Page 88 of Her Ruin

He groaned. “I know, I didn’t know how.” He reached for the remote. “We’ll switch it off. I’m tired anyway. I’ll go.”

Glancing at my watch, I looked at him in confusion. “It’s only nine thirty.”

“Commuting to Chicago is tiring,” he said as he stood and stretched. “You don’t mind, do you? I can stay.”

“Um…no. No, of course not.” I looked up at him. “You should have said you were tired.”

“It hit me suddenly.” He pulled his jacket on. “Nice dinner, good company, relaxing on the couch, all adds up to far too much Zen, am I right?”

We said our goodbyes, and when he was gone, I glanced at my watch. Nine forty-five. I could nap and then go meet Zayn.

“Nap?” I said with disgust. “You’re not this desperate. Take the night off, go to bed. Wake up refreshed for your event in the morning. Zayn can wait.”

I got ready for bed, and my skin-care routine was almost finished when the phone buzzed.

Just saw Julian, I’ll see you in twenty minutes.

Julian?The I’m-too-tired-to-stay Julian?

Julian? My Julian?

Zayn didn’t answer, so I put the phone down and debated texting my best friend to ask why he was in Elixir when he told me he was going to bed.

And then I thought of the guy I was thinking of dating who didn’t exist because I was sleeping with Zayn and had lied to my best friend.

Kettle meet pot.

When I opened the door to Zayn shortly after, I wanted to ask him, but he caught me up in his kiss and walked me backwards to the bedroom.

“All day, I’ve waited for this all day,” he mumbled as he started undressing me, pulling my PJ pants down my legs, and coming to a crouch in front of me. “Spread them.”

I did as I was told, and any question I had went flying out of my head the moment his tongue made contact with my body. Zayn had me squirming beneath him in minutes, and when he was finally done, I was too boneless to move, never mind speak.

I was drifting off to sleep when I heard him murmur beside me. “You ever call himyourJulian again, Is, we’ll have a problem. I don’t share.”

Share? I wanted to tell him he was an idiot, that he knew it wasn’t like that, but sleep was taking me fast.

“You sound jealous…” I grumbled as I burrowed into the pillow.

“Good.”

CHAPTER25

ISLA

In the full-length mirror,I looked critically at my outfit. It was a black sleeveless dress with a slightly flared skirt. The dress gave me curves I didn’t necessarily have, but it made me look like I did. Instead of my usual business look, which was a ponytail, I had my hair down, falling in soft waves, and I was really happy with how well my hair was behaving.

My makeup was minimal except for the deep-pink lipstick, which matched the deep-pink belt of my dress. My shoes were comfortable with an easy heel that wouldn’t kill my feet.

After picking up my tote bag, which contained all the stuff I needed for the day, I assessed myself once more. Yeah, I looked good, and I was so ready for today’s event.

In the car, I double-checked my list again to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, and then I headed to The Grand.

I had done most of the prep yesterday, and I’d already been over this morning to do the finishing touches, and now…now, I was one hour away from the reopening of The Grand Gracemont.

I couldn’t believe it was happening today. I couldn’t believe I had gotten here. I had seen it through, and after I came back from that brief spell away, Gerard hadlistenedto me, and it had made all the difference. The final renovation of the hotel had been so easy to do, and everything had just clicked into place effortlessly.

Well, not effortlessly. I had worked hard as had Pete and his team, and it really was worth it. It was just so beautiful.

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