Page 22 of Locking Down Qetesh

"True. Though maybe the stairs were the wrong idea."

She laughed again, then covered her mouth. "We had no choice. Someone threw up in the lift."

"Yeah, I'd probably have added to that if we'd gone inside. The smell always sets me off."

"Then it's good to walk."

"Yes, though you should maybe take off your heels..."

"It's fine, we're almost at the bedrooms, and I already feel better."

"Good." I still stayed close to her as she stumbled down the corridor. Her words might be clear, but her body definitely hadn't caught up when it came to coordination.

"This is me!" She threw her hands into the air when we got to the door of room twelve.

"So it is."

"Thanks for walking me home, Jacob."

"My pleasure, Tesha."

She smiled in a way that made her whole face light up. There was truly something beautiful about the way she expressed her emotions. She was animated and endearing, all at the same time. She opened her bag and searched through it, presumably to find her key.

Her smile fell and a more concerned expression crossed her face.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Will you hold these?" she asked.

I opened my hands and let her pile things into it, mildly surprised about how much could fit into such a small bag, and the fact she was trusting me with her keys and purse.

She turned the bag upside down and shook it, letting out a groan and rubbing her forehead.

She looked up and let out a frustrated sigh. "I've lost my key."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were supposed to be good with those."

"Very funny," she responded.

"Sorry, the joke was right there."

"I know." She started putting her stuff away. "It must have fallen out of my bag when I knocked it. Do you think I could go back to the dining room to look?"

"They kicked us out and locked up, remember?"

She groaned. "I guess I'm going to have to go down to reception and ask for a new one."

"It's closed for the night," I said.

"What? Who closes the reception when there are guests?"

"No hotel I'd ever run. But the one my sister picked for her pre-wedding knees-up? That one."

"Eurgh. What am I going to do? I can't wake someone up in the middle of the night."

"My bed is huge, you can share, if you want." The suggestion slipped out before I truly had time to think about whether it was a good idea. But she looked so stressed by the idea of not having a key, and it wasn't like I could just let her sleep out here on the floor.

She laughed. "If you were a different man, I'd think that you had ulterior motives."

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