Page 96 of Guilty as Sin
He got there first and was waiting when she pulled up. She got out of the car, and he took her little suitcase from the back seat and said, “Here we go. Hiding in plain sight.”
“The Sinful Inn.” She craned her neck to look up at the imposing structure, a lavishly ornamented white Victorian wedding cake during the day, its windows glowing now with golden light against the night, and said, “It’s visible, all right. It’s got that going for it. Nobody’s going to be in doubt of where we are. Home of the town founder and all. But it’s expensive.”
“Fortunately,” he said, “I can afford it. At least until Tobias starts wanting the gourmet dog food. And I have to stay somewhere until I do that shopping. The bonus is that I don’t have to be lonely. I get to stay here with you. And do you want to stand around out here and talk about it, or would you rather go inside and check it out? Since I told Sergeant Worthless, the bloke at the Gas & Go,andeverybody at the gym that I was bringing you here, maybe we should go on and follow through.”
But when he took her through the ornate, oversized double doors that had been made from native cedar in a bygone age of craftsmanship, she stopped again and said, “Wow,” as if she weren’t so sure.
Well,thishadn’t occurred to him. He did his best to look at the place through her eyes. A double staircase, its banisters elaborately carved, swept up from the floral-carpeted, chandelier-hung lobby. And then there was the marble-framed fireplace that looked like it could roast an entire deer and the creamy plaster ceiling with its carved scrolls and garlands. A woman behind an enormous marble desk smiled and said, “Good evening,” and Jace could have sworn Paige was one step from gone. Because it was too… what? Too good?
Half of his mind said,Serious issues.The other half said,I don’t care.That half won. He told her, making it as firm as he could possibly manage, “I checked in earlier. Let’s go.” She might think that was commanding again, but right now, from what he was seeing? She was running on fumes. When he got to the stairs, though, something else occurred to him. He stopped and said, “Maybe I should—”
“You arenotcarrying me,” she said. “I can do it. I’m better. I’m fine.”
She was still moving pretty stiffly to his eye, but since she was already starting up the stairs, he didn’t say anything, just picked up her bag and followed her. When she got to the top, he said, “At some point here, you’re going to realize you don’t know where you’re going and ask me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled that you came down on the side of ‘Stay,’ despite my unfortunate choice of residence. I tried for the Super 8, but they were booked up.”
She laughed, and some of the weird tension left her. “All right. Which way?”
“Left. End of the hall.”
Master Suite,the oval brass plaque on the door read. He got out the keys, held the door open, checked that the owner had done everything she’d promised, and said, “Voila.”
She stopped barely inside the door. “Wow. Really? But… I’m not Lily, you know.”
He could have been insulted. He decided not to be. “What’s ‘really’?” He lifted her suitcase onto the luggage rack. “And what does Lily have to do with it?”
“Well, let’s see. The marble fireplace? The canopy bed? The carved ceiling? Or the roses and champagne?Jace.”
“Only room they had available,” he said. “And it’s all part of the package.” When she narrowed her eyes at him, he laughed and said, “All right. That was a lie. Could be I wanted it to be a treat for you.”
She sat on the edge of the king-sized bed. It was a stretch. That bed was a good way off the floor. “No, it’s beautiful. It is. I’ve just never stayed anywhere this good. Or had the… you know. Roses and champagne and all. It feels strange, that’s all. Seriously not my life.”
He’d been right, then. “I could open the champagne,” he said. “Maybe that would help. I know you can’t wait to talk about that call and all your logical deductions, but my house was destroyed today, I’ve been on cleanup duty all afternoon, and I’m tired. This room happens to come with a spa bath. I think I should turn the taps on for you, pour you some champagne, turn on some music, and let you relax in there. And we can talk in the morning. They make breakfast.” He tilted his head toward the round table in veined green marble that sat in front of a nearly floor-to-ceiling window, flanked by two wing chairs. “Perfect spot for a chat about mad stalkers, mayhem, and gun safety. In the morning.”
“That shouldn’t sound as good as it does,” she said. “Not the mayhem. The rest of it. Is the tub big enough for two?”
There you are, mate,he told himself.It’s all about patience.He wouldn’t say it was her best virtue. Fortunately, he had enough for both of them. “Yeah,” he said. “It is.”
He knocked at the bathroom door five minutes later, and she made herself open her eyes, smiled at him in the light of two candles at the foot of the tub, and said over the sound of the jets, “Come on in. The water’s fine.”
This was the bonus she hadn’t thought of. Watching Jace stripping his T-shirt over his head, showing off that six-pack and those shoulders of his along the way, then unfastening his belt and shoving his jeans down his lean thighs. She said, “You look good naked.”
“So do you.”
“Except that the water’s bubbling and you can’t see me.”
“Good point. Fortunately, I have an excellent memory. Scoot forward.”
She did it, and he climbed in carefully behind her, wrapped his right arm around her, avoiding her sore left shoulder but letting her see his tattoo, then kissed the side of her neck, and said, “Smells nice in here.”
“Mm. Lavender and roses.” She took another few more sips of champagne, and when he took her glass from her, she closed her eyes again. The heat was melting her bones, and Jace was warming her up everywhere else. He asked, “How’s the leg?”
“Hurts some,” she admitted.
“I’ll give it a rub, then, shall I?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She sighed and relaxed a little more against him. “Remember what happened last time.”
“Yeah. I do.”
