His Unexpected Queen

Chapter 4

Landrey's POV

We were all sitting in Ellie's office this morning. She had cameras on so we could see if anyone came up front. It was early enough that we shouldn't have anyone here just yet.

"OK, guys I am needing some extra help. The grand opening of the new hotel is in two weeks and I would like all of you to attend. The new staff will be there but you guys will be able to answer questions and help them. They are still learning."

"What day is this exactly?" I asked.

"It will be held on a Saturday. I'm sorry for the late notice but I would really appreciate it if you could attend. After the majority of people have gone through the gym you are welcome to join the party. It will be a black-tie affair, so please dress accordingly."

I waited for everyone to leave because I had to talk to her about this. I wanted to go since it was for work but I also had to be at the bar and I didn't have a dress for this. It took a few minutes but as soon as the last person left, she turned to me with a radiating smile.

"Ellie, I'm not sure if I can make it."

"No, shoot. I had the perfect dress for you."

"I will try to get out of my obligations," I told her, feeling guilty about not being there. She has done so much for me. It was going to cost me a bunch to ride share there and back but looking at her face this meant a lot to her.

"If you can't, I understand but us girls were going to go over that morning and spend the day in the pool before it opened and then get ready together and you are invited for that." she said.

"I will do my best. That sounds amazing."

"Please do but I understand if you can't make it plus, I will pay you from the time it starts until you leave. It's technically work."

"You don't have to do that."

"Actually, I do but I would anyway. Why don't you stop by tonight and you can try the dress on."

"I appreciate that." I told her. She knew that I didn't have a lot of materialistic things and was always the first one to let me borrow something. It could be that we're close to the same size. She is a few inches taller than me but her taste in clothes was impeccable. She even gave us uniforms for work when I started here. I knew it had to do with me but I was very thankful for it. We got yoga pants and several different types of shirts and we all got an allowance for tennis shoes. She said we all needed to look more uniformed.

"Great, let's go grab breakfast. I'm meeting Tate and Weslee at the buffet."

"Thanks, but I'm supposed to be starting work in ten minutes."

"And I'm your boss. It's a work breakfast." she said, grabbing my arm and looping her through it and pulling me out of the gym.

"Where is Preslee?" I asked her as we walked to their breakfast place.

"Amaya is taking her to school for me today. I wanted to talk to you guys before work."

"That's nice of her."

"She is great." she said and we walked the rest of the way to the restaurant in silence and I was a little surprised to see Reign sitting across from Tate. Ellie let go of my arm and slid into the spot next to Tate leaving me to sit beside Reign. Not that I had a problem with it but he always seemed grumpy. I don't know that I've ever seen the man laugh.

"Good to see you again Landrey," he said as I sat down.

"Likewise."

"I was telling Landrey how us girls have a whole day planned at the new hotel. Swimming and drinks and getting ready together."

"Are you going to join them?" Tate asked.

"I am going to try. I have something else going that day that I'm not sure I can get out of but it does sound fun." I said and Reign looked at me like he knew something and was going to say it but quickly changed the look on his face.

We took turns fixing our plates while Weslee sat in his high chair. Ellie had fixed him a plate as well and he absolutely destroyed the scrambled eggs on his plate. When I came back with my plate piled high with food both Tate and Reign looked at me like I hadn't eaten in days. I was starving and I didn't get meals like this very often so I was going to eat as much as I could. I may be small but I can put food away when I want to.

Ellie and I mostly made small talk while the other two talked at work and when I finished my entire plate, I thanked Ellie for breakfast and headed to work. I walked in thirty minutes after I was supposed to be there and the others just stared at me. I usually didn't have a problem with them but I guess after this morning it might have looked bad. I went to breakfast with the owner and showed up late.

I just put my head down and got to work. I greeted anyone that came in and helped a few new people to the gym sign up and I wiped equipment down after people left if they didn't do it. By the time the day was done no one at work had really said anything to me. I couldn't believe that me going to breakfast would cause this much anger but I was about to ask.

