JC didn’t know what hurt worse – the pain in his head from the hangover he was experiencing or the pit in his stomach from knowing he’d lost everything in only a matter of minutes. He rolled over in his bed and laid on his stomach, staring off into space. His bedroom still had hints of Delaney everywhere. He’d changed his sheets just the night before, but her scent seemed to linger.

Several times during the night, he’d woken up wondering if it was a bad dream. All of it. Getting fired was one thing; losing the one woman who’d seemed to reach him for the first time in thirty-nine years was another.

He didn’t really know what to do next. Normally, he would be going to work. He knew he had to go at some point that day and pack up his office, but he wanted to wait until he knew everyone had gone home for the day.

He shuffled out of bed and dragged his tired body into the kitchen. He needed coffee, that was for sure. Standing in front of the Keurig, he rested his palms on the kitchen counter and stared off into space. He had gotten used to waking up with Delaney and he missed her. Even if she had stabbed him in the back, he still missed her and he knew it would be a long, long time before he ever got over her.

He shook himself out of his daydream and began to make breakfast. He was ready for the day to be done with and it was only 7:30.

Ashley was at the spa early that morning. She hadn’t done much of anything except change a few existing appointments and listen to several voice messages left by guests confirming or canceling treatments. She leaned back into her office chair and sighed. She’d hardly slept the night before and had kept Chris awake by her constant tossing and turning. He wanted to take the day off but Ashley knew she needed to go in and do work to get her mind off of all that had conspired the night before. Chris reluctantly followed suit.

If she let herself dwell too much on it, she could then force herself to believe it was really real. Delaney and JC had been having an affair, Delaney had lied to her face, and now JC was fired and it looked like Delaney was going to resign. At first, Ashley had felt guilty for not listening to Delaney, but it was all so fast. Justin walking in on everything and Ashley having to stand there and hear first-hand all of this new information. It was too much too soon.

Of course it explained a lot. Delaney’s constant disappearing during the convention and JC’s oddly nice behavior towards hotel employees. Perhaps Delaney had done a good thing by sleeping with him, but she’d done a terrible thing by hiding it.

Ashley wanted to reason with herself for cutting off Delaney. First of all, she couldn’t trust her, that was for sure. Second, she’d gone behind everyone’s back – JC’s included – just to get herself to the top or so it appeared.

But maybe…maybe, Delaney had just gotten caught up and it had all happened so fast that-

No. No, Ashley wasn’t going to be that easy on Delaney. Clearly she had chosen her career over everything else that had mattered.

“Chris?”

Chris looked up to see Justin poking his head in his office door.

“Yes, sir?” Chris still felt ridiculous addressing Justin this way. He was a good ten years younger than him, but Justin owned the entire property and then some and Chris knew better than to reply with, “What’s up?”

“I’d like to talk to you about taking over the hotel. Delaney is resigning and JC was fired, for obvious reasons. You fit the bill for what I think I’d like the hotel to look like.” Justin had come in as he was saying this and sat down in one of the chairs across from Chris’ desk.

Chris looked at Justin almost incredulously. Take over the hotel? He knew he’d need to talk to Ashley about any of this before he gave Justin an answer. “Uh, wow. Well, sir, um, I’m very flattered. But, um, are you sure you don’t need to do an interview or anything like that?” Chris was fidgeting with his tie and cleared his throat. “Cause, I mean, it would be an honor, but I feel like you might want to-“

Justin held up his hand to stop Chris. “No, I’ve made up my mind and ultimately, it’s my decision.”

“Yes sir.” Chris nodded, still unsure. “I just need to speak with Ashley first.”

“Absolutely.” Justin stood to his feet as did Chris to walk him out of the office. “And Chris, don’t say anything to anyone else but Ashley. Delaney hasn’t officially resigned yet, but I know it’s coming. She really has no other choice.”

Chris let out a breath. “Yeah, well, I think we would all agree with you there.” He followed Justin out of the office. “I’m going to the spa to talk to Ashley.”

“Perfect. Be sure to let me know as soon as you figure it out.” Justin turned in the opposite direction and Chris headed down to the lobby.

“So, you’d be the GM? Like, the ultimate head of the hotel?” Ashley couldn’t believe what Chris had just told her.

