Page 47 of Wanting You

“Just say what you want to say.”

After letting out a long breath, he looked at her, his expression serious. “I thought maybe we could…reserve a suite for the night,” he said gruffly. “Maybe it’s too soon, and the last thing I want to do is pressure you, but…”

“Let’s do it!” she blurted out. “I mean…the room. Let’s reserve a room. I think that would be a wonderful thing to do! Can we check in before our dinner reservation? Would that be enough time? Ooh…do you think we could order room service in the morning?” Pausing, she laughed softly. “Sorry, but I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Moving in close, Tanner rested his hands on her hips. “Beautiful girl, we can order room service for dinner if you’d like and then again for breakfast.”

Her eyes went wide and her heart raced because this sounded like the best thing ever.

And not really because of the room service, but because it meant a whole lot of time alone with Tanner, where neither of them had to leave at the end of the night.

“I’m going to go home and pack right now,” she said before giving him a quick kiss. “Wait…what if they don’t have any rooms available? What if…?”

Pulling his phone out, Tanner scrolled a bit and then put the phone to his ear. “Yes, good afternoon,” he said smoothly. “I was curious if you have any suites available tonight?” He paused and smiled at her. “You do? Fantastic!” Another pause. “Westyn. Tanner Westyn.” Then he hummed happily. “That’s me! I used to compete.” And yet another pause. “Well, thank you! That would be incredibly generous of you!” He gave Chloe a thumbs up. “Oh, one night or two?”

He looked at her for an answer and she decided to be bold. “Two,” she whispered.

“Two nights, Micah. Thank you so much and we’ll see you soon.” After another minute of conversation, he hung up. “Well, Miss Donovan, you and I will be staying in one of Summit Ridge’s VIP suites this weekend. Pack your bathing suit because our suite comes with a hot tub.” Then he wrapped his arms around her. “Or maybe don’t. Because it’s super private and we don’t have to wear anything at all.”

Don’t look nervous…don’t look nervous…

But clearly, she looked nervous, because Tanner completely backtracked.

“I mean…again, no pressure. Sorry. That was just…ugh…I got carried away. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. No worries,” he assured her.

Reaching up, Chloe cupped his jaw. “Let’s just see where the weekend takes us, okay?” Then, with another quick kiss, she stepped out of his embrace and began collecting her things. “How much time do I have before you want to pick me up?”

“Will an hour be enough? It’s already almost 4:30, and by the time we get home and pack and I come pick you up, it will be almost 5:45. Our dinner reservation is at seven, so…”

“An hour is perfect,” she told him. “Come on! This is going to be a great weekend!”

That’s what she kept telling herself as they walked out of the school and she got in her car.

Then she panicked and immediately called Ash.

“Hey! Any chance you have time to come to the salon? I just had a cancelation and you’re due for a trim.”

“There is literally no time for that!” she said in a near hysterical tone. “I’m going away for the weekend with Tanner and it all sounded like a good idea, but…I’ve never gone on a sexy getaway before! Every time Evan suggested one, I chickened out!”

“Wait, so you’re going on a sexy getaway? When did this happen?”

“Just now! Jeez, Ash, come on! Pay attention!” she huffed with annoyance. “We had dinner reservations up at the lodge and then Tanner suggested that maybe we get a suite for tonight. Then he called and because everyone there seems to know his name, they got us one of the VIP suites with a hot tub for the weekend! I don’t even have sexy underwear! What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, first you have to breathe. Second, I’ll meet you at your house in thirty minutes and…”

“Tanner’s picking me up in an hour! There’s no time!” And yeah, she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Okay, I’m already in my car. Just go home and start packing and stop freaking out. I’ll be there as fast as I can!” Then the line went dead and Chloe knew her sister was right. She needed to stop freaking out and go home and get herself ready.

“Still doesn’t make sexy underwear magically appear in my drawers,” she mumbled, but drove home with a little more calmness than she had a few minutes ago.

Once at her house, she ran inside and took the world’s fastest—and yet extremely thorough—shower. Then, with her hair in a towel and in nothing but her robe, she began rummaging through her closet for what she was going to pack. She’d already picked out the dress she was going to wear to dinner and it was hanging on the closet door; now, she just needed at least two casual outfits, another dress for dinner tomorrow night, and something to wear to bed.

Or do I?

“I’m here! I’m here!” Ashlynn called out as she slammed the front door. They always had keys to each other’s places, and Chloe was glad to have her barging in right now. Running into the bedroom with an armload of stuff, she breathlessly dumped it all on the bed. “I bought stuff to quickly do your hair, and I had just ordered a bunch of sexy lingerie that I haven’t worn and they still have the tags on them, but you can pick out whatever you like! Whew…” Bending over slightly, she nodded. “It’s okay to call me a hero. Because I am.”

“Good grief, Ash! Again, there’s no time!” But as she moved closer to the bed, she began rummaging through the clothes. “Go plug in whatever hair stuff you need to while I see if there’s anything here I’d be brave enough to wear.”

---