Shattered (closed)

[NewGame8]

"Lily, it seems to me the staff loves you. The one young lady behind the counter went out of her way to brag about how well you were doing with the whale and his wife. She also bragged about how crowded the restaurants were and how busy the concierges were. I think you are well beyond phase one," he laughed with her.

"You are such a little smart ass. I knew you were up to something. Soften me up yesterday... make me feel sorry for you, and then, today, while I am busy, you begin a covert mission to get rid of me. Thanks a lot. That is what I get for having feelings about your well-being." He smiled at her and put his arm around her and hugged pulled her into a hug.

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily laughed.

"That was my plan exactly." She leant in to his embrace.

Dave Packer arrived. "Mr. Thornton, Ms. Bristol. I am glad to see that you are well, Ms. Bristol. I just needed to tell you that one of the housekeeping staff found a large amount of cash. She turned it in immediately. The previous guest in the room is a blackjack player. He had stashed the money and forgotten it in his rush to get home. I just wanted to let you know about her honesty. The guest was very complimentary and I promised to let you two know."

Lily smiled at Dave. "Please make sure that I have her name. I want to thank her personally."

"Phase two complete.," Lily smiled, she couldn't keep from giggling.

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton pushed Lily lightly. "There you go with your smart ass comments again. I knew you were up to something when I hired you. I should have known better." He then pulled her back to him.

"Thanks Dave. We will be certain to recognize her for her honesty." Thornton looked back at Lily. "You know that all of this work you are doing with the staff. I want to reward her for her honesty. What do you think would be an appropriate reward for the staff member?"

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily thought for a few moments.

"A paid day off and a hundred dollars." Lily thought for a few more seconds. "I would like to come up with some sort of incentive program, maybe a lottery... that their names go in if they are complimented by guests. And they can't mention the contest to the guests, only unprompted compliments count.... what do you think?"

Lily was interrupted by the little old couple she had moved into the honeymoon suite. The gentleman had flowers for Lily.

"Roses for the sweetest Lily. Thank you for helping me celebrate with my wife. She had been sick for a few months, and this has been what she has been looking forward to and you, my dear, have made it magical." He took Lily's hand and kissed it.

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton waited until the gentleman left and then he said to Lily, "You set that up. There is no way that it could have been timed that perfectly unless you planned it. He walked up and gave you flowers and said all of those things just as you were talking about unsolicited praise."

He smiled at her. "I agree a day off and $100 sounds great. Now, what do I give to you for doing such an incredible job with that couple? and yes, I agree that you should implement your incentive program."

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily nudged Thornton, laughing.

"I didn't set it up. He just was super impressed with me." Lily was grinning.

"I will put this housekeeper into the drawing. I will look at a prize package. Maybe an inclusive weekend at the Chelsea. Our workers haven't gotten to experience being our guest."

Lily directed Thornton's attention to Mr. and Mrs. Talbot. Mrs. Talbot had her arms full of shopping bags and Mr. Talbot was snarling into his cell phone. When he hung up, Lily waved and brought over Thornton.

"Mr. Talbot, this is our owner, Mr. Thornton. The Talbots are in the Penthouse suite."

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton stood up and shook hands with Mr. Talbot. He then called over a bellhop and directed him to help Mrs. Talbot with her bags. "It is very nice to meet you both. I assume that Lily is taking care of everything for you."

He chatted with the Talbots for a few minutes before they headed off to the elevator to go up to the penthouse. He then turned to Lily, "Is this their first time here?" He assumed that it was since he had never met them before.

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily was texting a few last minute directions to her concierge staff.

"He was one of my big spenders at my former casino. But he was glad to change to a new resort and casino. Talbot is a big player and he likes to spoil his wife."

Lily stuck her phone in her pocket.

"Mr. Talbot wants to purchase a very expensive diamond necklace for his wife. Another for his mistress that is staying on the fourth floor. I have one female concierge helping Mrs. Talbot. And another female concierge helping Miss Allen."

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton smiled at Lily as she gave him the rundown on the whale. He was very happy to have new money in the casino and was glad to see that Talbot had two women to spend his money on.

