Page 13 of Paper Hearts & Plot Twists

Horror pooled in Emily’s gut as she looked from the mulish expression forming on Miles’s face to the apologetic one on Kat’s.

“I can’t find another place,” Miles said, frustration coloring his tone. “I’m a speaker at the conference. I need to be available to attend the events here. You’ll have to go to another hotel,” he said, turning to Emily. “You can commute here each day for whichever events you want to participate in.”

Emily opened and closed her mouth, feeling tears prickle her eyes in frustration and helplessness. She hated that her first reaction to big emotions was to bawl like a baby. No one took someone seriously when they were crying.

“Do you want me to call you a cab?” Kat asked, looking at Emily. “We will, of course, pay the room and cab fee due to this mistake.”

“I can’t afford daily cab rides,” Emily protested, panic coloring her tone. “I won this trip in a contest. It’s supposed to be all expenses paid. I didn’t factor in daily transportation costs.”

“I’ll have to get manager approval for daily cab rides,” Kat said. “And I doubt that would fly.”

Miles looked at Emily, who looked seconds away from a total breakdown, and felt his resolve chipping away. Kat shifted from foot to foot, unsure how to help, but not really having any other solution to offer. She grabbed the phone to call the night manager. She wasn’t paid enough to deal with situations like this.

“I suppose we can share a room for tonight, and work this out tomorrow since it’s so late,” Miles finally muttered. “We’ll need some new blankets and pillows, and a rollaway bed if you have one.”

“Of course,” Kat responded with a wide customer service smile. “We have plenty of blankets and pillows, but all of the rollaway beds are in use,” she offered apologetically.

Miles let out a sigh as one idea after another was knocked down. “That will be fine,” he replied with a sigh. He could make it through tonight, and four days if he had to, even if they weren’t the most pleasant four days. He didn’t spend a lot of time in his room at conferences. It was his safe haven, though, when he could no longer smile. To share it with someone was a total violation. He’d work this out after he got some much-needed sleep.

If the walk down to the lobby had been awkward, the walk back to the room was twice as intense. Emily decided she’d aggressively ignore the angry silence and pretend all was fine. Honestly, she was probably failing at the endeavor, but she could pretend.

Tightening her arms around the blankets and pillows, she focused on their smooth texture and the fluffy squish of the pillow. She glanced at Miles out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t know how he made carrying a stack of blankets and pillows dignified, but he managed it with ease.

He surprised her this evening. Not only finding him in her bed, but by his reactions in the lobby. He’d caved so easily to having a roommate and sharing a space with her. He said for tonight only, but she didn’t see any option other than sharing for all four days. She wasn’t going to worry about that tonight.

This man seemed headstrong, the type who would fight to the end for what he felt was right. Emily expected to have to fight or be sent running. She didn’t expect to share a room with this man who she was learning might have more layers than she’d originally thought.

Miles had slowed his pace for the return to the room. Emily followed behind him once more, but this time she didn’t need to jog to keep up with him. Emily watched his back as he moved, taking in the sinewy muscles moving beneath the thin shirt he’d thrown on before their journey to the hotel lobby. She wondered what had changed his mind about sharing the room. He’d been so righteous and so adamant before, but he seemed to change his mind with no thought.

When they finally reached the room, Miles used his key card and opened the door, holding it wide for Emily to step through before he followed along after her. She stood in the center of the room, a bit unsure about what would happen next. She’d never shared a room with someone before. She was raised by her uncles as an only child. Emily shifted from foot to foot as Miles set the blankets in a pile at the end of the bed.

“You can have the bed,” he said. He grabbed one of the blankets and spread it on the floor, before he grabbed another one, layering it on top.

“What are you doing?” Emily asked. She stepped forward and laid her own pile of bedding on the bed.

Miles grabbed from her pile and laid those items on the floor as well. “I’m making another bed.”

“You can’t sleep on the floor.” She looked from the bed to the floor, horrified. She didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as a stranger, and she certainly didn’t want to sleep on the floor, but she didn’t want to make anyone else sleep on the floor either.

“Do you want us to cuddle up on the bed together?” Miles asked with a raised brow.

“Not necessarily,” Emily admitted with a deep flush.

“Then this is what we’re doing.” Miles plopped a couple pillows at the front end of his pile and settled in. “If I were you, I’d get ready for bed and get some sleep. It’s already late. We’ll figure this out in the morning. I’m too tired to think right now.”

“Right,” Emily said. She shuffled to her bag and grabbed pajamas, taking them with her to the bathroom. She hadn’t planned to sleep in her pajamas tonight, but the extra few moments to breathe and think without being in the same room as Miles was very much needed before she could relax her brain enough to actually get to sleep. What if this man was a monster? She knew nothing about him. Her peace of mind came from Kat knowing they were in the same room. If he tried anything nefarious, he’d be busted, so that should keep him in line.

Emily took her time getting dressed and brushing her teeth. She leaned against the sink and stared in the mirror. “I can do this,” she whispered to herself. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath before entering the room. It was dark. Miles had turned the light off while she was in the bathroom. She wrinkled her nose in annoyance, but carried on.

She shuffled forward, vaguely remembering the layout of the room. Feeling more confident since not hitting anything, Emily took another step forward. Her toe hit a hard limb and she flailed her arms before starting to fall. She reflexively stepped forward with her other leg to catch herself, but unfortunately it slammed down into another of Miles’s limbs, hitting a much more sensitive spot, and did nothing to prevent her forward momentum.

“Crap,” Emily cursed as she flailed forward and hit the plush bed.

“What the hell?” Miles groaned. She saw the shadow of him curled into a ball, hands clutched at his center. “You kicked me!” he accused, his voice much huskier than it had been earlier.

“I’m sorry,” Emily burst out. “I didn’t mean to. It was dark in the room and I was trying to get to the bed.”

“If you could avoid stepping on me in the process, that would be great,” Miles snapped.

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