He flashed her a quick glance, eyebrows high. And those blue eyes seemed backlit with cobalt and silver. Jewel-bright.
‘Okay, Mr B. You win,’ Dee whispered in a high musical voice. ‘You have pulled out the big guns and wowed me with the most fantastic hotel that I have ever stepped into in my entire life. And the conference suite is light, airy and opens out onto the gorgeous grounds. I am powerless to resist.’
Dee lifted her head and pushed out her chest so that she could make the formal pronouncement with the maximum splendour. ‘I accept your offer. The Beresford Riverside is going to be the new home of the annual London Tea Festival. Congratulations.’
Then she chuckled and gave a little shoulder dance. ‘It is actually happening. I can’t wait. Cannot wait. Just can’t. Because this festival is going to be so mega, and everyone is going to have the best time.’ Then she clasped her fingers around the top of the barrier and dropped her chin onto the back of her hands so that Sean’s desk was practically illuminated by the power of her beaming grin.
Sean replied by sitting back in his swivel chair and peering at her with one side of his mouth twisted up into a smirk. ‘Let me guess—Prakash introduced you to the famous Beresford dessert buffet in the atrium restaurant.’
‘He did.’ Dee grinned then blinked. ‘And it is spectacular. But how did you know that?’
He shook his head then pointed the flat of his hand towards her and pulled the trigger with his thumb before sliding forwards again. ‘The last time I saw someone so high on sugar and artificial colours was at my sister Annika’s fourth birthday party. And I know that you don’t drink coffee, so it can’t be a caffeine rush. How many of the desserts did you sample?’
Dee pushed out her lower lip. ‘It seemed rude not to have a morsel of all of them. And they are so good. Lottie would be in heaven here. In fact, I might insist that she comes back with me and tries them all for research purposes.’
‘Better give me some warning in advance so I can tell the dessert chef to work some overtime,’ Sean muttered.
Then he stood up and stretched out his hand over the top of the glass. ‘Welcome to the Beresford Riverside, Miss Flynn. We are delighted to have your custom.’
Dee took Sean’s hand and gave it a single, firm shake. ‘Mega.’ She smiled and clutched onto the edge of the conference brochure tight with both hands. ‘Righty. Now the room is sorted, we can get started on the rest of the organization.’
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Sean replied and walked around to her side of the barrier. He reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket, pulled out a business card and held it out towards her. ‘Prakash will make sure that you have a great event. I wish you the very best of luck, Dee. If there is anything else you need, please get in touch.’
Dee glanced at the business card, then up into Sean’s face, then back at the card.
And just like that, the joyous emotional rush of finding this fabulous venue and knowing that her fears had been unfounded was swept away in one spectacular avalanche that left her bereft and mourning the loss.
This was it.
She was being dismissed. Passed off. Discarded.
So that was how it worked? She’d been given the personal attention and star treatment by one of the Beresford family for just as long as it took to get her booking sorted out. Then she was back in line with all of the other hotel guests. Business as usual. Fuss and bother all sorted out.
She was being discarded as not important enough to invest any more time on.
Just as her parents had been.
She had been forced to stand back and watch her parents lose their tea gardens when the money had run out and the powers that be had refused to wait until the tea could be harvested and sold before pulling the plug.
A one-family tea-growing business had not been a priority customer. Not worth their time. Not worth their money. Not worth spending time to get to know who they were and how they had invested everything they had in that tea garden.
She had been a teenager back then and struggling to cope with the relentless exhaustion of training in a professional kitchen after she’d left catering college, powerless to do anything to help the people she loved most.
Her parents had come through it. They had survived. But their dreams had been shattered and scattered to the winds.
Well, history was definitely not going to repeat itself when it came to her life.
Nope. Not going to happen. Not when she was around.
What made it even worse was that it was Sean who was giving her the big brush-off. What had happened to the man who’d been happy to give her a cuddle only a few hours ago after listening to her life story? Now that same Sean was only too willing to pass her off onto an underling to deal with, so that he could get rid of her and get back to his real job.
No doubt there was some terribly important business meeting that required his attention and he could not possibly waste any more time with the simple matter of a conference booking.
It was such a shame. Because, standing there in his fitted suit, pristine shirt and those cheekbones—lord, those cheekbones—he looked delicious enough to eat with a spoon and a dollop of ice-cream on the side.
Shame or no shame, she recognized the signs only too well. And if he thought for one second that he could get rid of her that easily, he was badly mistaken.
‘Oh no,’ Dee said in a loud voice which echoed around the reception area, making several of the men in suits glance in their direction. ‘Big misunderstanding. I obviously have not made myself clear. No business card; I am not going down that route.’
Then she tilted her head slightly to one side and shrugged before carrying on in a low, more intimate voice, confident that she now had his full attention.
‘You screwed up. Big time. So now I have to reprint all of my promotional materials and contact loads of exhibitors to let them know about the new venue. Posters, flyers, postcards to tea merchants and tea fanatics. All have to be done again. Then I have to go back to all of the tea shops and online tea clubs with the new details with only a week or so to go. That’s a lot of work to get through, and I have a full-time job at Lottie’s.’
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. ‘Prakash is a pal, but he does not have the level of authority to spend the cash and resources to make all of those things happen and happen fast. It seems to me to point one way. I am going to need that five-star Beresford service from the man at the top.’
Dee fluttered her eyelashes at his shocked face and there was a certain glint in those blue eyes that was definitely more grey than azure. ‘You are not off the hook yet, Mr B. In fact, I would say that this is only the start of the project. Now, here is an idea. Shall we talk though the next steps on the way back to your office? You must be very excited about this opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to customer service. And there is an added bonus: we will be working together even longer! Now, isn’t that exciting?’
* * *
Sean shrugged into his coat and double-checked the long string of emails before popping his smart phone into his pocket.
