Page 78 of Little Gray Dress

“I hope you don’t.” My words are playing cool and I hope my face is playing along, because my brain is struggling with me getting out of the car and playing my last card at hard to get, or waiting for him to kiss me, or me just mauling him and doing him right here in the car, which I promised myself I wouldn’t do.

Luckily, I don’t have to wait long and he kisses me. “I’m really glad I met you, officially,” he says, as he pulls away a moment later.

“Me too.”

“I’ll wait until I know you got in safe.”

“OK.” I open the car door and slowly walk towards my front door when the porch light flips on when I’m half way there. I glance back at Jack who is still watching me with a small wave.

“Where’ve you been?” Evan asks, the second I walk through the door.

“Out.”

“Who drove you home?”

“My future husband, if you must know.”

“Poor guy…” He rolls his eyes and walks away from me, unwilling to hear every detail of the best night of my entire life.

Chapter Nineteen

Present Day

Cancun, Mexico

The Clues

I know Amelia did her best, but I’m exhausted, I need a shower and I’m fully prepared to never again spend five unnecessary hours at an airport with nothing to do. Quite apart from the three hours wait between my flights, isn’t it just my luck that right as we backed away from the terminal something would go wrong and we’d all have to exit the plane to wait for a diagnosis of the problem. Then, once we’d reboarded we were stalled on the runway for well over an hour to wait for our turn to take off. Airport construction near the runway is no laughing matter.

On any other day, I’d have been more than up for sitting around doing nothing and catching up on TV shows via my laptop. Today, though, I’ve been a nervous wreck. I’ve practiced what I’m going to say a thousand times or more. Nothing comes out quite the way I’d like.

Finally, I’m here. The hotel in Cancun looks the same way it did the last time I was here for Lily’s wedding. Even just seeing it has my heart already racing.

“May I help you?” A woman at the front desk smiles at me warmly.

“Yes, I’m looking for a Jack Cabot, he should be staying here?” I watch the girl type on the keyboard and scan the computer screen.

“And you are?”

“Emi Harrison? A friend of his, I need to—”

“He’s here, staying in room 233.” She slides a key card across the counter at me.

“You’re giving me a key to his room?” I ask, surprised.

“Yes.” She looks at the computer again. “It says here that he’s expecting you?”

“Oh… right, he’s expecting me.” Amelia must have told him I was coming. That takes a little of the pressure off, knowing that I’m not completely surprising him with the fact that I just flew last-minute to another country to chase him down.

“I hope you enjoy your stay.” She smiles again.

I nod at her, a nervous smile plastered across my face. This is nerve-wracking. I head towards the elevator trying to keep my breathing under control. I can do this. I know Jack. It’s not like I’m coming here to proclaim my love to a total stranger.

The second the elevator doors close, my ass starts to sweat, my heart starts pounding in my throat, and my brain feels more than fuzzy. I can’t believe I’m doing this. I didn’t think I’d ever make up with Jack.

The ding of the elevator reaching the floor happens far before I’m ready, and I roll my suitcase out with me down the hall towards room 233. I stop in front of the door and take a deep breath. Maybe I should just knock, considering the awkward situation we’re in. But then, why would the front desk give me a key if he wasn’t just expecting me to let myself in? I slide my keycard in and watch the light turn green with a beep. I knock anyway as the door pops open, then hesitantly enter, looking around the empty room for Jack, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

“Hello?” I walk through the sitting room and into the hallway where the bedrooms are. I see a suitcase lying on the bed in one of the rooms so I know he’s been here. “Jack?”

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