“Yeah.” Chris nodded and watched Ashley’s expression. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s great. But don’t you need to wait until the air clears? Delaney hasn’t even resigned yet,” Ashley reminded him.

“I’d officially accept once all that has happened. But I wanted to run it by you before I told Timberlake. It’s a big responsibility and I don’t want to do it if you think it will hinder our relationship.” Chris reached over and squeezed Ashley’s hand. “We’ve got a wedding coming up and I don’t want to stress you out.”

Ashley shook her head. “Chris, if you want to do this, then I absolutely support you one hundred percent.”

Chris let out a breath. “Well, alright then. I’ll let him know I’ll take the position.” Chris walked behind the counter and pulled Ashley into a hug. “Thanks.” He kissed her.

“Well, what would you have said if I told you I didn’t want you to take it?” Ashley looked up at him and smiled.

“I wouldn’t have taken it.” Chris kissed her again. “You know, once I get to be the boss, I’ll be calling you upstairs for sexual favors.”

“Chris!” Ashley giggled.

“Just kidding. That’s what got everyone into this mess in the first place.” Chris pulled away from his fiancé. “I need to get back to work. I’ll see you for lunch.” Chris walked out of the spa and back to the main building. He passed The Cup and glanced inside. Morgan was there lazily pouring a customer a cup of coffee.

“First order of business is to fire her ass.” Chris muttered under his breath and opened the door to the lobby.

Delaney didn’t know how long she’d sat outside and looked at the back of the hotel. It was after seven pm and she knew everyone in the administration offices had gone home for the day. It was the perfect time to clean out her office.

She’d made the formal call to Lance earlier that afternoon. She knew there wasn’t going to be much of a choice. Justin had made it clear that she was either going to be fired or had the choice to resign first. Delaney knew that it would be easier to get another job in the long run if she resigned.

When it was clear there was no need for her to continue sitting in her car, Delaney finally got out and headed toward the back of the hotel entrance. The hallway was empty and Delaney breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what she was expecting or whom she was expecting, but she was glad there was nobody in sight.

As she entered the administrative offices, her heart sank. It had all started here. JC Chasez had started out as a person she despised and overnight had turned into somebody she couldn’t get enough of. And now he was gone. All of it was gone.

She observed the pictures aligning the hallway of The Chancellor through the years. It hadn’t changed much on the outside but she was sure that there was always drama going on inside. It was just the nature of this hotel.

Delaney unlocked her office door and stared at her surroundings. It wouldn’t take that long to take everything out because she’d barely been there for three months. But it would take a long time to get over this job. She walked over to her desk and sat down. She knew she should start with cleaning out her drawers, but she just sat and stared ahead. This would be harder than she thought.

JC looked around his office and sighed. It was all packed up and it seemed emptier than it had in a long time. He walked to his picture window and looked out at the ocean, now hardly visible because of the shadow the sun was casting onto the building. He couldn’t believe it was all over. It still had yet to sink in.

Walking out of his office, he glanced down the hallway and saw Delaney’s door open. He wondered if the maid was cleaning but a part of him was curious to know if she’d been there clearing out her space as well.

He sauntered down the hall and stood in her doorway.

“Delaney.”

Delaney had been looking down at her desk, her thoughts a million miles away. She gasped when she looked up and saw him standing there.

“What?” Her tone was sharp but she didn’t care. A million feelings all at once pierced her.

“What are you doing here?” He was accusatory and stepped into the office.

“I should ask you the same thing.” The last time she’d seen him was the bathroom at the party. Sex in the bathroom. Any sex anywhere with him was amazing. And she’d never do it again.

He edged closer to her. “I had to clean out my office. Because you got me fired,” he spat.

Delaney glared at him. “I did not get you fired!”

“Oh. Ok. Really? Well, you did a damn good job of telling Timberlake I was fucking everyone in the hotel.” He stepped closer to her. “But you didn’t get what you wanted, did you? You didn’t get to take over the hotel.”

“Shut up!” Delaney stood and came from behind her desk. “I didn’t want your fucking job! But something had to be done. I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t know I would end up with you.”

JC regarded her and shook his head. “Yeah. But you did and all you had to do was call Timberlake and call the whole thing off.”

