Page 58 of Road Trip with a Vampire
Or at least the closest thing to a resort we were likely to see for hundreds of miles in any direction. The hotel was over two dozen stories tall, all chrome and steel, with a tennis court complex and a nine-hole golf course that looked closed for the season. As we got closer to the hotel proper, we drove by an outdoor swimming pool that had to be heated, given that there were people swimming in it when it was below freezing outside.
“What’s a place like this doing in the middle of nowhere?” Peter wondered.
“I have no idea,” I said. “But at the moment, I can’t say that I care.” As I spoke, Peter pulled into the valet line and put the car in park. “I bet this place has a spa. If you think I’m not going to avail myself of that while we’re here, you are sorely mistaken.”
Peter gave me a shy smile that made his eyes crinkle at the corners and made me feel warm inside. “Far be it from me to get between you and some well-earned pampering.”
After tipping the valet an outrageously thick wad of bills, Peter walked a little ahead of me as if he, too, couldn’t wait to see what awaited us inside.
“This is unbelievable,” he murmured when I caught up with him.
He was right. The interior of the hotel lived up to the promise of its exterior, with vaulted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and—was that aharpistplaying in the bar?
“This placesohas a luxury spa,” I breathed.
“I’d be stunned if it didn’t,” Peter agreed.
The young man at the check-in counter couldn’t have been more than twenty and was at least as enthusiastic about working there as Peter and I were awed by the place. After finding our reservation on the computer, he gave us two plastic key cards shaped like swans, explained the complimentary breakfast options, and pointed us towards the elevator, all without dropping his smile.
“You’re in room 1431,” he said, his smile growing. “Have a nice stay.”
“Wait,” I said. “You only gave us the number of one room. What’s the other room?”
The young man peered at me, confused. “What other room?”
Peter cleared his throat. “We booked two rooms,” Peter insisted.
“I beg your pardon, sir,” the kid said. “But no, you didn’t.”
“But we did,” I insisted.
The kid shook his head. “You booked asuite,” he said very slowly, as if explaining the situation to a small child. “Technically, you did book two rooms, because the suite has two rooms. It was our last vacancy because there’s a big wedding here tonight. And I do apologize, but the only reason you even got one room is someone just canceled.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “Yousureit has two rooms? Or at least two beds?”
The kid gave an embarrassed one-shouldered shrug that was the opposite of reassuring.
Well, I thought as a group of giggling young women wearing bright pink bridesmaid dresses wandered by,there’s nothing to be done for it now.
I looked at Peter. His expression was unreadable as he fidgeted with his swan-shaped key card.
“Shall we?” I asked.
He swallowed. “Sure.”
Peter hefted both of our bags over one shoulder, and we walked to the elevator bank in a silence you could have cut with a knife. The elevator car that took us up to the fourteenth floor was lined with mirrors, and I focused on my reflection—on the way my anxiety was reflected back at me in the bright spots of color high on my cheeks—to distract myself from my roiling nerves.
When Peter cracked open the door to our room and saw what was waiting for us inside, he let out a relieved chuckle.
“No mysterious stains on the carpet this time?” I quipped.
Another laugh. “Definitely not. This place is beautiful,” he said. He opened the door fully and strode inside. “Come see.”
He was right. The sitting room we stood in was gorgeous, with a large flat-screen television mounted on the wall and a plush, cream-colored sofa that must have cost more than my car. I turned in a slow circle to take it all in, marveling at the original artwork hanging above the minibar.
“Two bedrooms,” Peter confirmed, ducking his head into one of the rooms connected to the one we were in. He let out a low whistle. “Fancy.”
The bathroom was gorgeous as well. Like the rest of the suite, it was huge and beautifully appointed, with little scalloped soaps wrapped in paper at the sink and lavender-scented shampoos in the shower. I took in the separate clawfoot bathtub, noting that it could be a good place for me to conduct water-based magical experiments later that night.
