Page 55 of Best In Class
Because you’re a masochist, Luna Steele, who’s going to get your heart broken again.
It takes a while to get away from traffic and drive along the small roads.
We pull into Hamilton just before sunset.
The town feels caught between a Southern postcard and a time capsule—brick sidewalks, old-fashioned lamp posts, and a courthouse square that’s trying really hard not to look picturesque, and failing spectacularly.
The place iscuteandromantic!
The B&B, Holly House, sits just off the square. It’s got white-painted columns, ivy-covered walls, and a porch swing that looks like it’s hosted generations of gossip. There are hummingbird feeders hanging from the eaves and a welcome sign that tells us this Victorian home was built in 1880.
“What if they don’t have rooms?” I muse.
“Then we’ll find another place.” He holds the door open for me.
Bells chime sweetly.
Inside, the lobby slash living room smells like lemon polish, lavender, and history. Everything is wood-paneled and floral—antique furniture, faded rugs, old portraits of serious-faced women in clothes that remind me ofGone With the Wind.
A grandfather clock ticks in the corner.
“This is…nice,” I whisper.
“My badass Moonbeam likes something so utterly feminine and charming,” he teases.
His badass Moonbeam! I like that. I like it a lot.
A woman appears behind the front desk, gray hair twisted into a perfect bun, her red lipstick immaculate. Shelooks like someone who’s hosted cotillions and won a pie-baking contest without even trying.
“Well, my goodness,” she says, giving us both a once-over. “A walk-in couple this late? You must be traveling through.”
Before I can tell her we’re not a couple, Dom gives her a panty-dropping smile that she responds to like every woman I know.
“Good evening, ma’am. Traffic on I-16 is a disaster. We figured we’d stop before one of us committed a felony.”
She smiles like she approves of that answer. “I’m Mrs. Vann. I run the place, make breakfast, and enforce the 10 p.m. quiet hour with an iron fist and a pot of peach tea.”
He leans on the counter of the check-in desk, looking fucking gorgeous. “Peach tea?”
“Well, maybe I’ll add a little bourbon to it so everyone will calm down, ya know what I mean,” Mrs. Vann says on a soft laugh.
Dom offers a polite smile. “We’re very quiet.”
I snort. “Youare not quiet.”
He leans toward me, murmuring, “Behave.”
My heart beats fast.Thump. Thump. Thump.
Mrs. Vann eyes us with amusement. “Well, we have a full house today, but you’re in luck, we have the Walton Romance room available.”
Dom is amused. I amnot.
I tuck my hands into my pockets. “We’d prefer two rooms.”
Mrs. Van gives me aoh dearlook. “I only have the one, honey.”
“That should be fine,” Dom cuts in, pulling out his wallet and putting a credit card on the counter.
