“Melissa gave me your number.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Of course she did. It’s very typical of Melissa to do something like that without consulting me.
“Can I call you?”
“Look, I’ll be honest. I don’t have someone, but my heart isn’t free.”
“But that doesn’t stop us from getting to know each other, does it?”
“Hmm . . . I guess not.”
“I’m not always in the United States. I’d just like to hear a friendly voice on lonely nights.”
“Alright then.”
Caldwell-Oviedo Tower Hotel
“I’ll accompany you to the elevator.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do. I was raised old-fashioned, Olívia. Regardless of not getting a kiss, in my book, when you take a girl out, you don’t leave her alone until she’s safely back home at the end of the night.”
I hear a chuckle from Melissa. The four of us shared an Uber, and that was the only reason I allowed Logan to accompany me back to the hotel.
I bid goodbye to her and her boyfriend, but when I try to open the door to step out, the charming soldier is already holding it for me, standing on the curb.
“I’m not giving up. You know soldiers are stubborn, right?”
“Don’t make me regret agreeing to let you call me.”
He smiles. “I like your feisty attitude.”
“Thanks, but I wasn’t kidding about what I said. I’m not looking for someone. I kind of already feel involved in a relationship in my head.”
“In your head?”
“Yeah, it’s one-sided.”
“Who’s the bastard? Let me guess, so I can kick his ass for letting a girl like you slip away.”
I laugh. Though I hadn’t planned on going out tonight, I have to admit meeting him was a pleasant surprise.
He gives me a peck on the cheek and waits for me to enter the elevator before leaving.
As I press the button for my floor, I power on my phone that I had turned off as soon as I entered the club. The elevator is taking longer than usual to close its doors, and only when I see an employee running over do I realize something is wrong.
At the same time, a sequence of messages appears on the screen, making my heart race in a frantic sprint.
Guillermo.
Before I can read them, however, the guy holds the door with both hands, preventing it from closing. He looks breathless and takes a few breaths before he can speak. “Miss Freitas, please come with me. You’re expected on the fifty-sixth.”
What? That’s the floor of the presidential suite. Why should I go there?
“Uh . . . I don’t work the night shift,” I reply.
“I’m sorry, but I received a direct order to escort you there as soon as you returned to the hotel. I don’t know what it’s about, but I think we’ll both be in trouble if you don’t comply.”
