and realized that there were no personal images there.

My office was cold and business-like, there was nothing personal or warm or intimate about it. Even my desk didn’t have any pictures that we remotely familial. I wondered if I was turning out just like my father. Before he had been diagnosed, he had practically lived in his office. The difference was that he had lost the woman he claimed to love, and I had just found the woman I believed I loved.

I was trying to sort out my own fragmented thoughts when Ben walked through the door. I could tell instantly from the expression on his face that he wasn’t bringing good news.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, steeling myself for the news. I knew it would only be a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.

“We have a situation,” he started.

I didn’t like the sound of that. “How bad is it?”

“It can be controlled,” he said. “But it has to be dealt with fast…”

“What happened?”

“One of our guests has come forward with a complaint.”

“A complaint?” I repeated. “Oh, well, we were bound to have a complaint sooner or later. That’s not so bad; I thought it was going to be terrible—”

“He’s accused one of the staff of theft,” Ben cut in.

Immediately I fell silent. Theft was a big accusation, and it wouldn’t bode well for the resort’s reputation if this got out there. The fact that we had just opened made us vulnerable, and bad publicity could very easily break us.

“Fuck,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” he replied.

I groaned and stood up. “What’s he claiming has been stolen?”

“A diamond choker,” he replied. “Apparently, it’s close to a million dollars.”

“Are you fucking serious?” I demanded. “The guy’s brought a diamond choker on vacation with him?”

“He’s claiming to have bought it for his wife,” he said. “For their wedding anniversary.”

“Fuck,” I said again. “This is a nightmare.”

“I’ve convinced him not to call the police,” he said.

“Good.”

“But I don’t know how long he’ll keep to that,” Ben said quickly. “I spoke to him just before coming up here. He looks like he wants to make trouble.”

“If word of this gets out, we’re not going to fare too well,” I said. “We’re a fledgling resort; we can’t afford any bad press.”

“How are we supposed to calm the guy down?”

“Offer him free room and board for…a week?”

Ben looked at me incredulously. “He’s going to laugh at that offer.”

“What would you suggest I do?” I demanded.

“Prove him wrong.”

“Excuse me?”

“Prove that the necklace wasn’t stolen,” Ben said. “Prove that he or his wife simply…misplaced it.”

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