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Now, she’s rocking restlessly in her seat and tapping out a song with her fingers on the tray in front of her. Her body keeps rubbing against me. Tormenting me. The tight yoga pants she’s wearing should be illegal. And so should the beige sweater that keeps slipping off her shoulder. Her leg rubs against mine. It feels better than it should and I curse myself for wanting to put it over my shoulder while I drive into her.
I close my laptop and turn to face her. “Something wrong?”
Her brow dips as she looks at me. “Excuse me?”
“You’re fidgety.”
Her blue eyes hold my gaze before she looks away and pulls her hands into her lap. It’s as if she didn’t even realize she was doing it. She quickly adjusts her sweater, pushing it up her shoulder and a part of me is disappointed I ever opened my mouth.
“Sorry, must’ve been too much coffee,” she whispers, crossing her legs and moving further away from me.
“Hmm.”
She’s acting weird and I wonder why. We’ve been to hundreds of conferences and business trips together. She’s never like this. All antsy and nervous.
Something’s going on, and I have a feeling I know exactly what it is.
“Mr. Luge, we have your room ready,” the cheery front desk clerk says with a toothy grin.
I glance at January. “You booked two rooms, right?”
She steps closer to the counter. “Yes, there should be two rooms. I have the—” Her words stop as she digs into her oversized purse, most likely trying to fish out her phone. “...the confirmation, somewhere.”
The front desk clerk flips her blonde hair over her shoulder and looks back down at the computer. She’s furiously typing away and I sigh, scrubbing a hand down my face.
My patience is running extremely low, because I’m tired from the long flight and ready to take a hot shower. Release some of the tension from having to sit so close to January while she practically writhed against me. Tempting me.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Luge. It appears there is only one room booked for you.” She gives me a friendly smile. Like that helps.
By now, January has pulled up the confirmation info on her phone and shows it to the clerk.
“Oh, hm. Let me see what I can do.” She scurries away, and I glance at January’s phone to check out the confirmation myself.
A few minutes later, a tall man with dark hair appears with the front desk clerk. His brown eyes meet mine and I can already tell he’s not coming to give me good news.
“Mr. Luge, I’m Graham Steele, the owner of Mountain Goat Resort. Leah brought it to my attention that you reserved two rooms and only one is available.”
“Yes, and I need two rooms.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible.” Mr. Steele stares right into my eyes, and I appreciate he’s not trying to make excuses. He’s not darting his eyes all over like schmucks who have bad news and are too afraid to tell it.
“He’s a pretty big deal,” January says in a low voice to Mr. Steele. “Huge. Gaming mogul and all, so if you could find us another room, that would be so appreciated. Because we really want to stay here. It’s a lovely resort. And I’m sure he’ll get over all the holiday decorations.”
I tilt my head at her unusual outburst while Mr. Steele gives her a slight grin. “I’m aware of who he is. I do apologize, but there’s been an issue with our reservations and we only have you down for one room.”
“You don’t have anything?” I ask him with a steady voice. I could be an asshole. Raise my voice. Demand a full refund. Demand a lot of things, but none of that nonsense will help.
He shakes his head. “Unfortunately, no, but I can give you the cabin my family and I are staying in.”
“That isn’t necessary. I’ll just check into another resort.”
January’s eyes go wide at my suggestion, and I get it. I’m sure she’s tired too. Already I’m thinking about this detour and how much longer it will take to get me to my hot shower.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Luge. This is the busiest week of the year. Nobody’s got any openings. Anywhere. I’ll just call my wife to get the kids packed up. The cabin will be ready in an hour.”
I can’t ask this kind gentleman to kick his family out of a cabin. “No, that isn’t necessary, seriously. We’ll figure it out.” I think about staying in one room with January. I just hope there’s two beds, because this is going to be hard enough being this close to her.
“Your stay here is obviously on us, and please let me know if you need anything. We’ll make sure we take good care of you.” He hands me a card, and then another. “This is my business card with my personal cell number on the back. This card is a meal voucher. You can use it at any of the restaurants and snack bars around.”
