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Daphne only nodded, but I could feel her tension. I took a risk and reached out my hand, grabbing hers and squeezing it.
She jumped at my touch but didn’t pull away. “It’s going to be okay, I mean it.” I held her gaze. “We’re going to make it in time.”
Her worries slipped, just for a moment, and she offered me the first real smile I had seen from her all day. “Okay,” was all she said, but she squeezed my hand, and I knew I would do whatever I could to keep that smile on her face.
It was 1 in the morning by the time we got to our hotel, but we made it.
We were all dead on our feet, but I managed to drag myself to the desk and check us in. I had called the hotel before we finally got on the plane and let them know we would be late, and it turned out we weren’t the only ones impacted by the storms. They assured me that everything was fine and our rooms would be waiting for us.
I was ready to get my key, head to my room, and take a much-needed shower before completely passing out.
But that would have been too easy.
“Hey, Daph?” I called, trying to keep my voice light as exhaustion and frustration pulled at my skin. The woman behind the desk had a panicked expression as she clicked through her computer, searching for a way to fix the mistake. “There’s an issue with our rooms.”
Chapter 3
Ihadneverconsideredmyself particularly religious, but when I woke up with Daphne in my arms I thought I might have been blessed. She was so lovely. Her blonde tresses had become messy in the night and scattered like ink blots over the hotel pillow. She faced me in her sleep, curled into me with my arm around her. I thought then that if I could wake to that sight every morning I would never know a bad day, but that wish was beyond me.
As much as I wanted to stay in that moment forever, my bladder had other plans. I pulled away as gently as I could, then raced to the bathroom.
The original booking had been for three Queen rooms - one for each of us. I knew that they had been made and confirmed because I had been the one to do it (I even had the confirmation email). Somehow there had been an issue with the hotel booking system and we had ended up with two Queen rooms.
It had been frustrating in the moment, especially after the hours and hours of delays, but after some rest I was able to let it go. The hotel was going to fix it today and that would be that. Besides, it wasn’t like we would be spending much time in our rooms. It was the first official day of the conference and all of our schedules were packed.
By the time I brushed my teeth and washed my face, Daphne was awake, and she had already switched to business mode. She glanced up from her phone as I walked in. “Morning.”
“Morning. Did you sleep well?”
She shrugged. “Well enough.”
We had both beaten our alarms so we had plenty of time to get ready - which was just as well. I had to make sure everything was ready for her presentation tomorrow morning and meet with several business contacts. We wouldn’t have a free moment until the party after dinner tonight.
I changed while Daphne got ready in the bathroom. I had opted for a pantsuit since I would be running around all day. Once we were ready we headed down to grab some breakfast before we got pulled into the tide.
My business smile went on as soon as we stepped into the dining room, and we were off.
The hotel was attached to the convention center, so the dining room was already crawling with other representatives. Daphne got stuck talking with an executive while I was cornered by one of the conference organizers.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. I double and triple-checked that everything was ready for her presentation. Daphne’s would be the first event tomorrow, right after breakfast, and it was expected that almost everyone would be in attendance. An IT guy and I ran through the presentation a few times and checked the lights. Satisfied that everything was set, I dove into the conference.
I didn’t see Daphne or Donovan the entire day. We all had our own schedules and contacts to meet, and by dinner time I was beat.
I grabbed a sandwich and went up to hide in the room until it was time for the party. Off went my heels as I collapsed onto the bed and demolished my dinner. There was still about an hour until the party, so I set an alarm for half an hour and closed my eyes.
My rest was broken by the sound of Daphne moving around. I rubbed at my eyes the best I could without messing up my mascara.
“Sorry,” Daphne whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
I waved her away. “It’s fine, I needed to get up soon anyway.” It took me a second to fully come to, but once I did I felt my stomach clench.
Daphne was in the middle of getting dressed. Right in front of me.
She didn’t seem to care, or even notice, that she was only wearing her underwear. I gulped, looking away as my face flushed.
“Marina? Are you okay?”
I sucked in a breath.No, you’re so goddamn hot I don’t know what to do.“Yeah, just a little tired.” I pushed myself up from the bed. I needed to change into my own cocktail dress and touch up my makeup. I was going to look hot as fuck in front of all those advertising executives.
