Page 17 of Fierce Hearts

Seems I wasn't the only one who had a wild night of not enough sleep.

"I bet he did," I teased, grateful for the distraction from my own situation. "Enjoying consummating the marriage I bet."

"He certainly has been.” She chuckled. "We're staying another night here before flying out to the Bahamas. Some fancy all-inclusive place Leo booked for a few weeks. I'm just heading down for more coffee and to get away from him for a short while." She lowered her voice and stepped closer. "I'm getting a bit sore, and he would happily keep me in that room all day. My downstairs lady needs a breather."

We both burst into laughter, and for a moment, everything felt normal.

"I'm jealous of your Bahamas getaway," I admitted as our laughter subsided.

"You should have come with us! We offered to pay, remember? Meredith nudged my shoulder. "It would have been fun. I mean, you still can, I can ask Leo?—"

I shook my head and cut her off. "I have work commitments. Besides, I doubt you'll be leaving the room much. This is your time together."

"Gray's coming for some of it too," she said casually. "Leo's dad will be going to Ironstone to run things while we're out of the country, allowing Gray to have a vacation too."

I nodded, hoping my expression didn't betray me. "Right, I bet he'll love that." I vaguely recalled him mentioning it last night at some point, saying I should be going and that he'd have enjoyed having me there.

I'd waved him off, saying the Bahamas were not on my agenda right now, but for him to have fun.

"Give him grief for me," Meredith said with a mischievous smile. "Roman told me he had a female guest stay the night, and it sounded like they were having fun."

My eyes widened as my heart fluttered. Roman knew he'd had a guest? How? We'd been so careful to not get seen returning upstairs together.

"Did he say who it was?"

Meredith shrugged. "No idea. I don't really want to know who my brother is having fun with, to be honest. I'm sure it's just a one-off thing as part of the wedding celebration."

"Right," I agreed, relief washing over me, although there was something else there too. Something that had no place being a feeling about it all. "Just a wedding thing."

The elevator reached the lobby, and we stepped out together.

"Well, have fun in the Bahamas," I said, giving her a quick hug. "Send me pictures of something other than your hotel room, okay?"

She laughed. "I'll try, but no promises. Text me when you get home safe."

We parted ways, and I headed toward the front entrance where Gray had said he'd meet me. I spotted him leaning against a sleek black SUV, his driver standing nearby. He straightened when he saw me, his expression unreadable.

"Ready?" he asked as I approached.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. The driver opened the rear door and took my bag while I slid in, Gray following after me. The privacy partition was already raised, giving us a semblance of isolation as the vehicle pulled away from the hotel.

The first few minutes passed in tense silence. I stared out the window, watching the scenery change as we left the hotel grounds and merged onto the highway toward the city.

"So," Gray finally said, breaking the silence. "The Bahamas should be nice this time of year."

I turned to look at him, surprised by the coincidental topic. At least, I hoped it was a coincident. "I'm sure it will be."

"You should have taken Mer and Leo up on their offer to join them. It will be fun."

"I think we've had enough fun. Besides, I have work," I replied quickly as I flicked my gaze back out the window.

So much for things not being weird and awkward. It was hard to push away the way he'd felt, how his lips had trailed over my neck, how he'd…

Enough. I shoved all the thoughts aside with as much mental force as I could. I didn't need to be stuck thinking about him. He'd be gone for a while in the Bahamas, a good thing while this whole dynamic cooled off and we could pretend it didn't happen.

"That's a shame." He shifted in his seat as he pulled out his phone. "I'll be joining them for some of their trip. Business meetings we've organized over there that I'll handle as well.”

"Try not to work too hard, enjoy it while you're there," I said softly.

---