Love, Inherited

Ch. 16- "A Little Less Conversation"

Warren blushed and stammered while he turned off the light again. Hayden grabbed some clothes off the floor and tried putting them on while tipsy and in the dark.

Not sure whether she should be flattered or offended, the more she thought about the situation, the more it bothered her.  She decided to stop messing with the clothes and address the issue.

"Turn the light on Warren. I know I'm not the first naked person you've seen, and I hope I'm not the worst.  This is me. I like you. I hope you like me. I'm not perfect, I'm not refined or classy or experienced in being a girlfriend or owning a resort, but I've got potential. You have to give me that!"

Warren chuckled and clicked on the lamp. His face was adorable with his tossled sleep filled hair. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and returned his gaze to her face.

It was the one instance in her life when she didn't want a guy looking at my face, she wanted him to see her, all of her, and drool. It was shallow and probably a result of feeling insecure about the job and the life changes and seeing how much Dee snd Angie loved each other, but none of the reasons made her feel like she didn't want it to be true.

Warren sat up and she flopped down next to him on the heart shaped bed. The room had a definite spin to it as she put her hand on his broad firm chest to anchor herself to the moment. Keeping there, lulled by the rise and fall of his chest, she giggled as it vibrated when he spoke.

"You know I think you're beautiful Hayden. And I don't care about your background or your status. I'm quite comfortable with my own. But I won't rush things. I want to do it right Hayden. Not when you're overwhelmed or afraid or when you've been drinking. I'll be with you through all of that, but I want more. I want to know you, and for you to know me and I want the whole fairy tale of happily ever after!"

Hayden lay on his chest and closed her eyes. His heart beating and his chest rising and falling soothed her anger and made the room slow its spinning. When she woke up in the morning he was gone but a note was on the pillow.

Hayden,
Sorry I had to leave early, I'm meeting a friend to go over the paperwork you found and figure out where to go from here. Dinner tonight? I'll call you when I'm done.
W-

After a hot steamy shower she ventured downstairs to a bustling music filled lobby. Angie was out of hiding and taking back her responsibilities as co-owner (now officially!) and everyone seemed to feel a little more like things were stable and not going into a tailspin. The entire place seemed to be brighter and the staff flitted around her obviously ecstatic to have someone calling the shots that wasn't Mason.

Hayden felt like a twenty pound weight was lifted off her chest and arranged for Tye to move Angie's stuff up to her room and hers downstairs followed by a stat maid service deep clean each room.

The dining room was slow and the guests who were there picked and nibbled at the continental breakfast which consisted of pastries, doughnuts, some whole sad looking apples and a waffle press with batter. It was a sad state of affairs. Guests didn't want dough bellies for bathing suit days, they wanted healthy tasty choices that stocked them with energy.

Grabbing a table she ordered and egg white veggie omlet. The waiter looked like she grown a third head but took the ticket back to the kitchen and soon Star sat across from her clutching a large cup of coffee.

"Breakfast downstairs?  Are you out of hiding?  We've missed you around here.  And you sprung Angie as well, you've got some grit!" She grinned and lifted her cup in a toast.