Page 8 of Faking It with the Ice Queen

“Wow, thank you, Ms. Silver!” His eyes lit up. “Enjoy your stay!”

Watching the bellman leave, Elara turned to Grace. “Let’s settle in. We’ll need to review the event schedule before the others arrive.”

Elara was met with silence as she looked up to see Grace standing far too still at the bedroom door. Elara stepped forward, her gaze shifting over Grace’s shoulder to see what was wrong. To her horror, Elara realized there was only one bed. Her stomach dropped and her palms began to sweat as she remembered making the reservation. She had requested a king-sized bed when she thought the escort would be accompanying her. That little detail slipped her mind when she was panicking and begging Grace to step in. Elara cleared her throat, startling Grace, who turned toward her with a shocked expression.

“There’s only one bed?”

Elara paused and took a deep breath. “I can see that. There must have been a mix-up with the reservation. An unfortunate mistake.”

Walking past Grace, Elara finally saw the rose petals on the duvet cover. Feeling heat rise up her neck, her face began to burn. “A very unfortunate mistake.”

Elara knew her discomfort was written across her face and in the way her posture slumped, as if she believed she could shrink out of existence.

Grace walked over and picked up a rose petal. Without looking up, she asked, “What do we do? Can we change it still?”

Elara palmed her face, wondering if she rubbed her eyes hard enough this would disappear. “We can’t. Remember what I said? Eyes everywhere. We wouldn’t be a very convincing couple if we demanded separate beds, now would we? No. I know this is…”

“Weird. This is weird.”

Sighing, Elara agreed. “It’s not normal. But we will have to make do. I cannot risk having this fall apart, especially not from the jump.”

4

There was no way this was happening. This day had started out normal, or at least normal for Grace. Now? She was standing in the most beautiful resort she had ever seen, facing the fact that she had to pretend to be in a relationship with Elara—and now had to share a bed with her too. After agreeing to not request a change, Grace needed some much-needed space.

She slowly stepped back toward the door, attempting to make her escape as she told Elara, “I think I’ll go check out that hot chocolate downstairs.”

Before Elara could respond, Grace grabbed her purse and slipped out of the room. She nearly ran down the hall to the elevator, her ballet flats slapping loudly on the smooth floor. Her finger jammed the elevator button several times, as if pressing it more would somehow make the doors open faster. When the bright ding finally announced the elevator’s arrival, Grace peeked down the hall before she stepped in. Part of her was expecting to see Elara, and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed to find it empty.

Grace stepped in and quickly pressed the button for the lobby. As the doors closed, Grace peeked at her reflection in the mirrored walls. Her cheeks were still red from embarrassment. She felt childish for being so flustered at the idea of sharing a bed with Elara. It shouldn’t be such a big deal, and Elara certainly didn’t seem worried about the prospect of sharing a bed with Grace. But just thinking about laying in bed next to her for a week had the rest of her face turning bright red.

Shaking off the rising panic, Grace rushed across the grand lobby toward the hot chocolate setup. As soon as the thick, steaming liquid warmed her hands, Grace slumped down into one of the burgundy chairs by the window. It was unbelievably soft and comfortable— definitely nicer than any of the furniture she had at home. Grace had seen pictures of the Silver Resorts, but being here in person was unlike anything she had expected. The view of the snow-blanketed grounds and glistening lake took her breath away. The lobby felt as if it was designed to complement the backdrop, while somehow still dripping in elegance. Every single detail was thought of with love and care, no expense spared. She had expected a cold, modern interior, one that would match Elara’s sense of personal style and the corporate office, but instead, the resort exuded comfort. The room wasn’t all white and neutral. There was so much color, and yet it never felt busy.

Grace rifled through her bag and pulled out her cell to call her mom, but she noticed that it was already 8 p.m. here, which meant her parents were already asleep on the East Coast. She thought about calling her best friend Carly, but then thought better of it. Carly was the queen of queer Twitter. Grace couldn’t risk leaking her fake relationship with Elara. There was only one other person she could trust with this: Aunt Lucy. Grace stood up and headed out to explore the resort grounds. As she stepped outside, goosebumps bloomed on every inch of her exposed skin.She hadn’t thought to grab her coat in her rush out of the room. Thankfully, next to the door, a basket had been prepared with thick wool blankets for guests to cuddle up in.

Grace shivered as she wrapped herself in the cozy blanket and decided to call Aunt Lucy. After the third ring, she answered.

“Grace? Two calls in one day? To what do I owe the pleasure? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry to call so late.”

Aunt Lucy paused before she quietly responded, “You sure about that?”

Grace sighed. She shouldn’t be surprised. Aunt Lucy always knew when something was up. She had a knack for picking up on even the slightest change in tone.

“Honestly? I’m just really confused.”

“Tell me. I’m always here to listen to you, sweetie.”

Relieved, Grace let the words tumble out. “God, this whole thing is crazy. I mean, I knew it was going to be strange pretending to be my boss’s girlfriend. And Elara has always been aloof at the best of times and cold most days. But…I don’t know. I guess I expected her to at leasttryto talk to me more. I mean the two-hour drive here was awkward. She barely spoke a word to me.”

Aunt Lucy laughed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. It’s just a funny image. Two hours is a long time to sit in silence.”

“Right? And it gets worse.”

Giggling, Aunt Lucy inquired, “How so?”

“Well, we arrived at the most ridiculously fancy resort I’ve ever been to and headed up to the suite, which was stunning and huge. As expected. But surprise surprise, there is only one bed!”

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