Page 97 of Keeper
“Don’t you want to see my room?”
“Trust me, I do.” He bit his lip. “But … I don’t wanna do anything stupid.” His eyes flicked over at the bed.
Desire throbbed between my legs. I found it insanely sexy that he couldn’t trust himself to be in a hotel room with me. We wanted each other so bad—God, I could barely wait any longer! And yet who knew how long the wait might be?
“I guess I better kiss you goodbye, then,” I said.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said.
I neared him. With my feet in the room, and Tanner’s in the hallway, our mouths met in the middle. Tender lips gave way as we kissed deeper, searching each other’s lips for our souls. When the desire to lure him into my hotel room grew too great to ignore, I knew it was time to break off the kiss and pull away.
“God,” he stammered. His hungry eyes tracked me as I retreated into my room—I felt his desire so thick and strongly, I got goosebumps.
“You better go,” I whispered. “Before we do something stupid.”
“Yeah.” He swallowed. “Pick you up at seven, then?”
“Seven it is.”
“Bye, beautiful,” he whispered, reluctantly tearing himself away from the door.
“Bye, handsome,” I answered, gently closing the door.
***
After Tanner left, I tore off my clothes and jumped in the shower. I couldn’t stop smiling as I soaked in the warm water and reflected on the past few hours of my life. It’d been such a whirlwind day, the photo shoot with Marta already seemed like it was weeks ago—not just earlier this morning.
Marta. I’d almost forgotten about her. Her threat, whatever it was, seemed so empty and hollow now. What could she possibly do to me? I didn’t care—not after Tanner managed to get me to share all my secrets. He hadn’t even batted an eye when I told him that my nude pics were floating around the internet.
I hopped out of the shower and picked out my outfit. Tonight’s affair was obviously too casual for Tanner’s favorite gown, so I slipped into a simple but sexy sapphire blue cocktail dress he bought for me at Rag and Bone.
After I did my face and hair, I waited for Tanner and checked my phone … only to find a text from, yep, Marta.
“I still want the pictures from the photo shoot. Send them to me ASAP.”
I couldn’t believe the gall of that girl! To think she could demand my work after saying such nasty things about me—what planet was she from? Why would I everturn my work over to her, after everything she said? Why would I help her after she vaguely threatened me? Besides, she hadn’t paid me, so I didn’t owe her anything—not even a text saying “No.”
In fact, I didn’t plan on responding toanything Marta said anymore. Determined not to let her ruin my night, I deleted her text and put her out of my mind.
Before I knew it, there was a knock at my door, right at seven o’clock. I skittered to the door and eagerly yanked it open. Tanner waited for me with a handsome grin, looking dashing in a cobalt sport jacket and matching trousers.
“Look at you,” he said, his eyes wandering up and down my body. “God, you’re gorgeous.”
I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him, either. The top few buttons of his Oxford shirt were undone, leaving a sexy hint of sculpted muscle and chest hair.
“Not too bad yourself, mister,” I said.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Ready.” I closed the door behind me and gave him my arm.
“We make a pretty hot couple, don’t we,” he joked as he walked me down the hall.
“Oh, we’re a couple already, are we?” I teased. Obviously, I knew it was way too soon, but that didn’t stop me from desperately hoping the answer would be an unequivocal yes.
We stepped into the elevator.
“Is it too soon for you?” he murmured, punching the lobby button on the panel. “Because it’s not for me.”
