Page 30 of Royally Knocked Up
“He might. Wasn’t the problem in the first place that you got your picture taken? I know you’re not in the capital anymore, but that can still happen here. You’re still a very famous face.”
“I know a place where we might be able to get some privacy,” Enzo said. “A place where we can buy a private VIP room, and no one but the servers will be able to come in. I guess they still might take pictures, but if they do, we’ll know exactly who’s responsible, and we’ll be able to take action against them, and they know that.”
Hailey bit her lip, clearly thinking about it.
He’d gotten her to consider it. There had been a time when even that had felt impossible.
Tonight, nothing felt impossible. They had managed to pull off the film screening they had so ambitiously dreamed of. The resort was packed full of guests because of it. Enzo’s father would see the results of this — he would be forced to acknowledge that Enzo had succeeded at something.
“All right,” Hailey said. “Let’s go.”
“You mean it?”
“Sure I mean it.” She smiled. “If you’re willing to take the risk, that’s enough for me.” She hesitated. “Do I need to change?”
“What you’re wearing is fine, unless you want to change,” he said. “I’m going to go as I am, personally.”
She nodded. “I’ll just go put on a cocktail dress.”
“Well, if you’re changing then I will too,” he said. “Meet back in the lobby in ten?”
“Make it fifteen.”
“You’re on.”
Enzo waited in the lobby for a few moments while Hailey started back toward her room, mostly so they would be spared the awkwardness of walking together in the same direction after having agreed to separate and then reconvene.
Was it a date, what they were doing?
He had sensed Hailey trying to keep her distance, trying to maintain the bounds of professionalism between the two of them. Enzo respected that. But this wasn’t a long-term job for him, and from the sounds of things, it wasn’t even a long-term job for her. So what difference did it make if a few lines were crossed?
Maybe tonight was the night they would finally do a bit of crossing.
Hailey was out of sight now, so Enzo made his way to his own room. He shed the clothes he had worn for the event and put on something ever so slightly more casual — nice pants and a silk shirt with an open collar that exposed his chest. He knew how good he looked in this shirt, how he drew the eyes of women when he went out in it. He would be looked at tonight. That was something he enjoyed.
For some reason, though, he found himself only caring if one person looked at him.
He wondered if she would.
He checked his reflection in the mirror, grabbed a comb, and ran it through his hair to straighten himself up a little bit. There, that was better. He didn’t look as if he had been working all day. He looked much more like his old self — the version of himself who had rolled out of bed at two in the afternoon, spent a few hours working out or relaxing with a hearty meal, and then taken a shower and done the whole thing all over again. He missed being this version of himself. Whatever his father thought about it, he had enjoyed the life he was living.
And then he thought,would I even want to go to Vista Grande tonight if Hailey wasn’t coming with me?
Was it Vista Grande that was the attraction here, or was it just the prospect of spending time with her? If she’d told him no again, if she had insisted on staying at the resort…
Well, it wasn’t really even a question. He would have stayed here too. Of course he would. Like he would really go out and celebrate without her after their achievement as a team! There was no chance of it.
He gave the mirror his most charming smile.
Tonight, things would be different. Tonight they would let go of the professional personas that they had tried so hard to cling to up until now, and they would just be two people. Two attractive people who liked the look of each other. Two people who got along with one another better than they did with anybody else in the country — and, in Enzo’s case, probably anyone else in the world.
Was Hailey really the best friend he had ever had?
Maybe that was the line he should worry about crossing. Maybe he shouldn’t be worried about damaging a working relationship.
Maybe he should be worried about losing a friend.
The trouble — it became apparent almost immediately — was that she was thinking about the possibilities every bit as much as he was.
