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TWENTY
It was latewhen we stopped at a hotel not too far from Jackson. I’d booked it an hour earlier, and then fell asleep on the way there. Zed woke me up with a soft hand on my thigh, and I realized I’d trusted him enough to fall asleep while he was driving.
That was definitely something new for me.
I was feeling a bit nauseous after eating at the places we’d stopped for food at, but I picked things I knew wouldn’t make me vomit, so we were alright.
“We made it,” he said, flashing me a tired smile.
“Sweet,” I murmured, rubbing at the grittiness in my eyes. “Thanks for driving.”
“I offered,” he pointed out.
I rolled my eyes, though the gesture was a bit delayed with how tired I was. “You’ve got a problem with accepting gratitude.”
“Not from everyone. Just you.” He squeezed my thigh lightly before slipping out of the truck. I unbuckled as he grabbed both of our bags from the truck, and he caught my hand to help me out right as I slung my legs over the side of the seat.
“Why won’t you accept it from me?” I asked, as we headed into the lobby.
“I do things for you because I want to. Seems dishonest to accept a thank-you for something I wanted to do anyway.”
The logic wasn’t entirely sound to me, but it did help me understand. “I say thank you to tell you that I appreciate what you did, though.”
“If you want to show me appreciation, just kiss me.” He shot me a teasing smile, but I could tell he meant it.
“Alright.” We stopped in front of the main counter, and I went up on my tiptoes to press my lips to his cheek as he gave the hotel’s employee my name.
Zed caught my hand and laced his fingers through mine as we walked toward the elevator. He’d made me use his credit card, and had rejected the one-star and two-star hotels I’d suggested, forcing me to choose one with at least three stars for the sake of cleanliness. When I’d argued that they would all be clean, he just told me that he was paying, so he was picking.
I was pretty sure he said that just to get me to agree, but it had worked, and I wasn’t upset about it.
The hotel was pretty damn nice, especially compared to the kind of places I usually stayed in. The bed of my truck didn’t exactly have many modern amenities, and the places I’d ended up in when I traveled outside the US were almost equally un-modern. Not just because I was cheap and broke, but because I usually avoided the paths tourists walked and business-people clung to. The most beautiful sites were the ones most of the world hadn’t discovered yet, and those were the places I sought out when I was traveling. The shots no one else had taken or could match were the ones that did the best when I posted them on stock sites, after all.
Zed slid our keycard, and stepped into the room first, maintaining his hold on my hand as he led me inside. I didn’t try to let go; I liked the feel of his fingers between mine.
“It’s nothing fancy, but I’m sure you’ve realized by now that the only thing I splurge on is food,” Zed murmured.
“And your car,” I pointed out.
“I bought one that would last. It was an investment.” He shrugged. “A cheaper one would end up costing just as much in the long-run, but with a hell of a lot more maintenance and loss in value.”
“Sounds like you did your research.”
“Mmhm.” He dropped our bags on the bench at the end of the bed, and tugged his shirt over his head. “I’m beat.”
“Me too.” I stepped out of my tennis shoes and slipped out of my leggings, tossing both on top of Zed’s shirt. His shoes hit the pile too, followed by his jeans.
Hot damn, those abs.
Those legs.
Suddenly, I wasn’t tired at all.
Zed collapsed on top of the bed, his eyes moving slowly over my body as I fidgeted a bit.
“You know, I think I’m going to take a shower, just to wind-down a bit,” I told him.
There wasn’t any winding down to do—I was just afraid if I jumped into bed with him, I’d end up crazy horny around the time he started snoring.