"Well, Lily it seems that you have everything under control. There is no need for me to be here anymore. I guess this is all part of your master plan," he smiled and winked at her.

"Which one of our restaurants should I dine in this evening? I will be dining alone, unless I can convince an attractive woman to have dinner with me," he smiled at her. "I want to try the one that you think is our best restaurant."

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily thought for just a moment.

"Let me run upstairs and change. I want to get out of my work clothes. I'll be back in just a few minutes. Have a drink, I will pick you up in the lobby bar."

Lily couldn't help but grin. She rode up the elevator. Then she raced to her room. Lily flipped through the clothes in her closet and settled on a little black dress. It fit her perfectly. It was classic and showed lots of leg, but just a bit of cleavage. She zipped herself into her dress, took her hair down and put on a fresh shade of lipstick.

She slid on a pair of nude heels. Then she was back in the elevator.

She confidently walked across the lobby. She could feel the eyes of several men on her. She felt attractive and it felt good to feel so confortable in her own skin.

Thornton was leaning against the bar with his back to her. She tapped his shoulder.

"They have a table for us at Duscini." She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm. They made their way to the Italian restaraunt that overlooked the pools. The maitre' d lead them to a secluded little table.

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton walked over to the bar and sat on a stool where he could take in the whole operation. That meant that he would have his back to the entrance... something he did not normally do. He liked to be able to see who was coming and going, but right now he wanted to see what was going on in the bar.

He ordered a shot of tequila and a corona.... not his normal, but it was something he wanted right now. The shot came but did not have lime or salt, nor was he offered either. He would have to make a note of that.... something Lily needed to know about.

Thornton sipped the beer as he waited for Lily. He thought about her comment about picking him up in the bar.... he could only be so lucky. A couple of minutes later he felt a tap on his shoulder. Thornton turned to see an absolutely beautiful image before him. "Wow, you look incredible." He had to struggle to keep from staring at her.

The headed toward the Italian restaurant.. her arm in his. He saw all of the people looking at them. He didn't care. He was walking with the most beautiful woman in the place. They sat at a little secluded table. He wondered if Lily had anticipated his invitation and had spoken to the maitre d' in advance. He sat across from her and was dumbfounded.

"Lily, I must tell you that you look spectacular... more beautiful than you normally do." He smiled at her and reached across the table and touched her hand. "I feel very lucky to be here with you this evening."

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily grinned at Thornton. It felt good to bask in his attention. He made her feel not only beautiful but exquisitely capable.

"This is your best restarant. The chef is fantastic. His food tastes excellent, he isn't pretentious. The staff gives excellent service, they treat everyone like a whale. The staff also like working here which makes a huge difference. "

Lily's phone buzzed. She looked at the screen in case it was hotel business.

"Baby, would love to have coffee with you Monday. I know it is your mom's birthday. I don't want you to be alone on Monday." Lily dropped the phone back in her bag. She could feel the frown on her face. She had forgotten that her mother's birthday was coming up. She shook off the memory of her mother.

"So, what do you think of the place?" She asked softly.

 

[NewGame8]

Lily's mention of her mother's birthday made Thornton think of Cassie. He frowned at the thought. Then he snapped out of it a little. He was with Lily and it wasn't fair to not pay attention to her.

"Oh, your mom's birthday is coming up? I didn't realize that. Do you do anything special on her birthday?" Thornton thought about doing something for Lily's mom's birthday, but he wasn''t sure what to do without hurting Lily.

Thornton ordered a bottle of wine for them and looked around at the restaurant. "This is our best one. I want to take what they do here and do it in all of our restaurants. I want to make sure all of our guests are treated like whales."

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily shrugged.

"I usually visit her grave. I take her red roses, she loved the color red."

Lily sipped her wine. It was a good vintage.

They ordered dinner. Lily ordered the special which was sea bass.

"We should see if they have a promising sous chef and manager here that we could move to the Japanese restaraunt." Lily offered.

She typed a note into her phone to make sure she remembered. Lily was determined to still make her mark on Thornton's empire, she was just no longer motivated by revenge.

 

[NewGame8]

"Lily, would you mind if I went to your mom's grave with you on her birthday? I would like to honor her for the wonderful woman that you have become. I want her to know how beautiful and special you are."