"Hey, Tim, is there something going on? I mean no one has talked to me all day?" I asked as he was headed out the door for the day.

"There were a few people that felt like you get special treatment by the boss. You go to lunch with her frequently and someone heard you talking to her after we left the meeting about some girl's day and borrowing a dress. Look I don't care but two of the girls are jealous."

"She is my friend and has been before I started working here. They can just get over it," I snapped at him.

"Whoa, like I said I didn't care, but girls can be petty. They will get over it and don't let them bother you." he said and then walked out of the gym.

I changed my shoes so my work shoes stayed clean and as I was walking out of the gym Reign walked in. I swear I've never seen him so many times until recently.

"Are you off for the night?" he asked.

"Yes, headed home."

"Have a good night," he said and kept on going inside. Not going to lie, the man was God like looking. He had this longer hair that fell right at his ears with just a little wave and was dark brown but had this golden tint to it from the sun and this sharp jaw line and these dark brown eyes and I'm sure my imagination was pretty close to what was under those clothes. The man worked out every day and I've seen his shirt cling to him from sweating and you can see the defined abs that he had and that V he had at his hips that made every girl dumb. I was curious as to what tattoos he has though. I can clearly see the ink on the one arm that is done and I knew his chest was and so was his stomach but I had no clue what it was.

I took my time walking home. It was hot out still and by the time I got there I was drenched in sweat and I needed a shower now. A cold one.

As soon as I got out of the shower I put on some comfy clothes and cooked dinner. I had such a large breakfast that I didn't eat my lunch and left it at the gym for tomorrow.

The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. I went to work and went home and watched the same three channels. I did go to Ellie's house on Thursday and the dress she had for me was beautiful. It was a deep navy blue and long. It was strapless and form fitting. It had a slit all the way up to my thigh. It was a little high because I was so short but when I placed the heels on it helped some.

I walked into the bar Friday night and went straight to Jon's office. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer but it was slow to come and just as I turned to leave, I finally heard him yell come in. I slowly opened the door to his office and he was in there by himself and so I wasn't sure what took him so long.

"Sorry to bug you but is there any way that I can have next Saturday night off?"

"You were specifically hired for the weekends and now you want it off." he snapped. He must still be mad at me for turning him down.

"I know and I've never asked for one off in the four months that I've been here. It's one night."

"What are you doing?" he asked, which struck me as odd.

"You know that I work at The Royal as well and they've asked me to attend their grand opening of their new hotel next weekend. I don't need it off for a date but for work," I said and you could see his body relax a little. That was his problem. He thought I wanted it off to go on a date but that wasn't true at all.

"Fine, work on finding someone to cover your shift," he said and basically dismissed me.

I left his office and when I turned out of there I literally ran into Tabitha.

"f*****g watching it," she snapped at me. I just ignored her and stepped around her and went to work.

It was a normal busy Friday night and my tables were swamped but I was shocked when I saw Reign sitting in my section. I didn't know if this was a weird coincidence or if he somehow figured out, I worked here. I took a deep breath and walked over to his table.

"Hello Reign, what can I get for you tonight?" I asked.

"Is this your other obligation that you can't make the hotel opening?" He asked as he looked me up and down.

"Yes. Is it wrong to have a second job?"

"No but why would you hide that?"

"Because I keep my life private. What I do on my time off is no one else's business. Did you want to order something because if not I'm going to have to ask you to give the table up to someone who is going to order."

"Why don't you get paid if I don't order something?" he asked and he was going to get on my last nerve really quickly.

"I do but I prefer to help customers that are going to pay and tip at the end of the night."

"Do you not get paid enough at the gym?" he asked instead of ordering something and I started to grind my teeth together. He was pissing me the hell off.

"That's none of your business."

"As part owner of the hotel if our employees aren't making enough to support themselves it is my business. So do you have a bad habit you support or credit card debt?"

"You don't own the gym and so it's none of your business. Now do you want a drink?"

"Whiskey neat," he finally said and I stormed off to get it. I was annoyed as hell and he was ruining my night.