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I took the chance and approached the front desk.
“Do you have a reservation?” she asked.
“No. Actually, I don’t. Do you have availability?”
“Umm,” she began as her fingers worked the keyboard. “Let me check.”
I stared at the wall behind her which was made of metal circles, knowing even if they had a vacancy, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it.
“It looks like we have a Viva Suite available. It’s has a king bed and fully furnished living room.” When she told me the price per night, I held in a wince. “That’s more room than I need. Thanks. I assume that’s all you have.”
She gave me a nonjudgmental smile. “Yeah, I’m sorry. The city is booked.”
I nodded and turned away. I walked several feet near the front and looked out the windows into the night. A tap on my shoulder nearly sent me out of my skin. I spun to face the man with the dazzling dimpled smile.
“Are you in?” Clearly, I didn’t get it, but he read the confusion on my face easily enough. “Are you still up to sharing a room with me?”
Honesty time. “I don’t think I can afford a place like this even splitting the cost.” Though my agency gave me a housing stipend as a part of my compensation package, the daily rate wouldn’t cover half the cost of a hotel room here.
“Who said we were splitting? I have the room. I offered you to stay. You owe me nothing. Besides, my brother is paying, and he can afford it and then some.”
“He’s paying for you?” I asked.
“He is whether I have a guest or not. The type of room I have wouldn’t change either way.”
Take a leap of faith, the devil on my shoulder whispered. He was right about me not knowing who the roommate was that I was going to move in with before the agreement fell through. I had planned to stay there without ever meeting her. At least I met Liam and knew him long enough to consider taking the chance. What’s the worst that could happen?
Besides, if not for him riding up with the pregnant woman and her husband, I would have thought he was my father’s minion based on his stocky build. However, even my father’s men wouldn’t have put that much effort into planning to track me down. Plus, I’d seen his driver’s license and taken a bunch of photos that I’d sent to my best friend, Jody. She would forward it to my mom if the worst happened.
“Okay. Let’s do it.” His eyes widened and I realized how that sounded. “Share a room. Don’t get any ideas.”
There was that damnable dimple of his, in full force. “No ideas. Fantasies, maybe?”
If I hadn’t felt like he was joking, I would have walked away. As it was, I giggled. When his hand landed on the small of my back to urge me forward, I swear I felt the heat of it through triple layers of fabric I wore.
As we waited for the elevator, he held out a key card. “I had them make you one.”
Arrogant and nice. I took it from him as the doors opened. We were the only two occupants and that’s when things got awkward. I was in an elevator with a man I barely knew, heading to a hotel room we were going to share. It was the stuff bad decisions were made of.
My focus was directed at the floor numbers which were rising as if my life depended on it. Maybe it did. He’d given me a card, but it didn’t have the room number on it. I promised Jody I’d text her all the information when I had it—another precaution step.
The doors couldn’t open fast enough as I felt his eyes on me, burning right through to my soul. He was standing slightly to my right, behind me. I don’t think I’d ever been this attracted to any man before and I needed to get a grip and fast.
“This way,” he said, making me realize I’d taken off to the right, when we were going left.
He opened the door and the first thing I saw was the view out of the floor to ceiling windows. New York’s skyline was lit up even though the streets had been relatively quiet.
I placed my bag down on one of the chairs at a round table and wandered further into the room toward the window, past a sofa flanked by two chairs. I was mesmerized by the city view. We weren’t that high up, but we had an awesome view of the Empire State Building.
“The bedroom’s that way,” he said, breaking my trance. I looked in the direction he pointed down a short hall and nodded. “That’s all for you. I’ll take the couch.”
There was no way I’d let that happen. I held up a hand as he opened his mouth to speak again. “This is your room and I’m just couch surfing. Besides,” I began as I eyed the object in question. “Between the two of us, who would fit?”
