Page 19 of In Bed with the Enemy

"What seems to be the problem here?" I asked the attendant. The lady behind the desk looked up at me with wide eyes, but she was the only one.

"There's no problem," Amy said through clenched teeth next to me, her eyes staring straight ahead.

"Ma'am?" I asked, directing my attention again to the lady behind the desk, rather than to the unruly blonde beside me.

"Well, Mr. Greene, I've just been trying to explain to Ms. Reid here that she will need to vacate her room. There's a wedding party coming in today that has reserved an entire block, you see."

"And I've been trying to tell her that I can't possibly do that because there is a snowstorm outside, all flights are grounded, and the entire city's hotel occupancy is at historic highs because of it. I have nowhere else to go."

"Ah," I said, understanding what was going on. "Ms. Reid will not be in need of her room, any longer," I informed the woman behind the desk. "Please go ahead and have someone sent to her room to help pack her things."

"Are you crazy?" Amy nearly screamed at me as she finally turned to look at me.

"And let them know that they can bring her belongings up to my suite, where she will be staying until it is safe to fly, once more," I continued, ignoring her outburst.

She stood there, slightly stunned as she took in the information. "In the meantime, Ms. Reid and I will be grabbing lunch, as I doubt she's eaten anything."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and led her away from the receptionist's desk before either of the women had the ability to argue with what I had said. I could feel Amy trying to protest, but I continued to lead her outside and around the corner to one of my favorite places in the city.

We approached the hostess table at Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe with my arm still firmly wrapped around Amy's shoulders, but the moment she saw where we were headed, she seemed to fight me less.

"We'd like a seat upstairs," I said to the hostess.

"Oh," the young brunette replied. "I'm sorry, Sir, but the upstairs is closed at the moment."

I slid a one hundred dollar bill across the counter and raised an eyebrow at her. "Is it?"

Her eyes widened and she smiled before pocketing the cash. "My mistake. Just this way, please," she said, grabbing two menus and leading us up the stairs to our left. I only released Amy when we were finally situated at our table on the second floor, overlooking the Edison style lighting that rose above the first floor. She plopped herself into a seat and leaned back in the wooden chair, closing her eyes as if she was trying to figure out just how she wanted to behave for this meal.

I sat down across from her and placed the napkin in my lap. A waitress came over to us before Amy had made up her mind on even opening her eyes. "We'll take a pot of coffee and two of the berry bliss pancakes," I said.

Amy opened her eyes as she heard the order and opened her mouth to object, but I held up a finger to stop her.

"That will be all, thank you," I said, dismissing the waitress.

"You could at least let me order my own food," Amy said in a huff.

"Nonsense. I ordered you the best thing on the menu," I said, grabbing her menu and tossing it, with mine, onto the table behind us.

She twisted her lips. "What if I don't like berries."

"Also nonsense," I said, deciding I wanted to cut off the line of questioning.

"What makes you think I'm going to stay with you?" she asked.

"Because, as you said, everything in the city is booked and despite how good at arguing you are, there was no chance that you were going to win that argument."

"You've never seen me really argue before," she said, crossing her arms.

"Ha!" I laughed. "That certainly isn't true. I'd say that's about the majority of what our conversations have been during our brief acquaintance."

"Your fault," she said and I chuckled.

"Perhaps."

"Why this place?" she asked, looking out over the first floor at the people below us.

"It's a favorite," I admitted.

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