Vince smiled when he found Cami gathered around the island with her sisters, putting together sandwiches for dinner. “Hey, a room full of beautiful women, what more could a man want?”
“Join us for dinner.” Cami accepted his peck on the lips, warming him with her smile.
“I think I will.” He pulled her into a hug and leaned against the counter, enjoying the babble of women’s voices, and more importantly, the feel of Cami in his arms after a long day of slogging through paperwork at the nursery.
The door to the garage opened and Delphi came through in one of her sleek suits. She pointed at Vince, irritation on her face. “Your friend is the most arrogant ass I’ve ever met.”
“Things didn’t go well with Jeremy?” Cami asked.
“Wait, Jeremy’s the ass? What did he do?” Jeremy was usually so good with women, and Delphi so professional, he must have really done something out of character to get her fuming.
She dumped her attaché in a chair in the great room and stormed back to him on three-inch heels. “I’d known him all of thirty seconds when he made some arrogant statement about how he wasn’t interested in marriage no matter how much I was worth. As if I were some wannabe contestant for The Bachelor or something. As if I didn’t already have a boyfriend and actually cared what the jerk wanted.”
Vince tried to choke back a laugh, but couldn’t manage it. “He’s usually very smooth with beautiful women. I don’t know what he was thinking.” Vince did know what Jeremy had been thinking, but obviously George hadn’t shared his grand plans for his daughters’ marriages with the ladies. “What did you say?”
She told them about Jeremy insisting she’d been checking him out, and her rebuttal that it was the bike she was interested in. When she said she’d told Jeremy his bike was way hotter than he was, Vince barely managed to hold back the guffaw that ached to explode.
“Is it true?” Jonquil asked. “Is the bike way hotter?”
Delphi eyed Vince. “You ever repeat what I’m about to say, and I’ll make sure you pay for a long, long time.” When he held up his hands in defense, she grinned at Jonquil. “Oh, the bike is super-hot, and the guy is a pretty good match. Too bad his personality hotness quotient dropped like fifty points when he opened his mouth.”
“Too bad.” Jonquil piled a handful of chips on the side of her plate. “What did you think of his work?”
“Top notch. I guess I’ll deal with the arrogance.” She looked at Sage. “I don’t know how you put up with him on the Fourth of July.”
“He had a girl with him, and I wasn’t checking out his…equipment, so apparently he didn’t see a point in going on the offense,” Sage said with a teasing smile. “Besides, you might change your mind about him later.”
Delphi snorted. “Not likely.”
Wishing he hadn’t promised to keep this exchange to himself, Vince decided having the sisters around could be very entertaining.
~*~
“Joel, don’t think you’re getting out of this,” Sage called out as the sisters collected in the entrance to the hotel.
Cami laughed when he pulled a face. The entire executive staff was getting their pictures taken and Joel had done nothing but scowl and complain since the announcement was made. The sisters were all in professional outfits of one kind or another—though Rosemary wore a chef’s uniform, and Sage wore the polo and dress pants that were her typical spa uniform.
“I can’t believe you’re wearing that, and I’m in a dress suit,” Jonquil complained. “I should never have let Delphi help me pick something.”
“Blue is your color and the pictures are going to be awesome,” Delphi said, adjusting the collar on her blouse.
Jeremy stood by in jeans, a tight white tee and his signature sunglasses. His camera, a tripod and a long pole were all strapped to him as he watched the group of women with thinly disguised irritation. “Are we about ready?”
“I’m not wearing a suit coat,” Joel stated as he came to join the group.
“You’re fine the way you are.” Rosemary smoothed a wrinkle in the green polo he wore that had the company logo and his name embroidered on it. “You just need to seem tough and intimidating. See there, you’ve already got it down.”
Cami held in a chuckle. Joel hadn’t changed his usual expression one iota.
When she realized he was staring at someone walking into the building, Cami turned to the man approaching them. He grinned broadly and offered her his hand. “Hi, you’d be Camellia, right?”
“Yes, have we met?”
“I’m Larry Clonger, a reporter with—”
That was as far as he got before Joel stepped in and started herding the man back to the outside door. “If you want interviews, you’ll have to go through proper channels,” he said.
“But I wanted to ask the ladies about the rumors that have been cropping up,” the reporter protested.
“Then call and set something up. Now isn’t a good time.” Joel lifted his radio and called for backup before he got out of hearing. “They’re very busy getting ready for the resort opening.”
“That was interesting,” Rosemary said, straightening her uniform.
“They’re coming out of the woodwork. Joel and the other security guys are already working overtime to keep the reporters at bay and screen incoming calls,” Lana said with a sigh.
“It’ll blow over soon. We’re really not that big of news,” Jonquil said.
“Yeah, until someone finds or makes up something spectacular enough to print again.” Lana frowned.
“You have something to hide?” Rosemary asked, her brows lifting suggestively.
Blake came down the stairs and joined them “Sorry I’m late. Where do you want us?” he asked Jeremy.
They went out to a nice spot in the landscaping with rocks and trees and Jeremy started ordering people around. Delphi kept things moving along, not letting time lapse between pictures, while Lana ensured everyone’s clothes were smooth and hair perfect for each shot.
Jeremy had all of the sisters get together for a group picture. “Don’t you want everyone in this?” Cami asked.
“We’ll take one in a minute, but for this picture we’re going to focus on the idea of family running the hotel, a family you trust and believe in,” Jeremy said. “That’s what the PR person said.”
“So what am I doing here?” Joel asked. Sage gave him a saucy smile. “You’ll live.”
“Jeremy, is the picture balanced? Maybe I should switch with Jonquil,” Delphi said as she touched her hair.
“It’s fine. This is my job. You can trust me to do it right, your majesty.” Delphi sent him a quelling look, then put on a smile and posed for the shot.