Page 23 of Release Me

“Fuck. I get it! You’re hungry! Relax already.” I jerk my arm from his grip. He can be so annoying sometimes.

“Baker just found out that his mother has cancer.”

“That sucks. And?” Not to be insensitive, but I don’t know the guy.

“He’s bailing on Alaska. So you’re taking his spot.”

“What?”

“Just keep paying rent on your room here and it’s yours when we come home in the fall.”

“But—”

“Dude, trust me. This is gonna be a summer you’ll never forget. I heard this is a big gamble that Wolf is taking, opening a seasonal hotel up there. No one thinks he can pull it off. Do you know what that means?”

“No?”

Connor pauses his mad dash down the hall to meet my gaze. “It means he’s going to bring up the hottest fucking chicks you’ve ever seen in your life to work there. He’s all about image. Hottest chicks in cabins, all summer long.And us.”

I chuckle. Every decision Connor makes seems to be driven by one thing and one thing only—his dick. “Okay,you’re beginning to sell this idea to me. But I doubt they’re going to let me and Baker swap. I just got here. Life doesn’t work like that.”

Connor grins. “Wanna bet?”

Ryan isat the counter when we step through the door, helping one of the housekeeping staff, a polite smile painted on. It’s not exactly genuine, but it’s nice to see all the same. I was beginning to think her lips couldn’t curve upward.

Her attention flickers to us, and rests on me for a long moment before shifting back to the girl in front of her.

“Jean! Hey, Jean! Where are you?” Connor whisper-hisses, leaning over the counter as if she might be hiding behind it.

Ryan shoots her brother a dirty look but doesn’t say anything as her coworker appears from around the cubicle partition.

“Oh, thank God you’re here. We need your help,stat.” He’s borderline frantic.

Jean tucks her hair behind her ear and bats her eyelashes. “With what?”

“Baker’s not going to Alaska. Ronan’s going to take his place.”

“Oh? Okay?” Her onyx eyes flicker between the two of us.

“So … we need you to make that happen.”

Surprise lifts her brows. “I don’t have anything to do with Alaska recruitment. I don’t even know who?—”

“Youmustknow someone. Come on! You’re the outdoor staff coordinator! You’re our one contact in here, and Alaska is taking two of us from you. Youmustknow who to talk to.”

“I don’t, really …?” Her small, round face scrunches up with apology.

“Belinda Cartwright,” Ryan cuts in, pulled into the conversation despite the housekeeper in front of her. “She’sthe general manager for Alaska and she’s in Miami right now, down in one of the conference rooms. Try the Pacific.”

Connor slaps the counter. “Beautiful. Thanks, sis.”

“Of course. Anything for Ronan.” She smiles sweetly at me. It’s fake, but it’s pretty, all the same.

“Wow, youreallywant me out, don’t you?” She’d get an entire condo to herself for the summer.

“So, you’re notcompletelyclueless after all.” She adjusts her glasses and continues to stare at me. Her expression is unreadable.

“Come on.” Connor tugs my arm. “Let’s get you locked in.”

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