Page 11 of Road Trip With the Ghost Hunter

Clearing my throat, I nudged us the rest of the way. I didn’t miss the smirk she tried hiding.

Dawn unlocked the door to a room labeled,Lover’s Dreamand pushed it open, presenting her arm for us to enter. Something picked at my brain. Did she say downstairs, “room,” as in singular?

“Welcome. You have no idea how lucky you both are that this room was available when Kathy called. With the Upstage Dinner Theatre event this week, everything is booked solid.”

This room seemed to be in the back and had a wide window with a porch that had a view of the lake below. I just realized, we didn’t know how much this room would cost for a night. Much less, two of these?

“Kathy didn’t mention how much for each room for one night?” I asked.

Li turned from gawking out of the porch window to wait for Dawn’s reply. “I hadn’t even thought of that. Oh my goodness. This place is stunning, but might be out of our budget.”

“Oh, hush. Kathy requested that I apply her discount. The room is $70 for the night.”

“That’s it?” Li asked, looking around at the modern suite with sage green paneling against the wall, the king-sized bed was against the wall. Everything was artistically decorated. The room had a large en-suite bathroom. In Tennessee, this room would’ve been a hundred dollars more a night, easily.

“You can take this one,” I said to Li. “I’ll take the other.”

“The other?” Dawn questioned. “Oh, there is no other. This is it. Kathy told me y’all wanted one room for the night.”

The energy in the space froze.

“Wait,” Li glanced at me, then back at Dawn. “We need two separate rooms.”

Dawn’s smile fell some. “Oh. Did Kathy not inform you that we were all booked? It was lucky we even had the Lover’s Dream suite available due to a cancellation.”

Li’s almond, deep brown eyes widened at me.

Shit.

“This is such a cliché,” she whispered. Then, after a brief pause, her face split with laughter. Dawn’s smile brightened again.

“Um,” I looked over at Dawn, but before I could ask, she already knew.

“Before you ask,” she started. “All other motels in the area are booked solid. I’ve already had to turn down several people before this cancellation came literally minutes before Kathy called. I’m sorry to say, this room is your only option in town.”

“Starlight,” a tall man with reddish hair, popped his head in. “Should I grab the bags?”

Dawn’s expression instantly went from bright and polite to hearts in her eyes. “Jeremy, come meet Li and Lucas. Kathy’s friends.” My eyebrows raised. Kathy was a stranger two hours ago. The man was tall—not as tall as me, but broad-shouldered and carried a strong presence. He wrapped an arm around Dawn’s waist, his other hand in his jean pocket.

“Welcome. Dawn was excited to meet you two. We hope you enjoy your night here with us.”

“Honey, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. They’re not a couple,” Dawn informed him.

Jeremy looked between Li, who recovered from her laughing fit and was back to her previous wide-eyed expression, and me. Then his eyes went to the bed in the middle of the room.

“Ah,” he said. “Right. Well,” he spoke to me. “I can bring up a co—“ Dawn cleared her throat. He glanced down at her as they had a secret conversation with their eyes. “Dawn,” he admonished.

“We can bring some extra blankets,” Dawn said instead.

Li was now staring at me, then scoffed. “Okay. We’re adults. Neither of us are sleeping on the floor.”

“I would never have you take the floor,” I said more firmly than intended, but the idea was insulting.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Dawn’s smirk, but I ignored that.

“Then it’s settled. It’s just one night.” Li faced the couple. “Thank you for accommodating us and for such a low price.”

“Of course,” Dawn said, handing Li the keys.

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