Page 45 of My Temptation

“Maybe.” Ethan shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I’d rather not take a chance. How far is the airport from Devil’s Lake?”

I opened Maps on my phone and began searching. “The one we’re flying into is about a two-hour drive from the resort. Kyle said he tried to get us a flight into a closer airport, but he didn’t have any luck.”

“Still not too bad,” Ethan replied.

Once again, I settled back into my seat, comfortable with the silence. We’d cleared the air, and it felt like Ethan and I were back to where we’d been before this case took the turn it had.

And that was exactly where we needed to be, considering how closely we were about to work together.

13

ETHAN

I breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled into the parking lot of the resort. “Finally.”

“I can’t wait to take a shower,” Mila mumbled beside me and pushed open her door.

“And sleep for about ten hours,” I replied after I opened my door and stepped out.

It felt like we were never going to get here. We'd boarded the plane in North Carolina and were en route when the pilot announced they were experiencing mechanical problems so we had to stop at an airport outside of Illinois somewhere. What should’ve taken an hour, according to the pilot’s announcement, took about six. We wandered around and got something to eat, all in an effort to pass the time at the airport before boarding the plane again, only to be grounded because of heavy storms for another few hours. After we finally landed, we still needed to rent a car and drive to the resort. Thankfully, Kyle sweet-talked someone at the resort into not giving away our room, considering we missed check-in.

We headed to the back of the SUV, where we pulled out our suitcases and bags, including laptops and equipment, before heading inside. Glancing around the lobby, I was surprised by all the amenities I could already see. The doors straight across from the ones we entered were glass and opened to pools and bars loaded with people obviously having a good time.

I shifted and saw Mila skirt around me and head for the long desk lining the wall to the right of us. I followed and stood beside her while we waited for the woman across the desk to finish her phone call.

She hung up the phone and smiled. “Checking in?”

“Yes.” Mila smiled. “It’s under Joe O’Neill.”

She typed a few things on the computer and nodded. “I see you here, and it looks like you’ll be with us for an extended stay.”

That was news to me, and I was certain Mila didn’t know we were booked for an extended stay, but she went along with it as if it were planned. “That’s right.”

She grabbed our key cards and handed one to each of us. “As you know, you came during our summer festival. The amenities are included in your stay, so please feel free to check out all the pools, hot tubs, and bars. Several activities are also scheduled each day for kids, but I’m assuming you don’t need that schedule.”

“No, thank you,” Mila replied.

She printed out a paper while she talked and handed it to Mila. Leaning over her shoulder, I saw a schedule of events for live music and karaoke nights listed as adults only. “This is our schedule of events for the remaining twelve days of the festival, specifically for adults if you’re interested. You can also find any of us if you have questions about activities on the lake.”

“Sounds good,” I replied.

“Obviously, since it’s a little after midnight, the adult activities by the pool are still going on. I can have someone take your things to your room if you’d like to join.”

“No, thank you. We just want to sleep,” Mila replied.

She nodded. “I understand. Do you need anything else tonight?”

“Just a bed.” Mila sighed. “It was a long day.”

“I heard you had a rough flight. Hopefully, your stay with us will be much smoother.” She smiled. “Enjoy your stay.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, and we both turned to head toward the elevators. Luckily, it wasn’t a long wait, and no one else was getting on or off the elevator. Once inside, Mila faced me. “How the hell is she that pleasant at midnight?”

I chuckled in agreement. “Maybe because she isn’t exhausted.”

“Maybe,” Mila murmured when we stepped off the elevator and headed down the hallway. I waited for Mila to swipe the card before walking into the room where we both abruptly stopped. It wasn’t lost on either of us that we were staring at one bed.

“This can’t be right.” She sighed and dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling. “I’m too tired to deal with this.”

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