Cassandra took the elevator up to the 64th floor.
The moment she stepped out, she was nearly knocked flat. Three German Shepherds rushed toward her, all trying to greet her at once. She almost ended up on the floor.
“Boys, over here.”
At Ryan’s command, the three dogs hung their heads and wagged their tails as they trotted back to his side, settling obediently by his feet.
Cassandra brushed the paw prints off her uniform before making her way over. “Where’s the coffee machine?”
Ryan replied, “I haven’t bought one yet.‘
Cassandra blinked. How was she supposed to fix something that didn’t exist?
While lazily petting his dogs with one hand and scrolling through his phone with the other, _Ryan said, “You’re a fan of coffee, right? Got any good coffee machine recommendations?”
Cassandra asked, “Isn’t this something you could ve messaged me about?”
Did he really need to drag her upstairs in the middle of the night for this? Besides… She glanced around the room. “Your woman’s not here?”
“My woman?” Ryan raised a brow. “Who?”
Cassandra shot him a look. “Go on, keep pretending.”
Ryan pointed at each of his three dogs. “That’s my eldest son, that’s my second son, and that’s my third son. All bona fide boys. Besides you, there are no other women in this room.”
Cassandra was pretty sure Ryan was just bored and messing with her again. “I’ll send you a list of brands and models for coffee machines later. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading out.”
“Wait,” Ryan called after her. “I think the fridge is acting up too. Since you’re already here, take a look.”
“The fridge?” Cassandra glanced at the gray fridge in the kitchen. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It seems like it’s not cold. The temperature just won’t drop.”
Cassandra sighed and accepted her fate. She walked over to the fridge and opened it–only to find it wasn’t cold at all. The temperature was way off.
Ryan walked over and asked, “Did you figure out what’s wrong?”
All the hotel suites were equipped with smart home appliances. As long as the power stayed on, there shouldn’t be any issues.
2/7
Cassandra crouched down and reached behind the fridge. Her expression instantly darkened.
“It’s not plugged in! Of course, it’s not cold!” She sighed in exasperation. “Doesn’t housekeeping check all this stuff every day? Everything was fine this morning. How did the plug come out at night? Mr. Scott, did you do this on purpose?”
Ryan shrugged. “My boys were probably roughhousing and yanked it out. How would I know?”
“You don’t know? Look at the gap between the fridge and the wall. Do shape–shift? Which one could possibly fit back there?”
your dogs know how to
Cassandra didn’t bother arguing further and just plugged it back in herself.
“There, it’s fixed. Give it some time, and the fridge will be cold again. Mr. Scott, if there’s anything else around here that needs fixing, just tell me now. If I can handle it, I will. If not, I’ll put in a repair request and get a professional over tomorrow.”
Ryan fell silent.
Cassandra waited, and when he didn’t say anything, she turned to leave. “If that’s all, I’ll get going.”
“Cassandra,” Ryan suddenly called out.
She was a little surprised. Over the years, he had never called her by name so seriously. He had always called her “Ms. Blake” whenever they saw each other.
Cassandra paused. “Mr. Scott, if you have something to say, just say it.”
“Do you really dislike me that much?”
She frowned at his question. It seemed a little out of the blue. “Don’t you dislike me just as much? It’s mutual, don’t you
think?”
“Alright. That’s all. You can go.”
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Ryan sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes, lost in thought.
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4
