Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
He shifted her weight to one arm. What was he doing?
“Sorry, just getting my key card from my back pocket. Or trying to. Here we are.” He opened the door and stepped inside.
A blast of heat hit her immediately.
Oh, thank goodness. She breathed a sigh of relief.
She was inside. She was safe. She hadn’t completely freaked out.
There was just one small issue . . .
When he went to put her down, she clung to him.
“Um, Greer?”
“Yeah?”
“You haven’t let go.”
“I know. I just . . . I can’t.”
“All right. Well, let’s just sit for a moment.” He turned and sat on the bed. With her tucked into his lap.
And she never wanted to move.
But she had to. This was ridiculous. She couldn’t sit on his lap all night.
She barely knew him.
She’d get too heavy.
And eventually, one of them would have to pee. Which would be super awkward to manage.
Yep. Not happening.
She’d move before then. Except . . . now that she thought about it, she had to pee.
She really had to pee.
She started shifting around on his lap and he tightened his hold on her. He had one arm behind her back, and his other hand was massaging the tight muscles in her neck.
“I’ll just text Sav and let him know we arrived okay.” He drew his phone out of his jacket. The jacket slid onto the floor, but it didn’t matter. She was nice and cozy, tucked in against him. He sent a text quickly.
“Do you think you’re ready for me to let you go?” he asked.
She clung to him tighter.
“Okay. That’s a no.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know I’m acting crazy. I can’t seem to let go. Which is going to be a problem soon.”
“It’s not a problem. You hold onto me as long as you need to. There’s no rush.”
No. He didn’t get it.
And she really shouldn’t tell him.
She shifted on his lap again. She couldn’t leave the safety of his arms. But she also couldn’t ignore her pressing bladder.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is there something else I can do?”
“I just . . . shoot. I need to let you go.”
“Like I said, there’s no rush—”
“There is because I really have to pee!” There was a beat of silence and she groaned. “So embarrassing.”
He let out a small chuckle. “It’s fine. Everyone has to pee.”
“Yes, but most people aren’t wrapped around a stranger like he’s a tree and they’re a monkey.”
“A cute monkey.”
He thought she was cute? All right . . . now, she was blushing.
“But you also have to pee.” He stood up and she tightened her hold on him.
“I really don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I can’t!” she cried.
“You can, baby. If you keep holding on, you’re going to hurt yourself. I’m a doctor. You need to listen to me. Sometimes, I actually know what I’m talking about.”
She groaned. It really was starting to hurt.
“Here is what you’re going to do. I’m going to set you down in front of the toilet, and then you’ll let me go. I’ll give you some privacy—”
She let out a whimper. It wasn’t that she wanted him to stay. Nope. She really didn’t want that. But the idea of him being out of her sight . . .
Shit. She was being ridiculous.
“I’ll be fine,” she told him as he put her down. “You can go get the bags.”
Guilt filled her. It wasn’t up to him to bring in all her luggage.
“I’ll help you bring the luggage in.” She realized what a ridiculous offer it was almost immediately.
Shit. Idiot.
“I don’t think so, baby,” he said gently. “You stay in the hotel room. I'm going to pull all the curtains so you can’t see anything. All right?”
“Okay.”
“Sure you’ll be all right?”
“Uh-huh. I’m good.” She straightened her shoulders and tried to pretend that she had her life together.
Even if it was all a lie.
Hack managed all the luggage in one go. His arms were full, though, and he banged a suitcase against the door as he tried to open it.
Crap.
He was probably going to give frighten her, making all this noise right outside the door.
To his shock, the door opened with her standing on the other side. She’d pulled off the black sweatshirt. Underneath was a neon green T-shirt that stated, A book a day keeps reality away.
Cute.
What wasn’t cute was how pale she was. He instantly dropped the luggage in the room and shut the door behind him.
“You shouldn’t be opening the door,” he scolded.
“I knew it was you,” she whispered. But her gaze was fixated on the door, as though she could see through it to the outside.
“Hey. Hey, look at me.” He clicked his fingers obnoxiously in front of her face. He waited for her to fire up at him. He’d been deliberately rude.
But to his shock, a look of gratitude filled her face before she flung herself at him again.