Page 96 of Keeper
But myfavoritething about the dress actually came from Tanner’s mouth. His sweet confession,that he’d often stared at that dress and imagined it on the right girl, wassoheart-melting. How could I say no to him after he told me that? I’d basically be telling him that I wasn’tthe girl of his dreams.
And there was no way I was going to do that. Because a funny thing was starting to happen every time I looked at Tanner: time slowed to a crawl, and the beat of my heart deepened, and I became perfectly content to just sit there, smiling, smiling like a fool as I studied his handsome features. And the longer I stared, the more attractive I found him.
I realized it then, as we sped home in his rumbling sports car: I was falling for him already.
“Before we go to Reavo’s,” he said over the throaty growl of the Lamborghini engine, “we should probably get you checked in at the hotel. Is that okay?”
I nodded, still staring and smiling at him. “Yes, that’s fine.”
“Cool. There’s a nice hotel a couple blocks down from my building.”
“You think they’ll have an open room?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m sure they will,” he said confidently.
After everything he’d bought me, I hated the fact that he had to spendmoremoney on me to put me up in my own hotel room for a week. On the other hand, he obviously didn’t have any problems with opening his wallet. Despite my conflicted feelings, the truth was, deep down, I knew it was way too soon for me to be shacking up at his condo. We still needed some space apart in order to grow together. I didn’t want him to get sick of me when our budding relationship felt so promising.
I wanted this tolast.
Besides, if I had my own hotel room, it meant we were that much more likely to wait until the time was right—and not make a mistake in the heat of the moment. The more I thought about it, the more I loved the fact that we’d both decided it was best to wait—and I didn’t want to renege on our agreement prematurely. Partly because I didn’t want him to think poorly of me if Ididmanage to give in when things were hot and heavy. But also because a part of me was genuinely excited that we were waiting for the right time.
I’d neverwaitedfor the right moment before—I was so used to boyfriends being in such a rush to get me into bed. And then, just like Tanner said, the magic always ends up evaporating. I didn’t think anyone waited to have sex anymore, period. Honestly, I don’t know how or when I started thinking it, but—sex just didn’t seem special anymore.
Until I met Tanner, that is. I guess we both sort of realized, roughly at the same time, that sex was something worth waiting for? Orwewere worth waiting for.
“Here we are,” Tanner said as we pulled up outside the Regents Hotel.
He hopped out, opened my door like a true gentleman, and escorted me to the front door. I clung closely to his side, my eyes wide as I took in the sights and sounds of the sparkling lobby. Over the comforting hum of a rushing water fountain, every footstep made a satisfying click on the tile floors. The lobby bar and upscale restaurant were packed with people, the air teeming with energy.
This hotel was nice, alright—toonice, and I knewthere was no way I was getting a room here without a reservation. This wasn’t a place you could just waltz into at the last minute and expect to get a room.
We stopped at the front desk and Tanner did the talking. Sure enough, the girl confirmed my fears when she frowned politely and told us they were all booked up. But Tanner, slyly resting his arm on the desk, insisted she check again. Her nails tapped on the keyboard as she made a few keystrokes, andvoila—miraculously, a room became available at that very moment, and she slid a room key across the desk.
We walked back to the car to fetch my belongings.
“You bribed her, didn’t you?” I asked.
He feigned innocence. “Nah. You heard her, she found a room.”
I stifled a laugh. “You’re a terrible actor.”
“Good thing I play hockey for a living then, eh?” He popped the trunk open and grabbed two armloads of shopping bags, leaving only a scant few for me to carry.
“You’ve spent too much money on me today, Tanner,” I said as we made our way back through the lobby.
“What if I think you’re worth it?” he countered quickly, stealing my breath. “Besides, I’d rather you stay here—it’s close enough we can walk. This way, we can meet up whenever we want.”
“Well, thank you,” I said as we stepped into the glass elevator. “Thank you so much for today, Tanner. I hope you know how much I appreciate all this. It’s so unreal. I can’t believe it.”
He smiled at me. “I know you appreciate it. That’s why I’m happy to do it.”
Tanner pressed the button for the top floor and the doors closed. The elevator shot up and we stared out the glass windows, the people milling around in the lobby growing smaller and more distant as we went higher and higher.
We hopped off on the top floor and walked, plastic shopping bags dangling from my wrists, to my room.I slid the keycard and the lock opened with athunk.I pushed the door open, but Tanner stayed standing in the hall outside the room, even as he set the rest of my shopping bags just inside the door.
I giggled. “Aren’t you going to come in, silly boy?”
“No.”
