“Then we should stay and go see them. There’s no point of driving on till we find another motel if they have a room for us here.”
“But…”
I know what she’s about to say, so I beat her to it. “We can share a bed for one night. No big deal.”
She lowers her voice so only I can hear her. “We both know what happens in ‘only one bed’ situations in romance novels.”
“Areyouafraid of what might happen?”
“No, not really. I trust you to be a gentleman.”
Her trust in me makes my entire body hum. “Then we’re staying. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Gunner gives us a shared motel guest registration form before he takes my payment information. I hand the paper over to Tanya. “I still don’t know your last name or birthday, so here you go.”
“It’s Vendrell, and I turned twenty-eight on the seventeenth of last month.”
I knew she was a bit younger than me, but it surprises me that I’m ten years older. I’m still intrigued by this woman and all of the stories she has to tell.
“What’s your middle name?”
“‘Lucille,” she says, focusing on writing the information down.
“Pretty just like you are, Tanya Lucille Vendrell.”
My compliment makes her glow. “Thank you, EdmundI-have-no-idea-what-your-middle-name-isSpade.”
“Francis.”
“What?”
“My middle name is Francis, after another dead relative.”
Tanya’s eyes brighten even more. “Lucille was my mom’s middle name, too.”
“That makes it even more beautiful.”Smooth, man. Try a little less next time, okay?
“Thank you,” she whispers and hands the form to me before glancing at her vibrating phone. “Can you fill out the rest of your stuff so I can call Sally back?”
“Sure, say hi from me,” I say and watch as Tanya walks across the room.
She drops down to the comfy-looking loveseat near the main entrance. I check the form to see if she’s written all my information down correctly, and only my address and phone number are missing. I know she saw my license and charts at the hospital last night, but having her know all those little details about me still feels awesome.
When we finally walk into the small room we’ll be sharing for the night, I quickly realize that a regular queen bed is way smaller than the California King I have at my place. With my bigger size, it’ll be a snug fit for both of us. That shouldn’t make me as giddy as I am, but I can’t help but think of Tanya’s words;we both know what happens in ‘only one bed’ situations in romance books.
9
TEXTS BETWEEN TANYA AND SALLY
*Three missed calls from Sally Kavanaugh*
Tan, you alive??
*One missed call from Sally Kavanaugh*
ANSWER YOUR DAMN PHONE WOMAN