He took a sip of his wine and listened to Lily talk about her plans for the Japanese restaurant. He was amazed at how smart she was.... and how incredible her business sense was. She was beautiful too, and so very sexy.

He looked around the restaurant. He wasn't thinking about the restaurant. He was thinking about Lily. He was thinking about how attracted he was becoming to her. It was scary, but he found himself wanting Lily... badly.

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily wished she could take him to her mother's grave. But he would know. He would know that she was Cassie's daughter and that she had come to work for him knowing he had been with her mother and he might even figure out that she had been hell bent on revenge.

She slid her hand over to Thornton.

"Can we get out of here... I know the food is fantastic, but I... please?" She looked up at Thornton with her big brown eyes. She felt her hand tremble a little bit as he took it.

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton looked at Lily. She was stunning. He could tell she was deep in thought. "Sure Lily. We can go. We can do whatever we want." He held her hand for a second, then stood up and walked behind her and slid her chair out to help her from the table.

He followed Lily out of the restaurant... his eyes on her. The way she moved was perfect. She turned every guys head as she left. He just smiled as the walked into the lobby.

"I am sorry if I said anything wrong. I will see you to your suite and we will call it a night. Sorry Lily."

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily allowed him to escort her. Her heart was pounding. Their elevator ride was silent but when they got to her door she knew she didn't want him to think she was upset with him. She wanted him to know how she felt. She wanted him to know she felt smart and sexy and beautiful with him.

So she put her hand on his chest and kissed him.

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton rode the elevator up with Lily. Her perfume, combined with her beauty was intoxicating. He wanted her so bad right now. The elevator door opened and he followed her off and escorted her to the door.

"Thank you for showing me our best restaurant. Thank you for allowing me to escort the most beautiful woman in the place to dinner." When she leaned in to kiss him he was shocked. He was slow to react.

Then he returned her kiss... softly. He placed his hands on her hips to steady himself. Her lips were delicious and he wanted more. He kissed her a little deeper as he stepped a little closer to her.

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily grabbed the front of his shirt, raising up on her tiptoes, greedy for more kisses. She pressed her body to his and then broke her kiss. She only broke their kiss so she could press her lips to his throat. She kissed her way around his collar.

"Security..." She whispered. "We should go inside." She fumbled in her bag for her key and pressed it into his hand.

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton was surprised by the depth of the kiss, but he was not complaining. Her lips were so sweet and the closeness of her body to his was arousing him more and more.

She broke the kiss and then whispered to him. He watched as Lily found her keys and unlocked the door. He had a second to think about what was happening and started to second guess himself.

When she entered her suite he followed. Thornton stopped just inside the door. He wanted Lily so bad, but he wasn't sure that he should continue. He closed the door behind them and watched Lily.

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily was almost trembling. She felt breathless.

Thornton closed the door and stood there. Lily caught the flicker of doubt on his face. She bit her lip.

"I ... I am sorry. I didn't mean.... I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Lily felt her cheeks flush. She straightened her shoulders and smoothed her hair, trying to make herself feel confident.

 

[NewGame8]

"Lily... you did nothing wrong. You didn't do anything that I haven't thought about a hundred times."

Thornton watched Lily as she straightened her dress. Damn she looked good. His eyes moved over her wonderful body that was accentuated by the sexy dress.

He then watched Lily run her hands through her hair. He stepped closer to her and looked into her eyes. "Lily... I am just concerned that you feel pressured to do something because of our business relationship."

 

[wideeyedone]

Lily smiled.

"I don't feel any pressure. I want you to kiss me again."

Lily snuggled herself up to his chest, tucking her head under his chin.

 

[NewGame8]

Thornton wrapped his arms around Lily. He placed his hands on the small of her back as she snuggled into him. She felt so good in his arms. He kissed the top of her head first. The, when she tilted her head back, he kissed her lips softly.

He enjoyed the soft kiss. It felt perfect. He also had a feeling of deja vu.... like he had kissed these wonderful lips before. It was strange, but it was strange in a good way.

Thornton pulled Lily closer to him. His hands began to slowly move up and down her back.... caressing.