Morgan
“M iss me already ?” Conrad answers the phone with his usual cockiness, and I am immediately
seething. I was seething before he answered the phone. I was seething as soon as I heard the woman
yelling at the counter. Because issues in one of my resorts should never escalate to the point of yelling.
There should never be anything wrong enough for that to happen. Ever. But I needed to get out of that
room. Before things went too far. Yes, we need to practice believable chemistry. But with the way
things were going, we were about to practice more than that. And I’m not about to let myself get that
distracted. No matter how fucking luscious those hips are. Goddamn those pants. So I focus on the
negative. “What the hell is going on at these resorts?” I growl into the phone. “You tell me. I was
recently suspended from the travel portion of my job,” he tells me. I wish I was standing in front of him
so I could pop that smirk off his face. “The drains are clogged. The beaches are dirty. The A/C units
aren’t running properly. And that’s just the tip of the shit pile, Conrad.” “Sounds like normal hotel
things to me,” he says flippantly, and my rage level goes up another notch.
“We are not a normal hotel, Conrad. We are Bale Resorts, and I don’t know if you are aware, but we are
at the top of the chain for luxury resorts. Or we were,” I nearly shout. “Why are you so riled up about
it?” he asks. “You never cared before. Not enough to go hotel hopping with a checklist.” “That was your
job. A job we agreed to years ago. How long have things been this bad?” I demand. “You’re assuming
they've always been this bad,” he says. “San Diego is kind of a cess pool anyway, at least compared to
other resort cities. Definitely not my favorite. You should go to Rio! That resort is banger.” I grit my
teeth so hard I’m pretty sure my tongue is bleeding. “Our standards, our parent’s standards, should
apply to every resort we own. I don’t care if we open a roadside motel, the Bale standard should stand.”
But Conrad just scoffs. “Be real, brother. Our standards will never reach Mom and Dad’s standards, and
you know it. They can’t. We aren’t them.” His words feel like a rip in my chest, like sutures are being
slowly torn from old wounds. “No, but it was left to us. And letting things go to hell in their absence is a
disgrace to them both.” “You know what else is a disgrace,” he says with literally no emotion in his
voice. I mean, I am deflecting the pain too, but where I throw up walls, he throws out sarcasm. At least
my defense mechanisms aren’t a direct hit at our late parents. “These articles. People are saying you’re
hooking up with guests. Pretty sure Mom and Dad would be shaking a finger at that.” “Are you going to
believe everything you see on the internet?” I snap. “Only the good stuff,” he says. I know he’s
grinning; I can hear it. “Though I will say, this little minx you hired is very good at her job.” My anger
shifts to something else. Something more spiked. Something almost possessive. “What the hell are you
talking about?”
“The travel blogger? Moore To Explore? You haven’t seen her recent post?” he asks. “I haven’t time to
scroll Instagram, no,” I mutter. “I’ve been too busy cleaning up your messes.” “I’ve heard. Also, the
mess isn’t entirely mine. Middle management is a huge issue at these places. We can stomp around all
we want while we are in the building, but once we leave, things go lax again. Not much we can do about
that,” he says. I have about a hundred things to combat every part of that sentence, but I bite my tongue
and he goes on. “You should check it out. The post I mean. She’s a great photographer. There are some
gorgeous shots of the resort. And even a couple of your ugly mug. I didn’t even know you knew how to
smile.” I have zero idea what he’s talking about. Obviously, I’ll have to check it out later. But right now,
I’m just trying to get to the bottom of things. “Anything going on there?” he asks, and I’m ready to wrap
this useless conversation up. I’m pretty sure his voice is on the verge of giving me a migraine. “What do
you mean?” I ask on the back end of an exhausted sigh. “With you and Scarlett. I mean, even her Insta
handle implies there’s a lot to explore if you know what I’m saying. Might as well take advantage while
you’re already on vacation.” “Speaking of vacation, don’t you have something you should be doing?
Like working?” I growl into the phone. “Hey, you called me,” he says. “And I’m hanging up on you
too,” I say before doing just that. Fuck me. What was I thinking bringing Donovan along? Or coming
here at all?! At least if Donovan had stayed behind, I’d know that things are actually being taken care of.
I rake my hand through my hair. Calling Conrad was pointless. And I do need to be here. Obviously.
Because he is right about one thing. We are not Mom and Dad, but I know what they would have
wanted. The conditions the resorts are functioning at is not it. After my adrenaline comes down a couple
of notches, I take a look at Instagram. I should probably be overseeing what I hired her to do, after all.
And Conrad is right. The photos are great. I mean, I could do without the one of me at the bar. I don’t
even know when that was taken. But the one of me talking to the angry lady earlier is a good play.
Especially after I read what she wrote. “Well, I’ll be damned, girl,” I say as I read the comments. She
did both what I asked and also made Bale look good at the same time. She made me look good, and it’s
not fabricated. The positive comments prove that. Suddenly, a text notification pops up on my screen.
Donovan- She’s good. I don’t know if you’ve seen, but numbers are up. Morgan- Followers? Reviews?
Donovan- Yes and yes. But I meant bookings. We’re on cruise control again. The Villa Pacifica is
booked out completely for the next four days. Wild. Morgan- You think it’s because I’m here?
Donovan- No offense, but I think it’s because Moore To Explore is here. I think we hit a gold mine by
hiring her... Maybe so. With that, I quit my bitching and head upstairs. My new employee deserves
dinner. But also, public dining is a good PR move.