Page 91 of Mark my Words

He leaned away from the phone, and I could hear his muffled voice as he talked to Isobel, trying to troubleshoot.

“Vivid will cover something special for you guys if you can make this work,” he sighed loudly. “There’s nothing we can do from here. The hotel can’t accommodate another room.”

“We don’t want anything special,” Kristine hissed, obviously hearing Adrian’s solution. “We want our damn privacy.”

“I don’t know what she expects me to do,” he growled, “The hotel is booked solid, and Isobel checked with travel. There isn’t anything else available. There’s some conference going on. The closest place with rooms is some three-star residence suites thirty minutes away.”

“Sam will take it,” Kristine chimed, trying to pull my phone from my ear.

“Sam will not take it,” I frowned, prying her fingers from my phone and switching to speakerphone.

“Of course, she’d be throwing a fit. Can’t fucking agree to anything,” Adrian sighed loudly, and I saw a flash of annoyance as Kristine opened her mouth to respond. I quickly reached over and put my hand over her lips.

“You’re on speaker.”

“Yeah, Dickhead, you’re on speaker,” she said angrily, peeling my hand away.

“Whatever, dragon lady. You’re the one causing the problem here.”

“How am I causing the problem? I’m not the one who made the hotel reservations. I shouldn’t be forced to sleep with your intern because you’re too stupid to confirm a reservation correctly.”

“No one’s forcing you to sleep with him, Kris. You only need to share the same room with him for a few nights. I’ll take care of making sure the reservations in LA are correct. You won’t even be in your room most of the day, so I’m sure you two can manage to be civil with each other.“ Isobel’s authoritative voice left no room for argument. I could see how she was easily able to keep Adrian in line.

“But Evan and Chase...” Kristine sputtered.

“Are staying in the king suite because they’re the reason you two are even on this tour. Or have you forgotten that you have this opportunity because of the book they wrote?”

“But...” Kristine sighed, but I could see the resignation in her eyes.

“It’s a professional arrangement. I expect you two can behave like grown professionals,” Isobel spat out before she hung up.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was why they paid Isobel the big bucks. She was an expert at diffusing unruly talent. Even when they were her subordinates and not an author with a penchant for dramatics.

“So...” I nodded as I held out my hand in her direction, using my other to tuck my phone back into my pocket. “Want to go tell me which bed you want?”

“This isn’t some free pass to...”

Sighing, I shouldered my bag and grabbed the handle of her small tote. “We’ve slept in the same room before, and I’ve managed to keep my hands to myself. I think I can exert a little bit of self-control.”

“I know, but...”

“At some point, you’ll have to start trusting me.” It wasn’t like I was going to attack her in her sleep. I’d made it clear I was waiting for her to initiate things.

“It’s not that...” she sighed as she followed me toward the bank of elevators.

Lowering my voice, I leaned in toward her ear. “I told you before that if you wanted me, you needed to...”

“Please. I’m not going to beg you to kiss me,“ she scoffed, irritation flaring through her eyes.

“Let’s go drop off our carry-ons before they get here.” I nodded as I motioned for her to board the elevator car before me.

“Fine. But you’re the one getting up early to get ready first. And you can’t use all the hot water while in there...” She was grasping at straws to remain irritated, and I found it oddly charming. The reasons for arguing this were slipping, and I knew she didn’t want me in the same room because of the temptation. Or being forced to decide about us.

“Well, you could always join me and solve both problems.” I knew I was riling her up, but I couldn’t resist.

“Fuck off, Sam.”

“I thought we’d established that’s what I’d be doing with all the hot water,” I laughed, but I could tell from the way high spots of pink appeared on her cheeks that she was thinking about what that meant.

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