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“Can I help you?” Lucy squinted into the small fisheye hole that made everything outside look wonky.
Tall and built like one of those heavy-duty trucks, he shoved the keycard in once more. The reader buzzed and clunked, but the door wouldn’t open.
He paused, key still inserted and flipped over the envelope in his hand. “Sorry. I think they gave us the wrong room number.”
William had said the resort had a reputation for double booking rooms.
They had all been given the same room. Simple. This was the reason he had come with cameras on a secret consumer news mission.
“Hold on.” Lucy rummaged through the equipment bags to find a camera. “Just a second.”
With no time to do anything but set it on the dresser, she flicked the thing on. The angle would be crap, but maybe she’d get something usable.
She peeked through the door into the hall again. A sandy-haired woman with huge doll-like eyes stepped into view, and the man slung his arm around her shoulder.
Lucy pushed back the bolt and opened the door a sliver. “Hi. I think the lodge made a mistake. My husband will be right back. I’m sure he won’t mind walking to the front desk with you to sort this out.”
William picked that moment to step around the corner with the bags.
“What’s going on, Sugar Lips?” He did that drawl again. The teasing should have pissed her off, but damn it was kind of cute. He moved forward and kissed her on the forehead as he stepped through the entry.
Jelly. Not just her knees this time. Her whole body whimpered.
“Looks like they gave us the same room.” The other man waited in the hallway with his wife.
William dropped the bags beside the bed. Two beats, and he held out his hand confidently to the Mack-truck dude. “William.”
The man shook it. “Max.”
“What do you say we head to the front desk and find out what’s going on, yeah?” William asked the guy.
Without waiting for a response, William moved, and they followed. A magnet. He drew people to him, with him, beside him. As he closed the door, his eyes caught hers, and he said softly, “B-roll, babe. We need raw footage of everything.”
“You’re so bossy.” She settled her hands on her waist, her elbows flared. “And seriously, Sugar Lips?”
He glanced to her mud-soaked shirt. “I’ll grab you something to wear from the gift shop.” A wink and he slipped on the glasses.
The door closed, and Lucy stood alone in the big room with all the bags and a big bed she’d likely not get to sleep in after all.
CHAPTER EIGHT
William and Lucy got demoted to Cabin Number Six—down by the lake.
Of course they wouldn’t kick a real couple out of the honeymoon suite on their actual honeymoon. Simple and private—that’s what the front desk clerk assured William when he offered to move out of the suite. The suite Lucy had seemed really into. And since he was really into Lucy, the last thing he wanted was to disappoint her. It’s not like she’d been excited to tag along on this little excursion anyway.
While the cabin wasn’t the luxury of the suite, it wasn’t awful.
William had re-loaded the bags, sent Lucy’s clothes to be cleaned, and waited while she changed into the only clothes he could find in the gift shop. The pajama bottoms had Princess stamped across her ass. They fit snugly around the aforementioned backside, the waistband resting just below her navel. She filled out the word Princess perfectly.
Honestly, he could get behind whatever declarations she wanted to display on her ass at any point during their trip.
The simple cabin had a living and bedroom combo that made up the majority of the large room with a fireplace on one side and a kitchenette on the other. A giant bed crafted from logs faced the doorway. The bathroom only had a shower, but they could live with that. No television, though. That would be harder to live with.
He and Lucy went to work, taping footage of the space before he moved in their bags.
William itched to get out of the monkey suit he’d had on since they left KDVX. In the bathroom, he changed into jeans and a plaid button-down shirt. Before he hung up the suit coat, he retrieved the worn envelope he carried with him all the time. He ran his finger along the edge and tapped it on the counter before closing his eyes and leaning his forehead on the mirror. His future was secure in Confluence. That’s what mattered. It’s what his mom had worked so hard for, and he swore to himself he wouldn’t let her down again. This would be his last story as a reporter, and he’d make it a good one. Then he’d run her company just as she would have.
He leaned away from his reflection and took a deep breath before opening his eyes and slipping the envelope back into his pocket.
