Page 21 of Flirting With Forever
Sloane ended the call and leaned back in the desk chair where she sat, stretching her arms overhead. Cole had gone into the convenience store to grab them some cold drinks and snacks while she finished up her call with the tech guy, and right now she couldn’t stop the satisfied smile on her lips if she tried.
She’d been on the phone for hours.
Hours.
Going over everything from the settings to permissions to uninstalling and reinstalling the program and setting everything up all over again.
But now?
“If that smile means you’ve done it, I need to go back in there and buy some champagne instead,” Cole said.
She turned to find Cole and Gage watching her from the door leading to the convenience store, and her smile widened. “Mission accomplished.”
Cole grinned and shook his head, shoving the items he held under his arms so that he could give her a slow clap of appreciation. She noted that Gage just looked perplexed. “You didn’t think I could do it?”
The two men entered the building and moved toward her, both tall and handsome and broad shouldered. But she found her gaze mostly trained on Gage and wondered why she felt the overwhelming need to prove herself. Or at least…hold her own? Make it clear she wasn’t a charity case but?—
“This calls for a celebration,” Cole said. “How about we take our new hire to Haven? Ana can meet us there and maybe Elias will take a break and join us.”
“Haven?” The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
“Elias’s restaurant,” Cole said. “Fantastic food and our treat. You’ve performed a miracle.”
Sloane glanced at her other boss and realized Gage watched her a little too intently, a deep frown etched into his too-handsome face. “That’d be nice, but you don’t have to treat me. I was just doing my job.”
“Which we appreciate. Don’t we, Gage?”
“Haven is something of an experience,” Gage said with a tight shrug. “We should go. You’ve earned that gold star.”
“What about working on organizing your downstairs?”
“You have to eat. And we have to celebrate your triumph over technology,” Cole said.
Minutes later, Sloane found herself walking between her bosses into the lobby of a high-rise hotel. The outside looked new and lush with palm trees and beautiful blooming flowers. And the inside… The inside was magazine-worthy and upscale with polished floors and huge columns and small boutique-style storefronts down a corridor with awnings extending over the glass windows like one would see down an old coastal boardwalk.
“This way,” Cole said, indicating one of the stores with a sweep of his broad hand.
Coastal Couture looked every bit as elegant and fun as the woman who greeted Cole with a bright smile and quick kiss. Sloane watched with more than a twinge of envy as the two embraced before Cole wrapped an arm around the woman’s shoulders and turned her to make the introductions.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Sloane. Cole says you’ve been a big help.”
“Just doing my job. And it’s nice to meet you too. This shop is amazing. You have beautiful taste,” she said, shifting her gaze to take in everything from wristlets and jewelry to shoes, dresses and bathing suits, all of which had pretty price tags she wouldn’t have blinked at in her old life. But again, if staying in a beach hotel like this? The price tags were nothing by comparison. And, she noted, there were less expensive options offered as well.
Sloane liked that. Liked that Ana cared enough to offer something to every customer and not just a select few.
“Thanks. It’s a dream come true. So what are we celebrating?” Ana asked, staring up at Cole. “You were deliberately vague when you texted me.”
Cole pressed a kiss to the top of Ana’s head. “Sloane managed to do the impossible and get the computer back up. We won’t have to murder Gage after all.”
Sloane watched as Ana slid Cole a scolding glance, smiling all the while.
“I suppose that is cause for celebration,” Ana said with a grin. “I wasn’t looking forward to visiting you in prison. I called upstairs after you messaged me, and the dinner rush hasn’t quite hit yet, but we’d better get up there and claim a table.”
Ana left the boutique in the capable hands of her assistant, and the four of them headed toward the elevator, making small talk about the day. It wasn’t until they were inside the elevator that Sloane noticed the name of the hotel and felt the blood drain from her face.
How had she missed it on the drive up? Walking inside? Was she blind?
“Something wrong?” Gage asked, his gaze a little too inquisitive for her liking.
