AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Laney nodded. “Okay. One thingthough.”
I stared at her, taking every bit of her in. I didn’t want to forget a moment. “Of course.Anything.”
“Can you set me down? Years from now, I want to be able to tell people I walked into your room of my own volition.” Her eyes shined upatme.
My lips twitched as I tried to hide my smile. “You got it.” Then I carefully set her onherfeet.
8
Laney
I’d been puked on.Again. And yet I’d never felt so happy, so at ease, in all my life. After setting me on my feet, he reached for my hand. Because it seemed so natural, standing there with our fingers intertwined, I didn’t even think to question it untilhedid.
“Is this okay?” he asked as he raised our hands inexplanation.
I nodded. “Yes,” I murmured. Then a thought occurred to me. “I’m notstayinghere.”
“With me?” His browfurrowed.
I inhaled sharply. I’d never considered the possibility. “No.” I chose my words carefully. “I mean at the hotel. I have a place off thestrip.”
Harry smiled and seemed to relax slightly. The elevator door opened and he tugged on my hand. “Let’s get youcleanedup.”
I followed behind, my heart beating erratically, as he steered me through the door of his room and directly to the bathroom. I bit my cheek in an effort to hide the smile eager to spread across my face. My whole life, I’d sucked at hiding my emotions. Why would tonight be anydifferent?
“Do you need help with anything?” Harry sighed. “I saw the dress nearly fall off of you when you squatted. Forget I offered. You’ll be fine.” He laid a hand on my lower back, leaned over, and kissed my temple. “Take your time. I need to take care of a few things.” He backed out of the room and pulled the doorclosed.
At first, I felt amazing, so happy. Then I remembered I didn’t have any clothes. My shoulders sank. I might actually be worse off than I was before because at least the first time, I knew Kate was bringing me clothes. I peeled off the dress, determined to worry about this later. I practically slid out of the shoes. Turning, I started the shower and watched the room fog up. Luckily, the door was already opaque, which was perfect since I tended toward being overly modest. My mother always thought it was one of my worstqualities.
I dropped the dress in the sink, thinking I could hand wash it later, and then I ripped off the panties. There would be no more recycling of those. Finally, I stepped into the spray and reveled in the soothing effect of the massaging head. Apparently, Harry had moved in already, since there was shampoo, conditioner, and body wash already in the shower. While I cleaned up, I couldn’t help but sing. Seriously, these days, it was subconscious, my one outlet. Right now, I couldn’t hold the happy in. “Somewhere, over the rainbow,”Isang.
The bathroom door opened and I stopped immediately. “Hey, don’t stop on my account. You sound amazing. I thought I should give you a bathrobe, since your clothes were completelydestroyed.”
“Well, they weren’t my clothes, so no big loss.” I laughed as I continued to wash the odor frommyhair.
“Gimme a few minutes and I’ll make sure you have something to wear,” Harry announced before I heard the door click and I knew he’d disappearedoncemore.
A few minutes later, I managed to begin singing again. I couldn’t help it. The music bubbled out of me. When I was done, I stepped out of the shower and toweled off. Sure enough, there was a plush white robe hanging on the back of the door. I slipped it on after making a towel turban for my hair. For some reason, I was anxious to see Harryagain.
The hinges creaked slightly as I pulled on the handle and stepped out of the bathroom. Immediately, my eyes searched him out. He was on the balcony, leaning on the railing, hands clasped as he stared out over the strip. I stepped through the open slider to join him. “Hi,” I murmuredshyly.
“Laney.” Harry stood and smiled at me, then shook his head. “Come with me. I have somethingforyou.”
He brought me back into the bedroom and opened the closet door. “These.” He gestured to encompass roughly five dresses. “Oh, and these.” He lifted a fancy bag with tissue paper sticking out of the top and Iswallowedhard.
“You bought me panties?” I chewed on my lip while I worried over the contents of the bag. “I’ll be right back.” Grabbing the bag, I ducked into the bathroom once more, shut the door, and leaned against it while I tried to regulate my breathing. I was entirely too excited, but strangely not fearful. I peeked inside and discovered his choices were perfect. A couple of bikinis, a few cheeksters, and a pair of boy shorts. Tears pricked my eyes. Why did this guy have to be perfect? Why did the women in my family have to specialize in impossiblerelationships?
I grabbed a pair of black cheeksters, yanked off the price tag, but dropped it into the bag before I pulled on the underwear. The gift was nice, but I’d learned to never rely on a man. The fit was perfect, and I rather liked the way they looked on too. Maybe for the first time ever, I felt sexy. Smiling, I wrapped the bathrobe around me again before I sashayed back into thebedroom.
Harry leaned against the wall. “I’d ask what you thought, but your smile says it all. I’m glad I didn’t foul this up.” He pulled a hand from behind his back. A black bra dangled from his finger. “I thought this might beuseful.”
My head tilted. I moved closer and reached for it. When I checked out the size, I realized he’d selected correctly. “Wow.” I frowned. “Oh, you’re one of those guys.” I pulled the bathrobe more tightlyaroundme.
“What guys?” Hefrowned.
I shrugged. “You know, the kind that can guess a girl’s bra size just by looking at her.” My disappointment wasobvious.
Harry chuckled. “Do I look like that guy?” He shook his head. “Actually, I’m the guy who asks Kate what size bra she sent to the laundryearlier.”
