Page 79 of The Christmas Holiday
Chapter Eighteen
Emerging from the shower sometime later, having attempted to stay under the stream long enough to wash away some of the embarrassment, I found Hunter in the same position, flicking aimlessly through channels.
‘Better?’ he asked.
I nodded and sat on the other side of the bed, tucking one leg underneath me as I did so.
‘Sandy rang. He and Liv are meeting up withbusiness associates for dinner so we’re on our own. If you want to go out, we can get a car and head into the city, or there are the restaurants in the hotel obviously. Or we can just veg here if you prefer.’
‘I don’t want to stop you from getting out. I know you like to explore places,’ I said, getting up and crossing to where the balcony door was ajar, the rain making an even, soothing soundon the plants that surrounded it, screening it from the one next door. ‘I’m just going to stay here tonight, I think. But you should go out if you want.’
I turned back to find his eyes on me. ‘Had enough rain for one day?’
‘Funny man.’
Hunter grinned and I really wished he hadn’t. It should probably be illegal to have a smile that could do what his could.
I grabbed the room-servicemenu and flopped onto the bed. ‘So! What shall I have?’ I considered aloud, hiding my face by flicking through the laminated pages of the folder, searching through the choices while my heart rate, and other bits of me, settled back to their normal state.
‘Anything good?’ Hunter rolled over onto his stomach and lay next to me, shuffling the book so it lay in front of us both.
‘I thoughtyou were going out?’
‘Nope. I said we could, but I didn’t say I wanted to particularly. I’m knackered. A night in with room service in front of the telly sounds pretty good to me.’
My chin was resting on my hands and, at his reply, I tilted a little so I could see him.
He replied without moving. ‘Don’t look at me like that either. I’m staying in because I’m tired. Don’t overthink things,Mia.’
‘I didn’t say anything.’
‘You don’t have to.’
I pushed myself up. ‘You know, you don’t know me as well as you think you do!’
He followed, stretching as he did so, the muscles in his arms knotting and flexing as a glimpse of tanned six-pack peeked from under his shirt. ‘I know you well enough,’ he replied, lifting the receiver and hitting the button for room service. ‘Whatare you having?’
The food arrived, and Hunter directed the waiter to leave the trolley at the bottom of the bed. When he’d left, I shuffled down the bed and sat cross-legged in front of it. Hunter came round the other side and, releasing the tension on the knees of his cargos, sat in the same manner, handing me the remote as he did so.
‘Pick something. Preferably something that doesn’tinvolve having to think too much.’
I scrolled down and found a romantic comedy with Bradley Cooper in it. ‘How about this?’
Hunter looked up from where he was tearing his soup roll. His eyes flicked to me. ‘Anything without him in it available?’
I bit back a smile, and foundLove Actuallyabout to start on a different channel, hovering my thumb over the select button as I looked atHunter. He shrugged and nodded an OK and we settled in to watch something we’d previously seen a tonne of times together in a very different situation. The familiar and unfamiliar entwined.
Staying in the same room hadn’t been quite as awkward as either of us had initially imagined. The first night was always going to be the worst and luckily, thanks to exhaustion and good food, we’d bothbeen too tired to put much thought into getting worked up about it and had instead just lain on our respective sides of the bed and been asleep within minutes. The last few days had been relaxed and free, which gave me pangs of guilt every so often when I remembered I was actually getting paid to be here. Liv merely told me to stop being ridiculous and to come and have another massage.
Threedays in and it was my turn to see Hunter walk through the door, soaked to the skin. I said nothing but gave him an eyebrow-raise while continuing to demolish the fruit and nut bar I’d found in the mini bar along with a pot of tea I’d ordered up. I know. I’m British. What can I say?
‘I guess that’s karma for you,’ he grinned back at me.
‘Maybe. The universe works in mysterious ways. Apparently.On the plus side, I can’t see your pants,’ I added, biting off another chunk of chocolate.
He grinned as he kicked off his shoes with the toe of the opposite foot. ‘On the plus side, I couldn’t see yours either.’
I threw a pillow at the back of his head.
