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24
Parking outside The Maiden’s Rest, I rubbed my eyes. “Are you sure we can do this? Don’t we have to get back?”
“We’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Maria would’ve texted if Dillon’s crystal didn’t work. We have time,” he said, reaching to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.
“That’s true, she would’ve said something.” I nodded.
“I’m not gonna lie,” he added “The idea of spending a night with you in a fancy bed, away from the stress of the pack, sounds pretty good right now.”
I exhaled a long breath. “That really does sound good.”
“If you’d rather go home, we can,” he said, sitting back.
My stomach clenched, and a strange feeling scratched at the back of my mind, but I shook my head. “No. I want to spend the night.”
“Okay. Let’s go in then,” he said, giving me a wink over his shoulder as he slid out of the car.
I followed him out and we trailed up the small walkway around to the front of the massive red manor house. Off set from the road, it was nearly twice the size of the Grey house. Its windows where full of wind chimes, and an ornately carved wooden sign dangled over the porch with the wordsThe Maiden’s Restwritten across it in beautiful swirling script.
Jamie squeezed my hand, and I bumped my shoulder against his. Holding hands was such a domestic gesture I couldn’t help but smile. If anyone had told me a month before that I’d be holding hands with Jamie Hart, I’d have laughed in their faces, and then I’d have punched them if they’d dared to even insinuate the two of us would’ve ever done even half of the things we’d done in his bed.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, opening the front door for me.
“Nothing, just thinking about how crazy this is.”
He pouted in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“This,” I said, lifting our joined hands. “It’s still new. Still strange. I mean up until what… a week ago I hated you, and now…”
His lips curled up into his wicked crooked grin, and he pulled me close standing in the foyer. He let go of my hand and cupped my face between his palms. “And now, what? How do you feel about me now?”
Blush burned in my cheeks. “Now I don’t hate you.”
“Is that it?” he laughed. “I guess that’s an improvement.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know I care about you, Doofus.”
Jamie laughed and tilted my head back to drop a soft kiss on my lips. “I care about you too, Snowflake.”
A girlish squeal made me jump, and my arms looped around Jamie’s waist, as I turned to find a woman standing in the hallway beaming at us. She had short cropped brown hair, dark brown, almost black, eyes, and her caramel-colored fingers were ladened with gold rings.
“Aren’t you two just adorable,” she said in heavily accented English.
“Hi,” I croaked, clearing my throat. “We’re looking for a room to spend the night. Do you have any openings?”
The woman’s eyes glittered as she sashayed over to the small standing desk by the door. She flipped open the ledger that sat on top and smiled up at me. “Let’s see, shall we?”
I watched curiously as she ran a long blood red nail over the yellowed page in front of her and she tapped the paper.
“Find something?” I asked.
“Yes indeed, our honeymoon suite,” she said. “Unless you need two beds.”
“The one bed will be fine,” I said, a fresh wave of blush burning in my cheeks.
“Good, then I have your keys right here,” she said, plucking the set from beneath the desk. “It’s the last room on the right at the top of the stairs. You’ll have that floor all to yourselves, but if you need anything, don’t hesitate to pull the rope by the bed.”
“Thank you.” I smiled taking the keys from her.
