“We’re fully booked,” he says.
“Are there any other hotels?” she asks in an even higher tone. She’s totally forgotten we’re supposed to be in character too. I’ve got to fix this, stat. I take a step closer to her, getting in fake boyfriend territory as she fiddles with her necklace. Clearly she didn’t notice the gaffe. Maybe Cedric didn’t either. A man can dream.
“I’m afraid the whole town is booked,” Cedric continues.
She gulps. “So it’s just the one room tonight?”
“For you and your friend,” he confirms, and he heard us loud and clear. “But it has a bed and a very comfy couch.”
Which I’ll be sleeping on since there’s only one bed. But Cedric doesn’t need to know that. I drape an arm around Remy and plant a kiss to her cheek, punctuating it with a smack. Time to sell this romance. “Sounds perfect for us.”
Cedric blinks, then furrows his brow even more. “Oh, so it’s all good?”
Remy tenses, but then relaxes, or perhaps she wills herself to relax. “Yes, it’s so perfect.”
With that problem fixed, I grab the key card, thank him and walk toward the stairs. We say nothing on the way up.
Once we reach the room, I unlock it and say, “I’m sorry. I just forgot. There’s no excuse.”
“I forgot too,” she says, then flashes a hopeful grin. “But it’ll probably be fine. It’s not like Caroline’s here, or my parents, or Jameson, or the team yet. And besides, I think you fooled him there at the end.”
I swallow past my self-loathing. “I won’t let it happen again.”
She sets a hand on my arm. “I won’t either.”
But even that gesture, her hand on my arm, feels good. She must realize it, since she takes it off too quickly. The door swings open, and Cedric wasn’t kidding about the one bed. It takes up three quarters of the room.
And the couch? It’s more like a love seat. There’s no way I’ll fit on it.
I can’t be in this room for long, brushing up against her, stealing glances at her, so I use the workout excuse. I head out as soon as I can for a run, and then a session at the hotel gym. When I’m done, we meet up for dinner in town, grabbing sandwiches and fries at the Candy Cane Diner. She tells me she worked out in the fitness center while I was out for a run and already showered so there’s no need to worry. “You can have the shower to yourself tonight,” she says.
And now I’m thinking of showering. With her. Great. Just great. I take a bite of the fake chicken sandwich like it’ll make me stop picturing her naked.
When we return to the room, it’s nearly nine. Close enough to bedtime but not quite.
The door shuts with an ominousthunkand it’s just her, me, and my unchecked longing for the rest of the night.
“Want dessert?” Remy asks.
You.
“Got some in your pockets?” I tease, trying desperately to make light of the situation.
“No,” she says, laughing as she gestures to her bags. “I have the Valentine’s candy.”
Oh, right. “Sure,” I say.
“And the licorice for you.”
She fucking bought me licorice.
“Let’s do it, then I definitely need to shower,” I say, gesturing to my gym clothes.
“You look cute in sweaty gym clothes,” she says. And that is not helping. And she must know it since she mutters, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I do look hot,” I say, owning it.
“Well, yeah.”
