"Yes, of course, Mr. Holbrook."
"My mom is okay with that?"
Stefan looked at him blandly. "You and yourfuture wifeare allowed to share a room," Stefan told him as he opened the door to the room.
Actually, Allie thought, it was a suite.
"I will leave you two to freshen up. Dinner is in two hours," Stefan told them as he turned and left.
She dropped the bags on the floor and stared in wonder. The door opened up into a generous sitting room with large high windows overlooking a garden. There was also a private balcony with a small metal table and chairs.
Allie slowly walked through the suite. Through a set of French doors was the single nicest bedroom she had ever been in. Off the bedroom were a huge closet and an even bigger bathroom with a freestanding tub.
"Oh, I've always wanted one of these," she said enviously.
"They use a lot of water," Carter said, struggling to get out of his uniform.
Allie covered her eyes.
"I'm sure you've seen more than this before," Carter said.
"Yes, but in the context of my job as a bartender. Not in, you know, a bedroom."
Carter stood there in his boxer briefs and smirked at her. She tried not to blush. Normally, she was not fazed at all by good-looking men. In her bar, she would randomly have marines drunk stripping to show off a tattoo or self-inflicted injury. It must be the long drive and the lack of sleep that was making her feel this way.
"You want to come with me, Margot?" Carter said to the dog. She shrank away from him, shivering. "Is she cold?"
"Probably just scared and nervous because of the new surroundings."
"Poor doggo," Carter said.
"I’m going to take a shower," she told him. "Actually, no, I'm going to take a bath." She turned on the water and reveled in the tray of pretty little glass bottles filled with various liquids and salts she could pour in the water.
Carter shrugged and went into the walk-in closet, which was larger than Allie's bedroom in North Carolina. Coming out wearing jeans and pulling a T-shirt over his head, he said, "I’m going downstairs."
She waited until she heard the door shut then stripped down and sank into the bath. It was marvelous.
"This is heaven," she said to Margot.
The little dog had stumbled into the bathroom after Carter left and lay down in a ball on the carpet. Allie flicked some water at her, and the dog yelped as a single droplet of water landed on her nose.
"You need to toughen up," Allie said to the dog. When the water started to get cool, she pulled the stopper chain and let the tub drain. How was she going to be able to go back to her crappy little apartment after all of this?
She knew there were wealthy people in the world, but in her little corner of Les DesChamps, no one had this kind of money.
Checking the time, she realized that she needed to go downstairs for dinner. She pulled on her worn black jeans with the patches and a T-shirt that read Wildcat and roughly combed her tangled hair. Tucking Margot under her arm, she set off to find out where everyone was.
She wandered around downstairs and followed the low buzz of conversation.
When she entered a sitting room, everyone stopped and turned to look at her.
They sure drank a lot, Allie noted as she looked at Carter's parents. Jack had a glass of what looked like whisky, and from the way he was swaying, he seemed as if he'd been drinking since she arrived earlier in the day.
"You don't have anything nicer to wear for dinner, dear?" Nancy asked her.
Allie gave her a catty smile. "No, your highness."
Before Nancy could respond, two well-dressed people came into the room followed by the fluffiest, cutest dog Allie had ever seen.
