“Bill, right? We booked at different times. I’m back there.” With the three of them squeezed into the tight space, Ethan waved his thumb over his shoulder toward the back of the plane.
“Well, we can’t have that. Here, take my seat next to her, and I’ll take yours.” Bill showed his boarding pass on his phone, encouraging Ethan to do the same, and took pictures in case they had to verify the information.
“Thanks, man. Let me know if there is anything we can do for you,” Ethan enthused, clapping Bill’s shoulder.
“No need. Have a happy holiday and pass it on.” The man waved as he headed to the back.
“Well, here we are.” She leaned against Ethan once they had gotten everything stowed away.
“A few more hours for me to tempt and entertain you,” he said while they waited for someone to take the third seat. They smiled at each other when the attendant announced that the door was being prepared for departure and snuggled closer. After the plane pushed out of the gate, the same voice stated there would be a slight delay while they went through the de-icing process.
Ethan kept her amused, sharing stories of his most bizarre investigations, like a company that thought they’d been hacked when it turned out that someone decided to color-match the wiring to the servers to make it look ‘prettier’. It wasn’t until she had to get up to use the bathroom that they realized they’d been parked on the tarmac for over two hours.
CHAPTER 10
“Good afternoon,sir. What can I do for you?” The clerk asked from behind the hotel’s registration desk. It had been a long couple of days of travel. While time with Bri was irreplaceable, the sleepless night hadn’t prepared them for a more difficult day.
“We need two rooms, please.” He tried to find the energy to be kind and polite. They had thought the flight out of Seattle was bumpy, but it was nothing compared to the pilot threading the needle between two major snowstorm systems that were not supposed to come near Washington, DC, but had instead given it a one-two punch, shutting the city down.
“Excellent, sir. You’re in luck. We have one available.”
“Are you okay with this?” he asked Bri, who had returned from the hotel’s convenience shop with snacks. They had distracted each other to get through the nail-biting flight as it hit air pockets that took them down hundreds of feet each time.
“I don’t see that we have a choice,” she responded.
“If you’re not gonna take it, I will. Move out of the way,” a businessman in a disheveled suit tried to push past them.
“I never said we weren’t taking it. I’m making sure she has a say in this.”
“Thank you, Ethan, but there isn’t really a choice.”
“Okay, sir. I’ll confirm your reservation. And for how many days will you be staying with us?”
“Just the duration of the storm.” They had caught the last shuttle bus to the hotel after searching and failing to find any transportation away from the airport that was closer to the mountains than it was to downtown DC.
“I understand. I will make that for three days then, since it’s started snowing again, and we don’t know how long it’s going to last.” Ethan laid his credit card in the clerk’s extended hand. “For your dining options, there is a cafe that serves breakfast and happy hour drinks. You were just in the Pantry, and The Captain’s Table serves lunch and dinner, including special meals for the holidays”.
“Do you still have room service?” Bri asked, looking even more exhausted than last night. The intention had been to sleep on the plane, but the turbulence had been against them.
“Yes, but it is a limited menu.” The clerk replied politely, as if there wasn’t a line or weary travelers behind them that he was going to have to turn away. “Here are your keys. Please have a wonderful rest of your day, and let us know if there’s anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable.”
“Thank you for your help.” Bri had apparently noticed that he had zoned out and replied for them both. With her arm looped through his, she led them away from the desk, listening to the suit berate the clerk for giving away his room.
They walked quietly, their bags trailing behind them to the elevator, and pressed the button to the third floor. He watched her bite her lip, once again, lost in her thoughts. He was tempted to taste her lips and see if they were as soft as they looked, and if they tasted as sweet as her favorite drink. The doors opened to an endlessly long beige hallway.
“Bri, are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? We need a place to stay. It’s better than sleeping on the benches in the airport. Not that I’m complaining, but it wasn’t very restful.”
“We need to decide how we’re going to play this out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Am I sleeping on the floor? Are we doing the pillow wall? Am I sleeping in a bathtub, if there even is one?”
“Oh, I hadn’t considered that. Can’t we just see how it goes?”
“Not if you keep biting your lip like that.” Her smirk in response told him that she secretly liked him talking to her like that. And maybe with some time, he could persuade her to see where this went, instead of constantly saying this couldn’t become anything.
