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“I like that you still paint your nails the same color,” he said.
“I’m classic.” Or I abhorred change. Either way worked.
“You know, I’m not all that tortured anymore.”
“I’m glad.”
He lifted my hand to his lips and raised his eyes to mine. “Except about you.” Instead of kissing my hand, he nibbled my fingertips, causing my back to arch a little.
“Jude...I’ve never wanted you to be tortured.”
“I know.” He pressed his mouth to my palm before setting it back on the seat. “Come to my room. Let me kiss you again.”
“I don’t know if that’s a great idea. I think we should talk before we spend time alone in a hotel room.” Icouldn’tgo to his room. This car was already too small, the man next to me too tempting. If not for the driver only a few feet from us, I wasn’t sure I’d still be in my seat.
Going to Jude’s room wouldn’t be wise. We had so much ground to cover before anything physical happened between us.
Anything else.
“I’m all about talking. Come to my room.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
He gave a slight shake of his head. “Thinkiest thinker ever.”
“I’m not an easy woman.”
“Good thing I’m into gorgeous and complicated.”
I sighed, letting his words settle over my heart. “Benny told me he made my bracelet.”
Jude straightened, brow pinching. “Yeah? I guess he did. I’d had it in my pocket for a while, probably a couple weeks. I used to rub my thumb across the beads, just like you did. Maybe I should’ve told you I didn’t make it, but I thought of it as mine to give. And I got you to blush, so it was worth it.”
“I’m not giving it back.”
He held up his wrist, showing me the leather circling it. “No need.”
The ride to the hotel went fast, and before I knew it, we were on the elevator together, riding up to our separate floors.
When the doors slid open on twelve, Jude stuck his foot out so they wouldn’t close and cupped the sides of my neck. “My offer still stands. Room twelve-oh-eight. We can just talk.”
I laid my palms over his hands. “I’m tired. Let’s talk in the morning. We should have breakfast together.”
He nodded in acquiescence. “All right. I won’t push. Just know my hat is in the ring. Pretty sure it never left.”
He stepped out of the elevator, and as the doors slid shut, I raised my hand in a wave.
“Goodnight, Jude,” I whispered to no one.
In my hotel room, I slipped off my clothes and took a quick shower, washing away the sunshine and thin layer of dirt I got from riding the ATV. When I went to grab pajamas from my suitcase, the White Stripes T-shirt Nina had snuck into my suitcase caught my eye. I hadn’t worn it yet, but something had me shaking it out and slipping the soft fabric over my head. After I pulled on a pair of boxers, I flopped on my bed, replaying the conversation Jude and I had on the ride back.
My thoughts hovered over his room number. He was one floor below me exactly. If I stomped around, he might hear me.
If I added up all the time I’d spent thinking of Jude, I wondered if it would amount to a lifetime. Some days, even some years, it seemed like all I did was think of him. I’d turned over my feelings and analyzed our past again and again, examining each event and conversation with a fine-tooth comb.
My fingertips stroked the fabric of my T-shirt—the one I’d worn when I first met Jude—one I’d worn countless times when we were together—and I couldn’t think of one reason why I was in my hotel room alone when the man who’d been a central part of my thoughts as long as I’d known him was one floor below me.
I launched myself from bed, slipped on a pair of flip flops, grabbed my room key, and raced down the flight of stairs at the end of the hall. I had no plan, and once I was in front of Jude’s door, I hesitated, but only for a moment.
