The Truth About De Campo by Jennifer Hayward

Author:Jennifer Hayward [Hayward, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Women
ISBN: 9780263242201
Google: 9anUAgAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0373132468
Barnesnoble: 0373132468
Goodreads: 20956587
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

THINGS ALWAYS GOT worse before they got better.

Wasn’t that the saying?

Matteo sat at the lobby bar of Le Belle Bleu knocking back a local beer as the last of the contractors beat a hasty retreat before Quinn could catch them and ask for just one more thing to be done. They were wary of her perfectionism, working like dogs to get the last cosmetic fixes done to the restaurant and bar before the hotel was unveiled to everyone who mattered in five days. But at some point they had to sleep. Not that Quinn seemed to have noticed. Or needed to herself...

When the scale of the work to be done had become clear, he’d offered to stay and help manage the contractors. Quinn couldn’t do it all on her own and his familiarity with the contractors went a long way. He had to be back in New York right after the reopening for a board meeting and then in Chicago for the pitch, but at least he could help her get the doors open. Make the hotel shine for its debut.

He’d worked side by side, day and night with her and François to get the menus fixed and the human machinery of the bar and restaurant functioning as a five-star hotel should. Now it was just a question of execution. Could the chefs perfect the dishes? Could the bartenders master the complex cocktail list they’d created? Could the staff come together like the well-oiled machine they needed to be to impress a crowd that would be discerning to a fault?

He reached up and massaged the back of his neck. He was beat. Exhausted. But it was worth it. Daniel Williams had boarded a flight back to the outback looking utterly disgruntled at leaving the competition behind. Quinn was relying more on Matteo every day. It was exactly where he wanted to be. But funnily enough, this hadn’t been all about his endgame. Quinn was struggling. She’d taken on a task no human being could do by themselves and refused to admit she was in over her head. She’d plowed ahead against the odds with a mind so patently brilliant he could see why she’d gotten where she had at such a young age.

They might, just might, pull this off.

His mouth quirked. Her management style could use an overhaul. Her passion for what she did meant she came on a bit strong. But everyone, right down to the busboys and bartenders, respected her work ethic. Even Raymond Bernard, presently making his way across the lobby with Quinn, seemed to be catching the fever. He might even keep his job at this rate.

The pair pulled to a halt in front of him. Matteo studied the dark circles under Quinn’s eyes. She needed help. More than he could give her. She looked longingly at his beer. “Our sommelier’s flight was canceled. He’ll be here first thing in the morning instead.”

“So we come back then?”

“We have a big storm rolling in.” Raymond gestured toward the darkening sky.

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