“Are you sure this is the right floor?” she mumbled under her breath.
I was so used to staying in hotels, they’d started to blend together. As far as I was concerned, they were all the same. As long as they had a comfortable bed and a place to plug in my laptop, I didn’t pay much attention to anything else. But as I touched the card to the keypad and pushed the door open, I tried to see the room through Winter’s eyes.
The decor was done in a comforting palette of soft gray and ivory with brass accents. A fire burned brightly in a gas fireplace surrounded by marble. Two chairs sat opposite a formal sofa in the living room with a small kitchenette off to the right.
“Wow. This is… just wow.” Winter stopped by the back of the sofa and swept her gaze around the room.
“Better than spending the night at the airport?” I joked.
“So much better.” She continued to look around, then took a step toward the doorway leading to the bedroom. “I’ve only got one question. Where am I supposed to sleep?”
CHAPTER 4
WINTER
I knewCole was well off, but I didn’t expect to walk into a hotel room bigger than my entire apartment. My eyes went so wide, I had to force myself to blink so they didn’t completely dry out. I turned around in a slow circle, waiting for him to answer my question.
He cleared his throat like I’d caught him off guard. “There’s a king-size bed in the bedroom. You can sleep there, and I’ll take the couch.”
The couch looked like it had been airlifted from some fancy, ancient palace. Definitely not the kind of couch that would be comfortable for Cole’s six-foot-plus frame.
“Don’t be silly. This is your room. There’s no way I’m kicking you out of the bed you’re paying for.” I perched on the edge of the sofa. The beautiful brocade upholstery shimmered under my touch, but there was barely any give to the cushion. It would be like sleeping on a wooden pallet.
Cole shook his head. “Mama Mae would tan my hide if she heard I’d even considered not giving you the bed.”
“The more you talk about this Mama Mae, the more I want to meet her,” I teased. Ryan barely mentioned her. He preferred his mom’s side of the family to his dad’s, though he had no problem taking advantage of Cole’s money.
“She’s a force to be reckoned with, that’s for damn sure.” Cole carried my bag into the bedroom, and I followed. Floor-to-ceiling windows provided a breathtaking view of downtown Chicago and the lake.
“This is incredible,” I said as I walked toward the wall of windows. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas out there. What an amazing view.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Cole hadn’t moved from the entrance of the room.
I turned to look at him and almost dropped to my knees at the heat simmering in his eyes. Even from all the way across the huge bedroom, looking at him made tiny flames leap up and lick at my skin. I had to be imagining it. There was no way my ex’s dad could want me. Not my ex’s rich, gorgeous, totally built, dad.
My cheeks burned as I forced myself to look away. Whatever was going on between us couldn’t happen. It was just that simple. Cole was my ex-boyfriend’s father. There were rules about that sort of thing. At least I thought there were. And if there weren’t, there should be.
He must have snapped out of whatever weirdness had momentarily possessed him because he swallowed hardand his lips curved up into a tight smile. “You must be hungry. Do you want to change or freshen up before we grab a bite to eat?”
“This is all I’ve got.” I glanced down at my graphic tee and leggings. “My bag was checked through to Austin. I don’t even have a toothbrush with me.”
He let out a laugh. “I didn’t even think about that. Sounds like we need to order in some supplies.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the front desk has complimentary toothbrushes or something.” At least the kind of hotels I was used to staying at always did. At this place, the toothbrushes probably came with a valet who’d be more than happy to brush my teeth for me.
Cole picked up his phone and swiped at his screen. “I’ll put in an order and have it delivered. You’re going to need something to wear to bed and might as well get a jacket too. What size do you wear?”
“You’ve already done enough. I’ll just sleep in my t-shirt.” There was no way in hell I was going to tell him what size I wore. Though, I might have been better off rattling off a size than giving him the visual of me in nothing but my tee.
He scrubbed his palm over his short beard, and his voice came out tight and strained. “You need to wear something to bed that covers more than a t-shirt.”
Tendrils of heat wound their way through my belly. Maybe the attraction between us wasn’t so one-sided. There was only one way to find out. Swallowing down the apprehension bubbling up in my gut, I narrowed my eyesand cocked my head. “Why should it matter to you what I wear to bed?”
Cole tossed his phone down on the bed and stalked toward me, his moves smooth and deliberate. “Don’t toy with me, Winter. I don’t like games, and I never lose.”
“I’m not toying with you,” I lied through my teeth, enjoying the idea of creating a crack in his polished demeanor. I’d always admired him from afar. He’d been untouchable, totally beyond my reach. Now, this close, being around him was intoxicating. I was drunk on the thought that he might actually be interested in me as more than his son’s ex-girlfriend.
He stopped next to me and stared out the window at the skyline. “I think you know exactly what you’re doing, and it’s taking every ounce of willpower I have not to bend you over my knee and give you a spanking.”
