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I get in and tuck my summer dress around my knees. “Hi.”
“Hello,” he says. “You look lovely.”
I smile. It’s likely ingrained in him, this. The manners that lead a man to opening doors and complimenting dates. “Thank you,” I say, enjoying it regardless. “So do you.”
He chuckles and turns the wheel, taking us back into the traffic. “Well, thank you.”
I mean it, too. The beige suit is a sharp contrast against the darkness of his hair. And he’s newly shaven, the cut of his jaw sharp in profile.
Isaac drives smoothly. Skilled and silent, he’s the same behind the wheel as he is away from it. I look at him from the corner of my eye.
He notices. “You’re thinking about something.”
I stretch out my legs. The car has ample legroom. “Doesn’t everyone, all the time?”
“No,” he says. “They don’t. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“About you, actually, and the Winter Hotel.”
“Ah, yes. Famously one and the same,” he says so dryly that I know there’s a hint of truth in the joke. For all intents and purposes, heisthe hotel.
“Almost,” I say. “Except one stands just a bit taller than the other.”
“Well, one of them is also a bit more open to strangers spending the night than the other.”
“Just a bit?” I say, my smile widening. “Good thing only one accepts payment, too.”
He gives a surprised laugh. “That’s one thing I’ve yet to do.”
“Good thing, that.”
He taps his fingers along the leathered wheel. “Now, what were you really thinking about?”
“The dichotomy between traditional and modern,” I say, “and where you and your company land on that scale.”
“Are you turning this drive into a business meeting?”
“I’ve never been able to resist multitasking.”
“I’m impressed by your work ethic, Bishop.”
“Are you?” I ask. “I’d have thought you expected it from the people you work with.”
He’s quiet for a beat. “I do. But not everyone lives up to it.”
“Not everyone can.”
“No,” he says. Then, he clears his throat like he hears how unyielding that sounds. “So, traditional versus modern?”
“Yes.”
“You’re too smart not to know the answer to that. We’re a traditional hotel chain,” he says. “Why don’t you ask me what you really want to know?”
A thrill runs down my spine at his words. “All right. What makes you think a traditional look for your budget hotel chain would make it unique? Stand out? Impress?”
He runs a hand along his jaw. “Well, now I know where you stand on the matter.”
“You do. But I’m not asking to start an argument here. I genuinely want to know why you and your team see that as the best option.”
