Stuck On You by Cheryl Harper Page B

balance. Then meet me in the lobby. Bring the notepad so we can make a list of things for the green room. Okay?”
    “Sure thing, boss. Be right down.”
    KT hung up the phone and slid it back across to Ortega. When the manager reached over to pick up the phone, the sleeves of his black suit jacket slid up and KT could see the beginnings of a tattoo. Ortega tilted his head down and his eyebrows up.
    “We’re going to go make a list of things for the green room and I’ll be right back. The bar looks great. Bob’s happy with the progress.” KT rubbed his hand across his forehead. “And that hardly ever happens, if you know what I mean.”
    Willodean patted Ortega on the shoulder. “Tony’s the best. Don’t know what I’d do without him.”
    They all turned at the clip-clop of heels on the marble floor. Laura paused when she noticed the attention, then she waved the pad. “Paper, pen, let’s make a list!”
    KT noticed Ortega very obviously slide three plastic keys across the desk to Laura. She sparkled up at him as she slid them into the pocket of her drab pants. KT did his best to fight off a matching frown until Ortega winked at her. And then there was no stopping it.
    The smile on Laura’s face slipped a notch at what had to be an ugly look on his face but she soldiered on. “Ready?”
    He motioned her in front of him and did his best not to snarl at Ortega as they left the lobby.
    The hallway closest to Viva Las Vegas featured gold carpet with black music notes and album cover artwork along the walls. When they reached the first door, Laura opened it to reveal a pretty standard hotel room. If standard included life-sized photos of a very young Elvis in black and white. “What are you thinking for this room?”
    He had a million answers, all of them snarky and most related to the queen-sized bed and his new assistant. For some reason, his bad mood bubbled near the surface around her. Instead, he took a slow walk around. “Let’s ask if we can get the bed taken out, and maybe two or three tables or desks set up with good lighting. Assuming it’s the same, let’s do the same next door and add an ironing board. Shane will need a place to set up her machine. She can help with any last minute emergencies.”
    Laura made quick notes on her pad then led him next door to the other, identical room. “Do you and Ortega have a thing?” He pretended to take careful note of the second room, but it could be covered in Misty puppies for all he noticed.
    Laura cleared her throat. “A thing? What does that mean?”
    He sighed loud and long. “A thing. A flirtation. A romance. Dating. You know, are you involved?” Willodean didn’t seem to be the kind of woman who’d put a restriction on employees dating. In fact, she sort of seemed to be the kind of woman to encourage it.
    Laura walked out into the hallway and waited for him to follow. “What difference would it make if we did?” She walked down the hall to pause in front of another door. When he didn’t budge, she rolled her eyes. “We have no thing. Tony looks out for people, especially the women here. That’s just who he is. I don’t have a thing with anybody.”
    KT wasn’t sure he believed her but he didn’t want to believe they were involved either so he accepted her answer.
    They stepped into the conference room. The RCA room was the largest meeting room in the hotel but it might be hard to tell that. The walls were covered with shots of Elvis in Memphis and of local landmarks, all in black and white. Two long, gleaming black tables took up most of the room and white leather chairs surrounded the tables.
    KT did his best to get his positive vibe back. “What do you think? I want this to be a comfortable holding area for the talent.”
    He watched her pace around the table. She pulled one of the chairs back and sat. “Let’s see if we can get one of the tables out of here. Move the other back along the wall, put out bottled water, maybe some cookies