Page 47 of Grimoires & Glamoury

“It’s not a problem,” I told Charles, and we accepted our key and made our way down the line of hotel rooms and past a couple of vending machines to the final room on the end. We shuffled along, me with a backpack and an oversized tote, and Charles with a small roller suitcase and the bag of snacks we’d picked up earlier.

“At least there are two beds,” he groused as we walked along.

“I promise you, Montgomery,” I said dryly, “I can manage to restrain myself. I won’t pounce on you in the night.”

He sent me a withering look over his shoulder. “It’s such a comfort to me knowing that my virtue will remain intact.”

That quip had me sniggering.

“Do you snore?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Not unless I’m sick. Do you?”

“I’ve had no complaints to date.”

“Good to know,” I said. “And I call dibs on first shower.”

He simply nodded in agreement and unlocked the door. The room was small, yet it was scrupulously clean. I tossed my backpack on the closest bed and carried my tote straight into the bathroom.

A short time later I emerged with my hair wrapped in a towel, wearing my sleeveless violet night shirt that hit me mid-thigh. “Your turn,” I said cheerfully as I carted my tote back to the bed I had claimed.

While Charles took his shower, I reorganized my bag, pulled out some clothes for tomorrow, and helped myself to one of the bottled waters I’d purchased earlier in the day.

By the time he had finished in the bathroom, I had combed out my damp hair, rolled it up and into a sock bun, and was propped up in my bed, checking the local weather on my cell phone.

I glanced over and almost dropped my phone. Charles was wearing a pair of thin sweatpants…and nothing else. Hastily I averted my eyes. There was a whole lot of lean muscle on display at the moment, and after running my mouth about how I wasn’t nervous to share a room with him, I suddenly found that in fact, I was.

“There’s a diner in town,” he said. “They open at seven. We could go there for breakfast in the morning.”

Carefully, I plugged in my phone to recharge and placed my glasses in their case—as if it were the most important task in the world. “The Baneberry Diner. I’ve had lunch there before,” I said, silently congratulating myself on keeping my tone casual and friendly. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll set the alarm on my phone,” he said, climbing into his own bed.

I switched off the light that was between us. “Night, Charles,” I said, rearranging my pillows in the dark.

“Goodnight, Lorna.”

Despite being tired, I struggled to get comfortable, which was proving difficult in a hotel bed. With a sigh I rolled over onto my side, hoping to get myself situated.

“You were great with Xander, today,” Charles said.

“He’s a cutie,” I said.

“You are a natural teacher, and it’s clear to see that you are wonderful with children.”

“Er...thanks.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have children of your own.”

“Never found the right person to start a family with,” I told him around a yawn.

“Get some sleep, Lorna,” was the last thing I heard before I zonked out.

As a roommate, Charles Montgomery was surprisingly easy to get along with. The next morning, he ducked into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth and while he was in there, I used the main area of the room to slip on my own clothes.

By the time he came out, I was dressed and had my toothbrush and makeup case in hand. After brushing my teeth, I discovered that I would have to lean pretty far over the sink to try and do my face, and so I decided to just use the full-length mirror in the main room to finish getting ready.

I strolled out with my glasses on top of my head, walked over to the mirror, and set my bag of cosmetics down on a nearby dresser. Selecting my under-eye concealer and foundation, I moved in as close as I could get to the mirror and started to dot it on. Reaching back into the bag for my foundation brush, I stepped close to the mirror again, and began to blend it all in.