Page 47 of The Billionaire Offer
By the time we arrived, I was feeling better and it looked like she was, too. The guide stayed with us until we found the man he’d arranged our tour with. Then he took off and the man grinned, his English broken but his smile warm.
“The couple’s package, yes?” he asked, not waiting for an answer before he turned and motioned someone else closer. After speaking to the other guy in Arabic, he turned back to us. “We wish you a happy honeymoon. You go with Farouk.”
My heart did a quick flop in my chest at his words, but I didn’t correct him. When I glanced at Serenity, she seemed just as surprised but she didn’t correct him, either.
Instead, she took my hand as we followed Farouk to the smelly beasts we would be riding. With some trepidation, we met Toes and Sandy, our camels, and only separated when it was time to climb onboard.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked, glancing over at her sitting on the colorful saddle-type thing on Sandy’s back. “It’s bound to be interesting, but hold on tight, okay? We don’t want to add a trip to the emergency room to our list.”
Her blue eyes shone with laughter as she nodded, but she readjusted her grip. “I’m ready. Are you?”
I looked back at her, not really sure if that was the only question I was answering when I grinned. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
CHAPTER30
SERENITY
“We’re sweaty and we smell like camel,” I said as we walked into our hotel late that evening. “I should also be absolutely exhausted, but all I feel right now is exhilarated. All things considered, I think we did damn well for our first day in Cairo.”
“Yeah, I think so too. I’m glad we didn’t just come in this morning and go to bed. Although once the adrenaline wears off, I’m pretty sure we’re both going to crash hard.”
“Probably, but I’m too thrilled at having done something new and amazing to care about the crash just yet. Did you get our key card from the guide?”
He shook his head. “No, I need to report to the front desk for that, but he told me that our bags have been taken up and placed in our suite, so we don’t need to worry about that. Why don’t you go call the elevator? This should only take a minute.”
“Sure thing. See you soon.” I smiled and kept walking toward the bank of elevators on the other side of the expansive lobby while he veered off toward the desk.
The hotel was damn nice, modern but still decorated with rich colors and textures that would remind any tourist of where they were at all times. It helped the place to feel authentic and warm instead of impersonal and generic.
The floor was tiled with mosaic patterns and the drapes in the windows were a deep red. Pictures and paintings on the wall showcased the city and hotel at various intervals during history, and there were others of the pharaohs and queens of old.
Bart joined me as I looked around, before I’d even made it to the elevators. He held out a key card to me while hanging onto his own. “There you go. We’re in a suite on the fifteenth floor.”
“I can’t wait to see the view from there,” I said, pressing the call button before I turned to him. We were both carrying our purchases and gifts from the day, and I smiled as I raised the guitar. “You’re going to be so sorry you got me this. Now I’ll be able to play whenever the mood strikes, which is probably going to be often. I hope you’re ready to hear the same refrains over and over again while I work on them.”
He laughed. “I’m sure I’ll live. In fact, I might’ve been hoping for that when I bought it. I’m still really curious about all these songs you’ve been writing. Are you sure I can’t have a sneak preview of one?”
“Nope,” I said teasingly. “Not until they’re ready.”
We climbed into the elevator, and my stomach suddenly filled with butterflies. Sure, we both smelled like camel right now, but once we washed off the sweat and stink, we had the whole night ahead of us—alone in our suite with the city lights providing a backdrop for what could be a romantic evening in.
We’d eaten after our camel tour, which meant we didn’t have to leave again or even order anything up. By the time we reached our floor, my blood was practically bubbling with anticipation. While I’d been distracted all day, that kiss on the plane had promised all sorts of things about how this trip was going to be different than the previous one, and I was so ready for it.
Bart unlocked our room with his keycard and motioned me in ahead of him. The first thing I noticed was that we had two bedrooms. The suite was gorgeous, with a small sitting room, a balcony overlooking the city, and even a little dining area, but there were two doors leading off the main room and I could see the beds in each of them even from where I was standing.
Disappointment crashed into me. I thought we’d broken the sex barrier, but if that was true, then why did he get us each our own room? As I thought about it, I realized that it could be that he thought I was still cautious about sleeping together when he was paying me to be here.
“I’m not sure which of the bedrooms they put your things in, but if you prefer the other one, just tell me and we’ll swap. I’m not fussy about where I sleep.”
I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Neither am I, but thanks.”
Wondering if I should talk to him about it, I decided to check out the suite while I figured out how I’d even approach it if I did bring it up.Hey, so I was kind of hoping we’d share a bed and you’d have your wicked way with me every night.
That didn’t seem right, so I kept thinking as I walked over to the other side of the room and opened the sliding doors to the balcony. Our hotel was situated in the main hub of tourist activity, and there were neon lights on all the buildings at street level indicating the hotels, bars, and restaurants they held within them.
Part of me wished we could go explore more, but neither Rome nor Cairo had been built in a day. We had plenty of time here and we’d already had a jam-packed time today. I doubted either of us would enjoy leaving our suite after our showers as much as we would enjoy staying in—even if we wouldn’t be staying in to do what I thought we would be.
“Hey, I have to take this,” Bart said, waving his phone. He stepped around me and walked out into the night air on the balcony. “It’s a guy from the e-sports team I’m on. Adam. He knows I’m away at the moment, so I’d better hear what’s going on there if he’s calling despite knowing I can’t come over for practice.”
