“No worries. It was needed.”
Cato smiles, and it’s the first one that isn’t tinged with sadness. “See you later.”
“Later.”
Cato walks away, and I get to cleaning things up when Howie and Fitz come in, glancing around at the spilled fruit on the floor and the bar stool dripping in orange juice.
“What the hell happened in here?” Fitz asks. The man hates for things to be out of order. As the grounds manager, he has an astute eye, which mirrors his buttoned-up personality. He catches people off guard with his striking looks, jet-black hair cut short to his scalp, bright-blue eyes like the sky on a clear day, and a jawline that could cut glass. He’s hit on constantly, but his standards for dating are as high as those for the property.
“Public breakup. I was the eye of the storm.”
“What did you do?” Howie asks with his hands on his hips.
I raise my hands. “I’m innocent. I’m just a hot bartender doing my job.” I fill the guys in on what went down and how I plan to cheer up the guest and keep him here all weekend.
“How unfortunate he’s in the room he was sharing with his boyfriend,” Fitz notes.
“Yeah,” I agree.
Howie’s face lights up. “We should give him a room upgrade.”
“Can we?” I ask.
He nods. “We have the Sunset Suite available. Do you think that would lift his spirits? No one deserves to be cheated on.”
Howie is such a sweet, endearing man and a total romantic at heart. “I think it would.”
“That’s genius,” Fitz adds. “It’s got the gorgeous views, the sitting room, and that bathtub. That was a nice upgrade after the old one cracked.”
“It’s settled,” Howie says. “I’ll go tell him.”
“Uh, can I?”
Both men look at me with questioning faces.
“What? I feel responsible in a way. Plus, I talked him into staying. Let me be the hero.”
“Fair point,” Howie says.
“I’ll watch the bar,” Fitz says, stepping behind it with me.
“Great.” I remove my apron. “And if you see Oscar, tell him his dibs was a total loser.”
Chapter Three
CATO
“I’m fine, Wes. Really. I don’t need you to come out here.”
“Are you sure? Maybe I can find him at the airport and beat his ass.”
“And get arrested. Not worth it.”
“True, but what a dickhead. I’m so disappointed. I feel like it’s all my fault for fixing you up. Bestie fail.”
“No, it’s Kyle’s fault for putting his dick in other people. You should’ve heard him too. He literally asked the bartender what he had to do to get in his pants. Granted, the bartender is stupid-hot, but still.”
“Ugh. You know what you need to do, right?”