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“Thank you,” Lulee said graciously, deciding to tone down her women’s lib.
Marilyn smiled back at her. “With breakfast and lunch already done for the day, we’ll see you at dinner, and that’s when I’ll introduce you to my husband and son.” She tittered oddly again. “Of course, if you come across two handsome men while you’re taking in the place, they’ll be sure to introduce themselves.” Then very pointedly, she added, “We do know our manners, after all.”
Before Lulee could comment, I asked, “Is there anything else we need to know about the retreat?”
“Well, our information is all there on our website, so Ms. Fable was aware of everything when she booked the rooms.” The way that she’d said Lulee’s name hadn’t gone unnoticed. “While we have adequate internet up at the house, reception is spotty here at the retreat. Still, since your purpose here is to spend quality time with your partner, we don’t see the need to look further into better internet access.”
“Wait, so…you live here?” Verity asked.
Marilyn smiled at Verity, and it was weird how her smile kept changing. “No,” she answered. “We live about a mile or so up the road. We usually head home after dinner has been served and cleaned up.”
“Oh,” Verity muttered.
“However, the phones in the rooms are programmed with our home number in case something goes awry during the night,” she quickly added, and it was probably to assure us that we were safe here. “We pride ourselves on making sure that everyone has the best possible experience here at Amity Expectations. After all, word of mouth is the best kind of advertisement.”
Before any of us could comment on that, a guy walked in, and he was carrying only a backpack. He didn’t look homeless, but he definitely looked tired. When no one followed in behind him, it was clear that he was alone. Of course, he could have been one half of the other couple that Marilyn had said was staying here, but I didn’t get that vibe.
In fact, I was getting a weird vibe about this entire place. Marilyn seemed odd, and she didn’t seem to like Lulee, which was problematic because Lulee wasn’t one to not defend herself. While most people opted for politeness, Lulee was a hit and miss in that department.
Reaching out, I grabbed Verity’s waist, then pulled her towards me because something just didn’t feel right.
Chapter 8
Verity~
We all watched as the new guy made his way up to the counter, and not for nothing, the guy was rather hot. He looked to be around our age, and at first glance, he reminded me of that model Chase Mattson. Though Saint and Cree were taller, the guy still took up enough space to be noticed.
I’d also found it comical how Saint had pulled me closer to him, and that was something that we were going to have to talk about later. Right now, the priority was keeping Lulee from getting us kicked out because of Marilyn’s rudeness. I had no idea what it was about the woman, but something was off with that crazy smile of hers. Granted, getting us kicked out would solve all my problems, but that was also the coward’s way out, and it was time that I tackled this thing with Saint head-on.
“Excuse me, but I was wondering if you had an empty room that I could rent for a couple of days?” the stranger asked.
His voice sounded rough, but he also looked like he needed to sleep for the next ten days. Still, that tiredness didn’t take away from his sexy six-foot frame, dark blonde hair, and green eyes. The guy also looked like he worked out.
“Well, we’re a couples’ retreat,” Marilyn told him. “We don’t rent our cabins out to single men.”
Though Marilyn was only about five-foot-four, older, chubby, and unassuming with her blonde hair and dark brown eyes, you could see that she wasn’t easily manipulated. She was proud of the business that she and her family built, and that was also obvious.
“Ma’am, I’m not trying to…ruin the vibe that you have going here, but I’ve been driving for two days straight, and I just can’t anymore,” the stranger told her. “While I can sleep on the side of the road if I have to, I’d rather not. The last thing that I’m looking to do is get robbed or cause a car wreck because I can’t keep my eyes opened.”
“What’s your name, young man?” Marilyn asked, and it was anybody’s guess how this was going to go. There was something weird about Marilyn Clark, only I didn’t know what it was.
“Trevor Bison,” he answered. “I’m twenty-three, an environmental researcher, and I’m heading towards Indiana for a family emergency.” He let out a tired sigh. “I’ll pay double your rates. Hell, I’ll even pay triple. I just need a good night’s sleep, ma’am.”
“He can always share our room,” Lulee joked. “Just call us a throuple.”
“That’s not funny, young lady,” Marilyn huffed. “I don’t appreciate you mocking what we do here.”
“She wasn’t poking fun,” I quickly rushed out, shooting Lulee a look. “Honestly, ma’am. I mean, we’re not into…that crazy stuff.”
Marilyn bristled a bit, but she seemed to calm down as she looked over at Trevor. “Well, luckily for you, we have two unoccupied cabins at the moment, and I don’t expect anyone will want to rent them with spring break being what it is.”
Trevor released a heavy sigh. “Thank you-”
Pasting that weird smile back on her face, she said, “Don’t be silly. We can’t have you driving around tired as you are. Also, there’s no need to double the rates. We can accommodate you at our normal prices.”
“So, youwillrent to single people?” I asked, wondering if we could work something out. While I still planned on ironing things out with Saint, it’d help if I had my own room to run back to if we got into another fight.
“Well, while it goes against our purpose here, I’m sure that Richard would agree with me that this can be considered the exception,” she replied. “I just simply couldn’t live with myself if I sent this young man on his way, tired and worn through, only to endure a horrible accident.” Marilyn straightened to her full height. “I will not have innocent blood on my hands.”
