Page 32 of Hot in the City
Her phone pinged again with another message. No, it was an email. The email she had been waiting for, finally. With trembling fingers, she opened it and read it super quick, then read over it again, making sure of the details.
She squealed so loud she was certain Mr Ivanov would think she'd completely lost her mind. Maybe she had, but in a good way. Only time would tell...
Chapter Seven
Palladian Hotel
Two P.M. on Christmas Eve
Declan headed to Reception to check out, and to order a taxi headed to the airport. Sure, he would be a few hours early for his flight, but he could hang out in the Business Class lounge and get some work done. He wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the hotel, ASAP.
He wheeled his suitcase behind him as he approached the Reception desk, looking about from side to side, warily. Hopefully the hotel manager wasn't about to accost him and yell at him for corrupting one of his staff.
Declan wouldn't have entirely blamed him. Yuki was younger than him, and she'd been at work when they met. She had warned him when they headed back to the hotel, said it wasn't allowed, but did that stop Declan? Nope. He'd been under the influence of lust, pure and simple. It wasn't like him, at all. Usually, he was in complete control. Cold as a robot, according to Kendra.
When he stood in front of the desk, he half expected Yuki to pop out of the back office and banter with him. But it was a young man, Carlos, her friend maybe, who asked if he could help with anything.
"Wait just one moment, sir." He made a quick phone call, and Declan waited. "Our Events Manager will be down in a moment. She has a matter to discuss with you, if you'd be kind enough to wait."
Declan stared blankly at Carlos. What was this about? Then he remembered: the mezzanine, a snow machine, Yuki spinning around in the pretty white flakes, Santa on a throne being yelled at by her friend with curly hair. Melanie, the Events Manager.
"Yes, sure." Declan stepped to one side, wheeling his suitcase to a spot against a wall, in front of a mini Christmas tree. Carlos nodded, then shot him a wide smile.
Melanie arrived on the scene, her curls bouncing as she speed-walked towards him. "Mr Moriarty, it's a pleasure to meet you." She extended her right hand and he shook it, not sure what was happening. Melanie grinned, placing a large envelope in his other hand.
"I do hope you'll read this over this proposal, Mr Moriarty. The Events Team and many of the staff will be sorry to see you leave before we have had a chance to discuss certain future events. I'm sure you, um, your company, will keep us in mind. For the future."
Very cryptic.
He nodded, and Melanie took his hand again. "Good. I'll be around until seven tonight, if you need anything. Anything at all." She turned and walked away.
He stared after her, then glanced at the envelope in his hand, marked only with his name. Opening it, he laughed as a pile of gold glitter tumbled out. He had a feeling now, this letter could only be from Yuki. He unfolded the paper, read it, careful not to get too much glitter on his shirt.
To Declan,
I'm so sorry I'm not telling you this in person, but I couldn't let you leave the country without telling you how I feel. I'm mad about you. That's basically it. But I want to tell you the whole story.
From the first second I saw you, looking all handsome, I thought I'd love to go out with you. Well, to be honest I thought I'd like to kiss the big white smile right off your face. Then you spoke to me (I was sitting under the Christmas tree, do you remember?) and you had an Irish accent and Oh My God, I nearly swallowed my tongue. I adore an Irish accent, did you know that? You were my idea of perfect. But I never thought you'd really like me.
Anyway, we haven't had nearly enough time to get to know each other, but I wanted to tell you that last night was the BEST night of my life, even if I did get fired. It was totally worth it! Even now, thinking about how you touched me...my face is on fire. Other parts of me too. The fun parts, if you know what I mean?
I want you to know, I like you, a lot. So much, I feel like my heart is going to explode, like a letter full of glitter. Is that a weird thing to say? I don't care. I think I've fallen in love with you, even though I've only known you a few days and that's probably ridiculous. Sometimes I jump into things headfirst without thinking things through...you might have noticed!
Please don't leave without saying goodbye, properly. If I haven't burnt my bridges or traumatised you with glitter, I'd like to invite you to my apartment to talk. We can have dinner if you want to. I want you to come over. Just in case I wasn't clear, again.
My address in Elwood is below.
Lots of love (and kisses),
Yuki xxx
P.S. When you were dressed up as Santa and you kissed me, that was totally a fantasy of mine. That was probably a weird thing to tell you too. But I'm glad I did.
Declan folded the letter and chuckled under his breath. Yuki was some girl. She could still be his girl, if he played his cards right.
He wandered back to the Reception desk in a haze of conflicting emotions. He wanted her, yes. But he had to make her understand, he was a busy man. His life wasn’t all neatly wrapped up in a box marked ‘boyfriend material’. He wouldn't be around all the time. She might not want him if she understood all that. But then again, she might.
He glanced up to find Carlos watching him, his eyes sparkling. Declan stuffed the letter in his back pocket.
