Page 69 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

Smith threw a curious glance my way, and I regarded him bitterly. “Guess I’ll just pick up the tab for this one.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were stalled as the people in front of us moved away, and the hostess greeted us. “What can I do for you?”

“I need two rooms for the night, please.”

“Just one room,” came Smith’s deep voice from beside me.

I opened my mouth to snap at him but was brought up short by the sight of Mia drifting toward us. “Lily, did you forget something?”

My mind blanked, and I swallowed hard. “Uh…”

What reason could I possibly give for wanting to stay at Briarleigh when I lived twenty minutes away?

“We need a place to stay for the night,” Smith spoke up. “A water pipe broke at her house, and it’s a mess right now. Should just be a day or two.”

“That’s awful.” Mia made a face. “Let’s get you squared away.”

She motioned for us to follow her as she moved to a computer and began to type rapidly. A moment later, she scanned two key cards, then passed them our way. “You’ll be in room 320.”

I pulled my wallet out of my purse. “What do I owe you?”

She held up her hands. “It’s on the house.”

I felt my mouth go slack as I stared at her. “Mia…” I shook my head. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Of course you can,” she replied cheerfully as she stepped out from behind the desk.

“You go out of your way for us all the time. Take the room and enjoy yourself. Besides,” she continued before I could protest, “with all the traffic this weekend, we’ve more than made up the difference for the room.”

She turned a broad smile on Smith. “Our restaurant is open if you’d like to take your beautiful date out for dinner.”

My stomach dipped toward my toes as Smith placed a hand on my lower back. “We’ll consider it. Thank you, ma’am.”

“Thanks.” The word felt like ash on my tongue as I allowed Smith to lead me down the hallway toward the bank of elevators. He ushered me inside, then punched the number 3 to take us to the third floor.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself,” I muttered, avoiding his gaze.

Though he didn’t respond, I could practically feel the tension rolling off his body in waves as he bit back a retort. The elevator announced our arrival on the third floor with a soft ding, and I was already stepping out before the door had fully opened.

One hand fisted in the back of my shirt, halting my progress. I threw an angry look over my shoulder. “What the hell?”

But he wasn’t looking at me. His dark gaze scanned the long hallway before returning to mine. The corners of his lips turned down, disapproval etched deep in his features. “You need to stay behind me. We have no idea where he might be.”

I cocked a brow. “You think he would be right here waiting for us as soon as we stepped off the elevators? Like he somehow just knew we were going to get a room up here?”

His expression darkened. “Seen stranger things.”

That only served to increase my ire. Despite the little tidbit about being held captive earlier, I knew nothing about him. His admission only reinforced the theory that he’d been involved in something shady before arriving at my house.

He set off down the hallway, stopping at the room at the very end. He entered the key card and it emitted a series of low tones before the lock disengaged. Smith opened the door and stepped inside, leaving me to follow.

My mouth dropped open, and my eyes widened as I got my first look at the place. This was no ordinary room. The living area was huge, beautifully furnished with lavish decorations in rich colors.

Smith pulled me inside, then closed and locked the door. Despite the fact that it had been locked just a few moments prior, he pointed a finger in my direction. “Stay here. I’m going to check things out.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest with a huff. This guy was seriously out of control. I watched him duck into what I assumed was one of the bedrooms, his head swiveling left and right as he scanned the space.

Enough was enough. I pushed off the door and strode into the spacious living area. The windows overlooked the verdant hills that, come wintertime, would be covered in glistening snow.

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