Page 48 of Say You Remember Me
“Well, she might want to catch up, but I have zero desire to even visit memory lane with her.” He crossed his arms and blew out a breath. “So as far as I’m concerned, she’s just another random hotel guest across the hall from us.”
He really thought he’d be able to avoid her all weekend?
Because, with the few short interactions they’d already had, and the whole fiancée charade he’d accidentally started, I doubted it would be as easy as that.
“I get that you want to ignore her,” I said, understanding his desire to keep the past in the past. “But as much as you want that, she’s clearly planning to keep an eye on you. Which means that now that she also thinks I’m supposed to be your fiancée, she’ll be watching me, too.”
“I guess you’re right.” Ian sighed, letting his shoulders droop. “I really should have just replied to her email and told her to buzz off.”
“It certainly would have been easier than what we’ve already done so far.” I chuckled.
“Sorry about that.” He shook his head, a guilty look filling his eyes. “And now she thinks we’re sharing this room.”
I nodded slowly, acutely aware that we were standing in his room together, just a short distance from his bed.
Was I going to have to stay in here tonight?
Wearing this dress as a nightgown since my stuff was locked away in the room next door?
As if reading my thoughts, Ian said, “I should probably just knock on her door and fess up to this whole thing, shouldn’t I? Tell her I wanted to have a little fun pretending I was engaged for a bit, but that we’re actually only here together because of business.”
“You really want to do that?” I asked, thinking about how uncomfortable I’d feel doing that if I was in his situation.
“Well, it’s not like I can ask you to pretend to be madly in love with me all weekend, forcing you to sleep in my bed…just so I can save face now, can I?”
My breath hitched at the idea of sleeping in his bed. And on instinct, I looked around the room, curious if it was similar to my room next door.
And that was when I noticed something on the wall just behind me. A door.
“Actually…” I said, stepping closer to the door to see if it was what I thought it might be. When I turned the lock and opened it, I found that there was another door just on the other side of it.
I glanced back to Ian. When he seemed to realize what I was looking at, a slow smile lifted his lips and he said, “Do you think these doors connect our rooms together?”
“I think so.”
“So…” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “That means that if one of us can get into your room and unlock that door from your side, we could actually keep up the ruse that we’re both staying in here by just using this door.”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded slowly, considering it.
“Yes, this could work,” he continued, seeming to form a plan in his mind as he paced. “We could make Margot think we’re always together, while still allowing you to have your own space and that downtime I promised you.”
“And if Margot keeps watching us…” I said, feeling the tension in my shoulders ease slightly as this new plan formed, “we can just use your door anytime we need to come and go.”
“Exactly,” Ian replied. He turned back toward the door that led to the hall. After peeking through the peephole, he said, “No one is out there right now. So if you give me your keycard, I can just sneak into your room real quick and unlock the door.”
“But what if she comes out and sees you?”
He looked around the room. Seeming to have an idea, he stepped past me. After inspecting the room quickly, he walked toward the mini bar and picked up the ice bucket sitting on the small countertop.
“I’ll take this with me, and if Margot happens to open her door and sees me trying to get in the wrong room, I’ll just pretend I went to get ice and accidentally stopped at the wrong door.”
“Good idea,” I said, thinking this might actually work.
So with the ice bucket tucked under his arm, he held out his hand for my key. After retrieving it from my purse and handing it to him, I said, “Good luck.”
Then once he was at the door, he took a quick glance down the hall to ensure the coast was clear before stepping out.
I watched the door close, my heart thumping faster than it should for such a simple plan.
