She swings down into my open arms and I help her down to her feet.
Her eyes are wide. “I would like to never do that again.”
“Deal.” I give her another kiss and then gaze into the hotel room.
Damn. It looks lived-in. A few pieces of clothing strewn about the floor, an open suitcase on a luggage rack, and a few faint curls of steam coming from the bathroom door.
“They’re in the shower,” I say. “We have to get in quickly.”
I slide the door open, looking around. No one else in the room. It’s a straight line to the front door. Good.
We’ll have to act quickly.
I steal into the room and make a beeline to the front. I’m just about to make it when I find an answer to our next problem—getting Bianca some clothes—lying on top of the room’s minifridge.
A man’s wallet, stuffed to the brim with bills.
Finally, a fucking break for the two of us.
I reach in and grab a few hundred-dollar bills.
“Harrison!” Bianca hisses.
“I’ll gladly come back and give this guy twice as much as we’ve taken once we’ve gotten the hell out of here.” I stuff the bills into my pants pocket. “For now, we need a little cash if we’re going to get around. We?—”
The shower turns off.
Fuck.
I gesture to the door. “Now!” I whip it open and the two of us clear the room before its occupant can discover us. We run down the hall and I pound the elevator button so hard that its tiny plastic casing cracks.
I’m not sure what our next move is, but we have about thirty seconds before we hit the lobby.
Operating solely on instinct, I head to the front desk. It’s manned by someone different from when we checked in, a young man with medium-length dark hair.
He smiles as we approach him, but there’s a tenseness to his face. Probably caused by the fact that Bianca is still in a bathrobe.
One crisis at a time.
“Hello, sir. Ma’am. Are you locked out of your room?”
“No. Nothing like that. Actually, we’re the couple Mr. Rose just gave a complimentary upgrade to. We wanted to see him and thank him in person for his generosity.”
“Of course.” The young man rakes his gaze over me, his eyes narrowed. “I understand perfectly.”
I hold back an eye roll. Mr. Rose probably brings call boys to this hotel all the time, gives them nice rooms. Of course, I have Bianca with me. I doubt said male escorts have a woman with them. I guess he could be bisexual. He is married with kids, after all.
A three-way with him and Bianca is the last thing on my mind.
“Mr. Rose is in his office.” The receptionist picks up a phone. “I’ll give him a ring and let him know to expect you.”
I hold up a hand. “Please don’t. We’re hoping to surprise him.” I add a wink to seal the meaning of my words.
He swallows. “Oh. Of course. Go right ahead then, sir.”
I’ll have to take a long shower after all this.
We walk over to the mahogany door. I take a deep breath to center myself and then open it.
