Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 125257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Good—I don’t need to get snowed in with her, or anything fucking romantic like that. Just need to get checked in, eat dinner, and get some alone time, so I’m not stuck with her and this going-nowhere attraction.
I grab her bag. “I managed to upgrade our room to a suite—two bedrooms and a living room. Couldn’t get an extra room tonight. Too many people in town for the game.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Inside the inn, we head to the main desk, and an older man with a pale face, a goatee, and red hair snaps his gaze to us from the screen. “Welcome to the Chestnut Inn. How may I help you?”
“Hey there, Cedric,” I say, reading his name tag. “I’m checking in. I’ve got a suite for tonight. Last name is Axelrod.”
“Fantastic. I’ll just look you up right now,” he says, then studies the screen. Studies it for a few more beats than I’d expect.
“That’s a suite for tomorrow night?” he asks with some concern, looking up.
“Nope. Tomorrow is just a regular room for me.”
“And tomorrow I have my own room,” Remy chimes in, then gives her name. “But for tonight we’re sharing.”
“The suite?”
“Yes. Tonight’s for the suite. Since there’re two of us. Two friends,” I add, for Remy’s sake, since that’s what she wanted.
Cedric swings his gaze from Remy to me, like he’s adding up the details of us. “Right,” he says, squinting at the screen, then clucking his tongue.
Cedric looks up with an apology written in his eyes. “See, it looks like the suite upgrade was for tomorrow night. Tonight we just have the one room. A regular room with a king-size bed though.”
He fastens on a smile that seems to say I really hope that’ll do.
“That’s all you have for my friend and me?” Remy asks, voice squeaking.
And shit.
That was a rookie mistake I made, introducing us as friends. We’re supposed to be faking it as boyfriend and girlfriend. Everywhere. What if this guy knows someone? Like Jameson or Caroline? What if he rats us out? Is that why he was clocking us seconds ago? Probably, you dumbass.
“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.