Page 26 of Tempting Max

Grinning a grin that she can’t see, I tuck my arm around her and settle in for the long wait ahead of us.

It’s nearly eleven by the time we leave the ER. After a long nap, Gus is back to her fiery self, even snapping at the doctor when he told her to limit use for a full week. But I feel better that she’s stitched up, bandaged up, and no worse for wear.

“Oh my god,” she grumbles when we step into the parking lot only to be hit with ice cold pouring rain. Thunder and lightning follow quickly afterwards and we have no choice but to run to my car.

We’re out of breath and soaked to the bone when we get inside.

“What do we do now?” She asks me, eyes wide after looking at the weather app. “This isn’t going to let up.”

I know what I want to do, but it’s a risky call. Probably too risky. “I’ll drive if you want to get home, but if you’d rather wait it out, we can go to a late-night diner or grab a couple hotel rooms and head back in the morning.”

She bites her lip as if she’s considering all the pros and cons of the options. “Diner,” she says confidently, “And then hotel rooms. I’m just so tired.”

“Or we can go check in and order food.”

“Yes,” she says, nodding a half dozen times, “That sounds fantastic.”

“Done,” I find the nearest nice hotel on my phone and then put the car in drive. “Did you want to stop for a change of clothes?”

She rests her head against the seat and shakes it. “No, I really just want to get to a hotel room, take a hot shower, and rest.”

My body reacts to the thought of her in the shower just about how you might expect. Quick and hard.Hotel rooms.Plural. I remind myself as I navigate to our destination. She needs food and rest, not a horny caveman.

“On our way,” I assure her, trying to drag my mind out of the bed sheets as I plow slowly through the rain-sodden streets.

Thirty minutes later, we’re standing in front of our side-by-side hotel doors. “Pizza?” I ask, not knowing what else to say.

“That sounds amazing,” she answers. “Is pepperoni okay?”

“Classic.”

She smiles. “Good. You order, I’m going to shower. Just knock on the wall when it’s here.”

I nod toward the bag of shower protectors the doctor sent her home with. “Don’t forget to cover that finger.”

“Aye-aye Captain,” she says, giving an adorable little salute before she waves the card in front of the reader. “See you in a bit.”

I stand there for a moment, even after she’s gone inside, trying to collect my emotions. I don’t know how, but something about having her in my arms all evening made me feel like maybe I can have something better. Maybe I don’t deserve to be miserable for the rest of my life.

Hope. Gus gives me hope. And it’s been a very long time since I’ve had any of that.

17

GUS

My breath catches when I hear three solid knocks on my hotel room wall. Since I hopped into the shower, all I can think about is what could happen between us while we’re here. Yes, he paid for two hotel rooms, but after resting against his strong body all day, I can’t imagine falling asleep with an entire wall between us.

I check my face in the mirror. My hair is wet from the shower, and my cheeks are pink with anticipation. I don’t know if I have any reason to be keyed up already, but I’m human and there is a certified hunky Hercules that’s been surprisingly tender all day in the next room. Let’s just say I have reason to believe I’ll be easy to sway if it means more time in his ridiculous arms.

My clothes are soaked from the rain so I’m in nothing but the fluffy white hotel robe, which I’ve tied and double tied around my waist. If I’m careful, he won’t see anything and if I’m not careful, he’ll see literally everything. I’ll decide which tactic I’m taking when I get over there.

After triple checking my appearance, I tuck my key into my robe pocket and knock softly on the door that joins our room.

I hear some shuffling and a gruff ‘coming’ before the door unlocks and he swings open the door.

“Dinner’s—” he starts, but his words fail him the moment his eyes land on me in my robe. His jaw tightens and I can see a slight flare of his nostrils as he drags his eyes back up from the part of my robe. He clears his throat. “Dinner’s here.”

I smile. How could I not? It’s not every day I can make a sexy silver fox speechless. “Thank you. And thank you for grabbing the hotel rooms, I can pay you back for mine.”

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