“Just that you were obviously clocking some deep REM.” With a grin, he brushed the tip of my nose. “I never knew how much you talk in your sleep.”
“I do not!” I said. “Besides, how would I even know if I’m asleep?”
“I can’t be the first one to tell you that you talk in your sleep.”
I frowned. “Did I at least say anything good?”
“You kept mumbling aboutLa La Landand frowning.”
“I hate that movie.”
“So does your subconscious.” He snorted lightly. “I regret to inform you that you are distressingly adorable in the morning.”
With a huff, I plopped my head back down in his lap. “Do I want to know what time it is?”
He slid down in the bed and pulled me tight against him, his excitement very obviously growing. “Twenty after one in the afternoon,” he said as he feathered kisses up my throat.
“I really like what you’re doing here,” I told him. “No notes, but I do have to go check on Ruby. She has a panel in a few hours and then a dinner tonight.” His teeth grazed the soft spot behind my ear. It was dizzying, and it took an extraordinary amount of self-control to push my hand against his chest. “To be continued, I promise.”
With a sigh, he planted a kiss on my forehead and let his hold on me loosen.
I leaned over the edge of the bed to find my underwear, which I quickly slipped into before he could convince me to change my mind.
After a quick trip to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my bra and jumpsuit, I ducked out of the room with a promise to update him on my plans for the day.
He stood in the doorway, his pants slung low on his hips, and watched me go until I stepped into the elevator to get a new key from the front desk.
I waited in line downstairs, caught in a sudden surge of hotel guests who were either checking out late or checking in early. As I scrolled through my nearly dead phone, I opened my text thread with Tess to find a new message.
Tess:
You know the guys who played the strings on theTitanic?
I grinned and typed back.
Vera:
You mean the ones who kept playing while the ship went down?
Tess:
Yes, that is me and my renovation right now.
“Vera?”
I froze mid-response and spun around, looking for the source.
Hollis leaned out of the line two guests behind me.
“Hollis,” I said, squeezing past the other guests to stand with her. “What are you doing?”
She wore a sleek Prada belt bag across her chest and had a small carry-on suitcase at her side. For the first time since I’d met her, Hollis appeared uncertain. “I would have been here last night if it weren’t for some broken latch on a lavatory door. They had to delay my flight until this morning.”
“Does Ruby know you’re here?” This could be bad.
She bit down on her lower lip and shook her head as the line shifted forward. “I came to make things right. We’re too old for this shit. I’m done playing tag with the girl of my dreams.”
“But—and I’m sorry if it’s not my place—you told her that you wanted to keep seeing other people, I thought.”
