Page 7 of The Sound Of Silence

Rolling my eyes, I reluctantly follow her out and come face-to-face with ourlovelyhost, like she’s been waiting for us. “I trust everything is to your satisfaction,” she says, not-so-subtly peering over my shoulder to see in our room before I have time to pull the door closed. “I’m sorry we didn’t have a twin room,” she continues on with a smile. “Like I said, we can get you a rollaway bed, but when Pippa said she was bringing her boyfriend, I assumed…”

That we’d share. We get it.

“Pippa wants to save herself for marriage,” I say with an innocent smile, lying through my teeth. “And the couch is fine. I’m just happy to be close to her.” My eyes flash to Pippa’s as our host visibly swoons.

“Young love,” she says with a sigh. “Is there anything more beautiful?”

Pippa’s miserable attempt to hold back a laugh somewhat amuses me, so I decide to try and break her. “There’s really not,” I say with reluctance. “It’s so precious.” Clutching my hands to my chest, I watch to see if that pushes her over the edge, but she bites her lip and holds strong.

“I’m a very lucky lady,” she says with a grin, threading her arm through mine. “Thank you for the extra bedding though. It’s much appreciated.”

We walk away in silence, but the second we step out into the warm night air, Pippa loses it.

“You know that’s getting back to my parents, right?” she says through her laughter. “There’s no way they’re going to believe I’m saving myself.”

“What did you want me to say? That we’re not sharing a bed because our relationship is a sham and I have no interest in fucking you?”

She smacks my chest as her head ping-pongs in all directions, making sure no one was listening to my admission.

“Relax, we’re alone.” I laugh until Pippa links her fingers through mine, pulling me across the street in search of food.The minimal PDA. My hand tingles painfully from her touch, and I desperately want to let go, but since I agreed to this farce, I have to make it believable. No matter how uncomfortable it makes me feel. And right now, I feel nauseous.

Apart from the whispered conversations aimed our way, I survive dinner and relax on our short walk back to the inn. In fact, as we reach the door, I’m almost ready to celebrate making it through the first day until a thought hits me and I pause, frantically patting my pockets.

“Ah shit. I think I left my phone in the booth.”Of all the things.

Pippa’s eyes flash toward the diner as she plays with her thick gold necklace, running the charm back and forth along the chain. I can see her mind ticking over, weighing up whether or not she can make the journey again in her ridiculously high heels.

“I’m not making you come.” I scoff holding back an eye roll. “I’ll run and grab it. You head inside.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep, I can find my way. I’ll be back in ten.”

I wait until the door clicks shut before turning and jogging back toward Darla’s Diner, tension coursing through my limbs, praying my phone hasn’t landed in the wrong hands.

All eyes are on me as I fling open the door, and a brief silence falls over the room.Goddammit, this is going to be a long week.

Our server has my phone waiting for me when I approach, along with a cell number on a napkin. I give her a thankful smile as I take the phone but leave the number in her outstretched hand, not even hesitating as she waves it in front of me. Yes, she’s pretty, and while it’s only now occurring to me that I’m going to have to be celibate all week, I’m not about to give these people ammunition for gossip.

With a quick thanks over my shoulder, I force a smile and pocket my phone as I jog through the door, stepping right into a sudden downpour.What the hell?I change my mind, there's no room for celebrations, not even one day down and I’m already over it.Fun times ahead.

Chapter Four

Willow

Sweatpoursdownmyback as I squat down for the last time, finally finishing my workout. I’m doing everything I can to distract myself, but none of my usual fixes are working at the moment.

After a quick shower, I towel dry my long blonde hair and work it into a messy bun—anything I can do to tame my wild waves.

Sara calls as I’m picking up my bag, right on cue, checking in.

“You’re there again? Aren’t you?” she questions, as soon as I answer the phone. I could consider not picking up, but she’d just send Grant to hunt me down. In the long run, this is easier.

“I can’t believe I gave you the details of the security app,” I say with a teasing groan.

“Even if you didn’t love me, you really had no choice. It’s my business too.” I can picture her sassy grin and I mentally shake my head. “Are you locking up?”

“I’m not. I just finished up at the gym, and I’m heading back to set the alarm now.”There goes that extra hour of work I wanted to do.

---