Page 123 of The Main Event

I remained suspicious, but since I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, I followed him. He led me to the final curve in the hallway, and then he kept going toward what I knew to be a storage area. We hadn’t used it much over the years—it was a pain taking things up and down the elevator—so I knew it to be wasted space.

Unless … had Jax done something with the space and not told me?

“Here.” He handed me one of the keys and inclined his head toward the door. Unlike the other room doors, it had a different sort of lock.

I inserted the key, gave him a narrow-eyed stare, and then pushed inside.

I don’t know what I was expecting. Jax had been full of surprises since cutting his family loose at the Halloween party. It was as if he could breathe again once they were out of his life.

And they were definitely out of his life.

Jax hadn’t heard from any of them since he made his announcement. Rumors had reached him through old acquaintances, though—people he was convinced were only calling for gossip—that his parents were selling their home and moving into a condo. They were trying to pretend it was a voluntary move, but everybody knew better.

Jax’s cousins—at least two of them that we were aware of—had been forced to get real jobs, and it wasn’t going well. His mother had been kicked out of some ritzy tea group and had hidden in bed for a full month after because she was mortified.

Nobody knew the status of Jared’s mistress. Jax said he didn’t care about any of it, but I knew he did. Part of him wouldalways hope his family would come around. He was a realist, so he didn’t expect it, but there would always be hope.

“What’s this?” I asked, glancing around. The space—it had to be a full two-thousand square feet—didn’t even remotely resemble the wasted storage space from before. No, this space boasted a beautiful open floor plan, a kitchen with granite countertops, and a door that led into an adjacent suite.

Confused, I headed in that direction. Everything inside the room was white. There were zero decorating touches. There wasn’t even a bed to bounce on. There was, however, an amazing bathroom with a garden tub.

“I don’t understand,” I said as I turned back to him. “What is this?”

“Well, since we agreed that we should have some upscale rooms—two penthouses—I decided the storage area was a complete and total waste. Turns out that it wasn’t that expensive to overhaul given everything else that was going on.”

Did he think that was an explanation? “I still don’t understand.”

“I can’t afford a house for us yet. It’s going to take a few years of saving.”

Slowly, understanding dawned on me. “You’re going to live here.” It made a strange sort of sense.

“Actually, I was hoping thatwewould live here,” he corrected.

“You want me to move in with you?” I was dumbfounded.

He made a face. “Don’t act so surprised. We spend every night together.”

“I know but … this is a big deal.”

“Is it too big of a deal?”

“I don’t know.” I looked around. “We’re going to live in the hotel … together.” It was a lot to absorb.

“That’s the plan,” he said. “If you let your apartment go and we move in here, we’ll both be able to save money for a house. It will take a few years—I’m not going to lie—but you said you always wanted to live in a hotel.”

Tears burned the back of my eyes as I turned to him. “You remember that?”

“I remember all of it,” he confirmed. He moved forward and took my hands between his. “I want to give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of. It’s going to have to come in increments, though. I know you probably want a house. I need time to get it for you.”

Was he kidding me right now? “I’m not your mother,” I reminded him. “I would live here with you for the rest of our lives. Do you know what a dream come true living in the hotel is going to be?”

He managed a grin. “I was hoping you would say that.” He gestured toward the white walls. “I left the decorating to you. Fred is expecting you to pick colors for the paint. Before we worry about furniture, we need to paint the walls.”

I nodded. My mind was already swirling. “This is going to be so much fun.”

“We can’t raise a family or anything here—it’s just one bedroom—but I figure when we find our house in a few years, then we can turn this space into another penthouse.”

“A presidential suite,” I corrected. “George always wanted a presidential suite.”

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