Page 26 of Fate Forever and Always

“We made it,” Callie repeated. Her smile was contagious. She was smiling like she was so proud. It was seriously the prettiest she's ever looked.

We got off the plane and quickly grabbed our bags. We only had to wait ten minutes for our car to arrive to bring us to the resort. Things were starting perfectly.

“What do you mean the reservation is only for one room? We called and verified that we were supposed to have two rooms.”

“Ma’am, I'm very sorry. We didn’t receive a call about separate rooms. The only call we received was about upgrading your room to a suite.” The hotel clerk repeated to us.

I stepped behind Callie. “Can you check again, please?”. I put my hands on Callie's shoulders as she got her phone out to call Aubrey. I took it from her and called her myself. Callie was about to blow up, and knowing Aubrey, she would just hang up on her the minute Callie raised her voice. I walked outside the door where it was a little more quiet.

It rang one time, and she picked up.

“Mad at me yet?” Aubrey's sneaky voice came through the phone.

“Aubs…what did you do?”

“Oh, Nick?” she sounded surprised. “I didn’t really have a choice. It is a couples-only resort, and they didn’t allow me to change it.”

“Why didn’t you tell us? Callie is pissed. She’s about to fight the front desk guy.”

“Let me talk to her,” she demanded.

I walked in and handed Callie the phone, and she walked outside to speak to Aubrey. I couldn’t hear her from inside, but I could see her arms flailing. Her face was becoming more red the longer they spoke. I saw her say something about one bed.

I went up to the desk and apologized for the mix-up. I reached for the information pamphlets and keycards. The clerk abruptly pulled them away.

“Sir, are you two a couple?” I looked at him like a deer in headlights for a moment, and he continued, “Because it doesn’t seem like it, and we have a strict couples-only policy. If you would like to sleep separately, I can arrange for you to stay about thirty minutes away at our sister hotel, but not everything would be included. There will be many events that you can only attend with a significant other.” The guy gave me a knowing look.

I tried to play it off the best I could. “We will be fine; we are just fighting about her mother. It’s no problem. One room will work great.”

He seemed to believe me because he smirked and handed me the keycards.

He nodded, “Good luck.”

I mumbled under my breath, “Thanks, I think I'm going to need it.”

He must have heard me because he chuckled before turning to the next customer.

When Callie returned, I could tell she was about to go off again. I put my arm around her shoulder, kissed her cheek, and guided her toward the elevators. “This way, baby. We're all set.”

She recoiled a little and looked at me like I just called her a bad name or something.

“Baby? What the fuck are you doing?" She whispered through clenched teeth, her eyes darting around the room.

“Just follow my lead.”

I turned and waved at the concierge. He nodded. I turned and urged Callie into the elevator.

She looked up at me, so I leaned in. Our faces were only inches apart. “You have some explaining to do, Nicholas.”

I kissed her forehead and grinned against it as I whispered, “I know.”

She turned and crossed her arms in front of her chest, huffing loudly. I couldn’t help but smirk.

When I shut the door to our room behind me, she immediately laid into me.

“What the fuck was that? Why would you let them do this to us? Why would you want to share a room? We can't share a room, Nick. We are going to be here for two weeks.”

“Sweets, sit down. Let me get you a drink.” I explained everything to her, and she just stared at me. “If you really can't deal with sharing a room, let’s just go to the other hotel and call it a day, but you must admit this room is gorgeous. Plus, it isn’t much different from you living with me in the same house. It just has fewer walls.”

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