Crouching by the bed, she allowed herself one last peep at Elliot.
That same strand of hair had fallen across his eyes and she resisted the urge to push it back. She also resisted the urge to kiss him goodbye. He really was too good to be true.
She chastised herself for being sentimental and then, regretfully, snuck out of the room.
She’d been lucky.
Nobody had been at the desk when she crept out of the elevator and she was able to tidy up the bar, drop the cash in the safe, and then slip out through the employee entrance in back.
She’d forgotten about the storm. Nearly six inches of powdery crystals had accumulated on her car. Cleaning the snow off her windshield left her stitches hurting more than she wanted to admit. To top that off, her drive home took twice as long as normal. By the time she arrived at the little trailer she and Carley shared, the snow had stopped falling and the sun glowed just above the horizon.
She wished she could have lounged in Elliot’s bed all day long. Except it might have been weird. He could easily have felt awkward with her there, embarrassed for her neediness the night before.
Regardless, every part of her body ached and despite needing the money, there was no way she was up to cleaning condos today. Not if she was going to make it to the bar for her shift at four.
She texted her boss at the cleaning service, wrote a note for Carley, set her alarm and fell into bed.
She thought she would have fallen asleep right away, but her brain refused to turn off.
Instead, the previous night’s events taunted her.
Elliot carrying her across parking lots. Elliot holding her hand while the doctor stitched her up… Elliot kissing her neck when they’d entered his room… Elliot. Elliot. Elliot.
No, she shouldn’t think about him. She shouldn’t imagine how great it would be to get to know him better. He was a guest. Here one day, gone the next. It took all her will to push him from her thoughts.
Only after worrying about her job, the fact that a hotel guest had paid her ER bill, and feeling guilty about leaving Carly so long, did she manage to drift off.
And no sooner, it seemed, had she fallen asleep then the alarm went off.
She would have slept longer if she could. Crazy how a few tiny little stitches had left her feeling like she’d been hit by a Mack truck. Unfortunately, it was time to get dressed and drive back to the hotel.
And although she knew not to take guests seriously, she couldn’t stop herself from being excited to see Elliot again.
If he came in.
If he was even still at the hotel.
She hadn’t asked him how long he was staying although he had finally told her why he was here. He’d told her about his sister, Ellen, being in rehab. He’d been worried he wasn’t enough for her. Didn’t he realize how wonderful it was that he’d taken time out of his life to come when Ellen needed him?
Oh, hell, he really was some kind of knight in shining armor.
What if he didn’t come into the bar tonight?
What if he did?
She couldn’t think about him. She shouldn’t think about him. She needed to do her job and move on with life as though nothing had happened. Likely that was what he was going to do.
Men in hotels wanted one thing. She’d learned this the hard way. When she’d first taken the job as a server at the Mountain Top Resort, she’d let one of the guests talk her into a date. He’d wooed her, made her feel like she was special. She’d believed he cared for her. It had been incredibly romantic, with him taking her to the best restaurants in town on her nights off, sending her flowers, and finally, asking her up to his room.
She’d broken the rules back then too. She’d given in the last night he was in town.
And then never heard from him again.
He hadn’t even given her his real name, because when he’d left without saying goodbye, she’d looked up the guest register. His room had been reserved under an entirely different name.
When Noel realized that he might have even been married, she’d thrown up.
But that hadn’t made the hurt go away.
