He shrugs. “I had already delegated most of my duties to my interns and nurses, so I took off early. I didn’t like the idea of you at this hotel without me.”
I wrap my arms around him, squeeze him tight. It feels like an eternity has passed since we were last together. “I wasn’t too fond of the idea either. But are you sure your patients won’t need you?”
He strokes my hair. “I have a fantastic staff covering for me. I won’t be missed.”
“I’d certainly miss you.” I finally break the embrace, regard his handsome face. “I guess we’d better check in then.”
He gestures to the marble slab to our right manned by people at small computers. We cross over.
A woman with curly blond hair and half-moon spectacles waves us over. “Good afternoon, and welcome to the Gilded Rose. Do you have a reservation?”
I place my fake ID on the counter. “Yes. For three nights. The name is Whitney Royale.”
“Wonderful. Just one moment, Ms. Royale.” She grabs my ID, looks it over, and then returns to her screen. “Yes, you’re in our system. I’ll just need a credit card for incidentals.”
I widen my eyes. I don’t have a credit card with Whitney Royale’s name on it. I forgot about that.
Harrison clearly is thinking faster than I am, because he quickly grabs his wallet and takes out a card. “Those are on me. I’m treating my girlfriend to a weekend of pampering.”
The receptionist smiles at Harrison. “Lucky lady.” She grabs the credit card and runs it through her system. “Everything seems to be in order. One question, though. Would you be interested in upgrading to our luxury suite? It’s almost always booked, but not this weekend. We offer a last-minute discount to guests.”
“How much would it be?” Harrison asks.
She clacks on her keyboard. “It would be a little under five hundred dollars to upgrade for the whole weekend, sir.”
Harrison grins. “Let’s do it. Charge the extra money to my card.”
I grab his arm. “You really don’t have to do that.”
He sears his gaze into mine. “I really think I do.”
And in his eyes, I see what he means. We’re about to put our lives on the line to save Jack and the rest of the waitstaff at Aces Underground. We could be six feet under by this time tomorrow. We may as well live a little.
I turn back to the receptionist. “Okay, we’ll take the upgrade.”
“Excellent choice.” The receptionist smiles. “The luxury suite is truly something special. You’ll be quite comfortable. Will two keys be sufficient?”
“Yes,” I reply.
“Perfect.” She grabs two key cards, swipes them through another machine, and gives them to us in a small envelope. “You’ll be on the seventh floor. Have a wonderful first night, and please don’t hesitate to call the front desk if you encounter any issues.”
“Thank you,” I say weakly.
“Thank you, Ms. Royale. And welcome to the Gilded Rose.”
We take the elevator—it’s one of those old ones that’s controlled by an operator sitting on a tall bench in the corner—up to the seventh floor and Harrison swipes his keycard, letting us into our suite.
We open to a living space that’s lavishly decorated with nineteenth-century art adorning emerald-green wallpaper. Over the room’s light-pink carpet, two cream wingback chairs stand across from a loveseat in the same color, both outfitted with soft leather. They surround a dark cherry oval-shaped coffee table holding a golden vase with a bouquet of red roses. In the corner stands an elegant wooden desk with assorted stationery.
“Damn, this is nice.” Harrison plops down on the loveseat. “I should stay downtown more often.”
It is nice, but it does nothing to quell the goosebumps popping up over my arms. This may very well be the last place I ever sleep.
Harrison gets back to his feet. He walks over to me, brushes a finger over my cheek. “Everything’s going to be okay. You know that, right?”
I swallow, look down at my feet. “I’ll feel a lot better after tomorrow night.”
“Of course. We both will.” He tips my chin up and gives me a kiss.
