Page 43 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

“Yeah. I thought that when you gave a woman her room key you were supposed to show her the number, not say it out loud for anyone to hear.”

“Oh! I …” She looked at Shayna. “I’m sorry. I …”

“That’s all right,” said Shayna. “There was no one around to hear.” She smiled at Ty, who started to feel like an asshole. “It’s a good thing to remember, though. I’d be nervous about it, if I didn’t have Ty with me.”

The girl nodded. “Thanks, and sorry again. I’ve only been working here for a few days. I just … I forgot.”

“That’s okay.” Shayna came back to Ty. “Shall we go up there?”

“Yeah.” He slung his arm around her shoulders as they headed for the elevators. “I didn’t want to be an asshole about it, but she shouldn’t have done that. She didn’t know I was with you – I could have been some guy who wanted to follow the hot blonde chick up to her room.”

Shayna grinned up at him. “It’s okay. I get it, and I’m glad you reminded her – you might have saved some other woman.”

They’d reached the elevators, and he leaned in to drop a quick kiss on her lips.

When he straightened up, she slapped his arm. “You’re thinking that I’m a babe in the woods, again, aren’t you?”

He laughed. “No. I was thinking that you’re awesome. And … I still hate the idea of some random guy knowing what room you’re in and following you.”

She grinned. “Well, let it go! You don’t need to worry about it – I’m not worried, even a little bit. Want to know why?”

“Yeah, I do. You need to be careful. You …”

“I know! And I will be when I have to – but for now, I’m not worried because I have this hot cowboy looking out for me.”

The elevator arrived, and he followed her inside. When the doors closed, he cupped her face between his hands. “You do. And I’ll try to do it without pissing you off, okay?”

“Thanks. I’m not mad at you.”

“Good.”

When they got to her room, he tried to hide his displeasure – her door was right next to the ice and vending machines.

She let them in and went straight to the windows. “Wow! Look at that view.” He went to stand beside her. It was a great view of the city with a backdrop of mountains in the distance.

She looked up at him. “You’re not impressed?”

“I am. It’s a great view.” He smiled. “If you like these mountains, I can’t wait for you to see the valley.”

“Me neither. Those photos you sent me? Wow! You’re so lucky that you live in such a beautiful place. But Summer Lake’s pretty,too. I guess I just don’t appreciate it as much since I’ve lived there my whole life.”

He put her backpack on the bed, and she went to peek into the bathroom. “Wow! Look at this.”

He couldn’t help smiling as he followed her. He had exactly the same bathroom in his room, but she was so happy about it all that it made him happy, too.

“I should have brought some bubble bath! Look at the size of that tub.”

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. The thought of joining her in the tub …

He opened his eyes again when she put her hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

“I’m great.”

“What though? You didn’t look happy.”

He could hardly tell her that he’d been trying to will his dick not to stand to attention. He cleared his throat. “I guess I’m a bit twitchy about your room being next to the vending machines. Do you want to swap?”

She made a face. “You said you’re on the second floor?”

---