Lovestruck Read Free

smiled.
    It would be the last time she smiled this morning. The Barracuda didn't smile as she went off to ruin someone else's dreams.

Chapter Two
    By eleven o'clock, Jenny wanted to scream. From the moment Jeffery "Bane"
    Montgomery crooked his annoying finger, Jenny's world had gone to hell in a hand basket.
    "Jenny, you know I gave you quite the honor when I took you on as my assistant because of your work ethic. What the hell is going on in that mind of yours lately? You haven't been paying attention to important details. You're an embarrassment. What the fuck? Did I make a mistake when I chose you?" Jeffery picked up a pile of papers lying on his desk and shook them in her face.
    Jenny gritted her teeth. Perhaps another in her position would be reduced to tears, but she'd lost all respect for Jeffery a long time ago and didn't care what he thought.
    "Can you explain how you misplaced some of the receipts? How the hell could you overbook two rooms?" Jeffery's face had turned an interesting shade of red as some of his projectile spit almost hit her on the cheek.
    "I'm sorry, Jeffery. I wish I had an answer. Of course I'll take full—"
    "Damn right you will. Sometimes you can be such an airhead." He puffed out his chest and snarled.
    She held back the urge to snarl right back. Just because he was a distant cousin far out on some minor twig in the Jennings' family tree, didn't mean he had the right to act so superior. She'd like to knock that chip off his shoulder.
     
    She longed to tell him to go screw himself, but then she'd be fired and have bigger problems to deal with. Jeffery knew most of the employees, Jenny included, needed their jobs. The pay and benefits were the best in the hotel industry, and now that she attended school, she had barely enough to get by. She couldn't afford to just walk away. If she became unemployed, she'd have to drop out of school and move back home with her parents. She shuddered at the thought. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she had no real solution.
    "How can I make this right?" Jenny shook off the feeling of dread and held out her hands. Please don't make me clean the bathrooms.
    "First, you'll go over this paperwork. If I find one wrong number or spelling error, you're out on your ass. Afterward, you'll help housekeeping clean the rooms.
    They're short-staffed today." Jeffery took a gulp of his coffee and let out a loud burp without covering his mouth or excusing himself.
    Jenny held back a look of disgust and shook her head. She swallowed a moan.
    Helping housekeeping was a huge step down for her. Not that she didn't respect the housekeeping staff, but after five years of working at the hotel, she had seniority and should be in charge of the front desk, not reduced to making beds.
    "Will do, Jeffery," she said in a cheerful tone.
    He dropped the pile of papers into her hands and left the room, but as he hit the door she heard him mumble, "Dumb bitch," under his breath. She tightened her grip on the papers to stop herself from tossing them at his head. She'd never been the violent type. Taking a few deep breaths, she sank into the chair at his desk and went to work.
     

     
    Four hours later, Jenny found herself making up one of the beds on the second floor with her best friend from high school. Tonya, the assistant to the head of housekeeping, stood barely 5-foot, 3-inches tall, but she had bright red hair and a firecracker personality. She whistled as she fixed the sheet, her long, dangling earrings sparkling in the sunlight pouring through the room's only window. Jenny studied her profile, and not for the first time wished she could pull off Tonya's style.
    "I can't believe it's not even the afternoon yet and this day has sucked big time.
    What else can go wrong?" Jenny picked up a pillow and fluffed it.
    Tonya lifted her fingers in front of her chest and made the sign of the cross. "You know you just jinxed yourself."
    Jenny dropped her head into the pillow. "Please don't