“JC, are you serious? I was so into us that I could barely think straight at work!” Delaney realized she was raising her voice with every word she spoke.

“You can say what you want, but you came here for one reason and that was to run this hotel. You thought charming your way into my life would get you my job. But it didn’t. And now we’re both screwed.” JC was standing in front of her now. “And it’s all your fault.”

Delaney shoved him. “I hate you!”

JC moved her arm away from him. “Well, the feeling’s mutual!”

She pushed him again and they glared at each other. She stared at him. Those lips that burned her skin when he kissed her. Those eyes that had looked into her own after hours of sex. His teeth that nipped her thighs and coerced her over the edge. His fingers that could penetrate her insides and get her screaming his name.

“What?” JC was still glaring at her.

Delaney let out a breath and before she knew what she was doing, she was kissing him hard on the mouth.

“What the fuck are you doing?” JC mumbled into her mouth, but he was backing her up against her desk.

“I should ask you the same thing.” Delaney bit down on his lip. JC gasped and pulled her hair as he pushed her down on top of the desk.

“I still hate you.” He growled into her ear and roughly shoved two fingers between her legs. Delaney was ever so glad she’d worn a maxi skirt. It made this much easier.

“Mmph!” Delaney panted and began to thrust against his fingers. “I hate you, too!”

“Do you?” JC bit her neck and began to roughly suck on her skin.

“Uh huh.” Delaney pulled him up onto the desk with her. He was hovering over her now, his fingers still going in and out of her.  “I don’t want your fingers, I want your dick!”

“You’ll have to wait.” JC hissed. “You’re not wet enough yet.”

Delaney locked eyes with him and began to rub her clit while he fingered her. “Since you can’t seem to do it yourself.”

“That’s not nice.” JC was turned on and she could see it all over his face. “You know I can get you off.”

“Yeah, but I wanna get off now.” Delaney rubbed herself harder. JC moved his fingers in and out at a faster pace.

“So get off, baby. Let me see you come.” He was staring into her eyes and Delaney began to quiver against him. “Yeah, that’s it, mama. I love it when you squeeze me like that.”

“JC!” Delaney was crying out now and all he’d done was finger her. He pulled his fingers out and sucked on them as she shook beneath him.

“You want more?” He didn’t give her a chance to reply. His dick was soon penetrating her and before long they’d both forgotten about why they’d come to the hotel that evening.

Frenzied, frantic, gasping, touching, screaming – it was the only way Delaney could describe what was going on between them. He would pull all the way out and then shove into her literally causing her head to come off the desk.

She was so pliable beneath him. He loved the feeling of her squeezing him. She was clinging to him. Crying. Groaning. Moaning. Whimpering. It was hot and wet and sexy and JC didn’t want to stop.

She was pleading with him to go harder while she dug her nails into his back. He was whispering in her ear, his breath hot and damp. And as soon as she’d come, he wanted her to do it again.

“I’m almost there, D. Squeeze me, mama. Make me come hard, baby.”

Delaney whimpered and clenched as hard as she could, moving back and forth. JC gripped the edges of the desk and she could feel him release inside of her.

And then it was done and they both laid their catching their breath, suddenly reminded of why they were at the office this late in the first place.

“What the hell did we just do?” JC moved off of her and began to pull his jeans on again.

Delaney was still laying on the desk, her mind in a fog. She couldn’t think or breathe. And before she knew it, she was fighting back tears.

“Are you crying?” He turned around and saw Delaney brushing away tears from her cheeks.

“No.” She was lying and he could clearly see that, but Delaney refused to give in. She slowly sat up and turned away from him.

“We can’t do that again.” JC wasn’t being harsh, he was being honest. “I think we probably shouldn’t see each other again.”

“I didn’t know you were going to be here.” Delaney whispered and was still turned away from him.

“I know. But it’s obvious we can’t stay away from each other…you know…like..that.” JC cleared his throat. “I have to go. I hope…I hope it all works out for you.”

“You, too.” Delaney didn’t watch him leave the office but knew he had gone when the door shut. It was then that she let out a sob and cried, not caring if anyone could hear her. He was gone and he wasn’t coming back.