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“Sounds wonderful!”
He smiled and touched my hair. My pulse kicked up. “Sure you don’t need me to see you back to the hotel?”
I shook my head. “I’m good.”
He nodded and tightened his hold on me, swinging me in closer. “Remember when you said there were a lot of other things you’d want to use me for?”
My breath caught, and I tipped my chin up. “I remember.”
His brow furrowed with mock concentration. “What about…kissing practice?”
“I don’t know,” I said, pretending to think about it. “Do we need practice? I think we might be ready for the real thing.”
He smiled and leaned toward me, head lowering. Our lips met in a picture-perfect kiss.
My car pulled up to the curb, and we broke apart. “Let’s do this again soon,” I breathed.
He squeezed my hand and smiled, the amber flecks in his brown eyes twinkling. “Very soon.”
He held the car door open for me. I got inside and waved to him through the window. He smiled and waved back, watching as the car pulled away from the curb and into the traffic lane. I couldn’t help thinking about howvery sooncould naturally lead to forever.
Chapter Eleven
The car dropped me off at the hotel, and I scurried to my room in the hopes of not running into any of my family members or—heaven forbid—Lindsay with some new chore I’d have to stay up all night for.
I made it through the lobby and into the elevator, which I didn’t have to share, and only then let myself breathe a sigh of relief. Now I just had to jog down the few yards from the elevator to my room, ducking below the level of the peepholes while covering my face, and I’d be home free.
I stood on the balls of my feet and readied myself to run. The doors dinged open, and I sprinted one step before hitting an invisible brick wall.
Josh.
He was sitting in one of the two wingback chairs flanking a small, glass table across from the elevators. He was frowning, his full bottom lip turned down, his brow furrowed, his serious brown eyes locked right on me.
The doors slid closed behind me, and I stood there frozen. Was it too much to hope he’d somehow fallen asleep with his eyes open and hadn’t actually seen me?
“Margot.” His deep voice was a rumble. I felt the low tones vibrate my rib cage. Yup, he’d seen me.
“Josh.” I gave him a half nod and strode past him.
He rose from the chair in one fluid motion and was suddenly walking beside me. “Pretty late dinner for you, isn’t it?” He glanced at his watch. “It’s past midnight. I thought you turned into a pumpkin at ten.”
I halted my steps and stared at him. How dare he remember my bedtime. “It’s none of your business what time I get back from dinner—or any other meal.” I thought of saying I’d gladly have stretched my date with Tanner through the whole night and into breakfast tomorrow morning, but I didn’t compose the suggestive comeback in time to actually say it.
“You’re right.” His words were soft now, whether because people were sleeping behind the closed doors of the hallway or because he wanted my attention and I had to draw closer in order to hear, I didn’t know. “It’s not my business. You could have been on a midnight brunch date, and I wouldn’t have the right to say a thing about it.”
I inclined my head to the side and folded my arms. He was always picking on brunch. Brunch was amazing. I’d happily eat brunch at midnight. But brunch wasn’t the point. The point was…I glanced back at the elevators and the chair he’d just vacated. “Were youwaitingfor me?”
His head snapped back. “No. Of course not. I was waiting for the elevator.”
I advanced on him, pointing a finger at his chest. “While seated? No, you weren’t. You were waiting for me.”
He stumbled backward but recovered and straightened his shoulders, standing up to his full height. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just resting in a chair as I waited for the elevator. It was taking a long time.”
I narrowed my eyes and skewered him with a piercing look. “Why were you waiting for the elevators if you weren’t even going to go anywhere?”
His voice amped up in volume. “I was going somewhere. I just paused to check my phone.”
“No, you weren’t going anywhere.” Oh, I recognized when he was being defensive. He thought he still knew me? Well, I knew him too.
