Mia, on the other hand, is so turned on that I can practically feel the waves of pheromones she’s giving off.
“I know what to say back,” she says, a little breathless.
“Don’t say it yet,” I garble at her. “Wait until we’re just about to take off.”
Mia tilts her phone towards me as our plane taxis towards the runway.
About how good it would look wrapped around my tits.
I give her a curt nod, adjust my confused boner, and pretend to take a nap.
We’re in a cab on the way to the hotel, and the two of us are so fucking wound up that I think our taxi driver can taste it. He blasts the news he has playing on his radio, which works for me, so I don’t have to hear Mia’s fucking breathing or listen to the seat under her creaking with her squirming anymore. I look out the window while Mia types furiously on her phone. She’s long since stopped showing me her texts.
“Don’t forget to take it slow, Mia. Make it last. Build tension,” I can’t help but tell her.
“Oh, the tension is built, all right,” I think I hear her mumble. But she puts her phone away.
We pull up to our hotel, one of those massive chain ones close to the river. Luckily for Mia, the hotel is a short walk from the convention center, so she won’t have to go very far to get to her sessions. Luckily for me, it’s a short walk to the French Quarter. Actually, the hotel is pretty equidistant between the two.
I’m ready to check in, drop my bag, and jog to the French Quarter. I need a drink. Maybe three.
We march to the check-in desk.
“Last name?” the woman at the front desk asks me impatiently.
“Oh, we’re not together,” Mia says quickly. “We’re coworkers. So two separate last names. Mine is Roberts.”
The woman’s tune changes real fast after that. She smiles at me, blinking her fake eyelashes so hard I’m afraid they might fall off. “And yours?” she purrs.
I flash her the Dimple, mostly by force of habit. “Miller,” I say simply. I look down at her name tag. “Thanks for all your help tonight, Stacy.”
Mia frowns at the woman, who can’t stop giggling or flicking her eyes back and forth between me and the screen.
The computer’s light on the woman’s face flashes, indicating a new screen. Her smile freezes. “You two are booked for the same room, it seems.”
I want to die, but Mia doesn’t seem surprised. She shrugs. “One way for Lina to save money. We work for a public elementary school, Elias, not a Fortune 500.”
“Also, I have bad news,” the front desk lady grimaces.
“If you fucking tell me that there is only one bed?—”
Mia shoots me a look, and the lady laughs. “Oh no, we couldn’t have that,” she says. Mia then shoots her a look. “The room has two double beds. However, the water heater for the building seems to be down. We anticipate it to be up and running by tomorrow morning, but I’m afraid there are only cold showers tonight. We’ll discount the price of the room tonight, of course. You’ll see a refund reflected?—”
I tune her out then, relief flooding my body down to my toes. Cold showers are probably for the best.
The woman hands us two separate key cards, smirking at me when she hands me mine. On our walk to the elevator, I notice she’s written her number on the envelope holding the card. Mia glances over to see what I’m looking at.
“It’s just that fucking simple for you,” she says plainly, once the elevator doors close.
I shrug. It usually is.
“Unbelievable,” she mutters, shaking her head.
I don’t tell her it could be that easy for her, too.
We finally get to our room, and it is indeed two separate beds. I throw my bags on the furthest one from the door, which leaves Mia the bed directly in front of the door. Mia gently places her luggage on the floor. She pulls out her phone, climbs into bed, and starts messing with her phone.
“Well, I’m going out,” I tell her, teeth clenched.
