Page 38 of Until It Was Real

“It’s fine.” I hand the receptionist my credit card.

Dakota wrings her hands while the receptionist books the room. But she doesn’t speak. She remains mute as the porter escorts us to the elevator and to the top floor of the hotel and when the butler greets us.

“Shall I give you a tour of the suite?” he asks.

“We’re good. I’ll ring for you if we need anything.”

He nods before leaving us alone.

The door closes behind us and I count down – five, four, three—

“This is crazy!” Dakota bursts out. “It’s entirely too much money. I should go to another hotel. There must be a hotel nearby that doesn’t cost a year’s worth of salary to stay in for two nights.”

“It’s fine.”

“Fine!” she yells. “There’s a living room, a kitchen, and a freaking gym. In a hotel room.”

“Suite,” I correct because I’m enjoying watching how flustered Dakota is. Her green eyes spark and her cheeks darken. I didn’t think it was possible for her to be more beautiful than she already is. I was wrong.

“We should go somewhere else. I should go somewhere else.”

“I bet you didn’t prepare for this eventuality,” I poke because I’m having the best time.

Fear fills her eyes. “I really am sorry. I did book two rooms. The receptionist agrees. There must be a glitch in their system. We should have asked to speak to the manager and complained. Please don’t complain to Eli.”

Damnit. Here I am having fun teasing her, and she’s worried about her job. I’m being an asshole. Again. When it comes to Dakota, I can’t seem to stop myself from messing up.

I place my hands on her shoulders. She dips her chin to stare at the ground.

“Look at me, Dakota.”

She huffs before lifting her gaze to meet mine. Those stunning green eyes are filled with trepidation. Because of me.

“You didn’t mess up. And I’m not going to complain to Eli. I promise I won’t try to get you fired again. I was wrong to speak to Eli in the first place.”

She gulps. “You were?”

“I should have minded my own business.”

The fear disappears and the corners of her mouth kick up. “You should have realized how awesome I am from the beginning.”

I step away before I kiss the smile clean off of her feisty mouth. Before I glide my hands from her shoulders down her arms to her waist and draw her near.

“Our meeting’s in an hour. Do you want to change? I’m going to unpack.”

As soon as the words are out, I flee. I’m not a coward. But I’ve never been good at resisting temptation. And Dakota is temptation in a feisty, stubborn, klutzy package.

Who knew feisty and klutzy were this irresistible?

Chapter 13

“Rhett needs to look up the definition of privacy in the dictionary.” ~ Dakota

Dakota

Ishiver as I fiddle with the thermostat to switch off the air conditioning. It’s freezing in this hotel room.

I’m not used to air conditioning. TheMermaid Moteldoesn’t have any. A rickety ceiling fan, I’m convinced is going to fall and decapitate me at some point, is all the cooling off available to me.

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