Off Limits Attraction (The Heirs of Hansol #3) - Jayci Lee Page 0,46
“Then unbuttoned another one, like so. Would this be considered distracting the driver?”
“Not at all,” he growled through clenched teeth. “By all means. Make yourself comfortable.”
Her laughter felt like a caress down his body, and he frowned harder. How did he always manage to get into these situations with Jihae? She was relentless and he was helpless against her bold moves.
“Then I’ll just undo one last button, so the top of my white lacy bra peeks out. Oh, look! It’s your favorite one.”
“You know I’ll get you back for this.”
“I don’t know what you mean... I’m new to road trips and just don’t know how to behave. Am I being bad?”
“As soon as we check into our hotel, and I hang the Do Not Disturb on the knob, I’m having you against the door.”
“What the hell?” The top of her chest, exposed through her unbuttoned shirt, turned pink as color traveled up her neck. “It’s all right for the driver to turn on and distract the passenger? That’s a double standard. Who made up these ridiculous road-trip rules?”
Helpless laughter escaped him, affection tangled up with frustration. He reached out and patted her thigh, his fingers a hair’s width short of the inseam of her pants. “Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it.”
“Ugh. You’re incorrigible,” she said, squeezing his hand before she slapped it away.
Colin drove the next three hours with blue balls and anticipation rushing through his veins. When they at last entered Death Valley National Park, the sun had begun its descent, painting the sky and mountains with splashes of red, orange and violet.
“This is brilliant,” Jihae breathed, leaning forward in her seat to look out the windshield.
“It is. The rest of the park is spectacular but you can’t beat the sunsets against the mountains.” He turned into one of Death Valley’s two hotels. “So are you ready to rough it for two nights? We’re on the same travel budget as location scouts, so the accommodations won’t be up to your usual standards.”
“I’ve stayed in hostels before.” She crinkled her nose at him. “A standard room in a four-diamond hotel isn’t roughing it.”
“When did you stay in a hostel?”
“Around seven years ago.”
“But what kind of accommodations do you usually have?”
“Presidential suites and penthouses. Fine. I get your point. You don’t have to rub my nose in it. I never asked to live like a spoiled princess,” she said glumly. “So how do you rough it, Mr. Self-Made Millionaire?”
“I usually camp when I come to national parks.”
“Camp?” Her face held both horror and fascination. “Like as in camping? In the outdoors?”
“Wait a minute. You can’t be serious.” He turned to stare at her after parking the car. “You’ve never gone camping?”
“You probably don’t know a lot about my family, but my father isn’t exactly the type to load the family into the car and go camping,” she said a little wistfully. Colin shrugged to hide his discomfort, because he did know quite a bit about her family. Before he could think of an appropriate response, she continued, “But I do want to try it.”
“I’ll take you someday,” he said before he could think.
Did she think he was making her a promise? That they would be together long enough to reach someday? Maybe they could have their someday. He could come clean to her. Every moment he’d spent with her had been real. His every word and every touch had been true. But no. It was too late. She would despise him if she found out about his identity and how he’d betrayed her trust.
“Let’s see if I could survive a couple nights in a standard room,” Jihae said with a small, sad smile that broke his heart. “Besides, I don’t think Best Placed Bets has a camping scene.”
During the check-in, Colin requested adjoining rooms, so they could spend the night together without sneaking back and forth. When they got to her room, he was the perfect gentleman, opening the door for her and placing her suitcase just inside the entry.
“I’ll see you later,” he said, and left Jihae with her mouth gaping. Once he let himself into his room, he promptly found the entrance to hers and knocked. He heard shuffling and a muffled oof before she flung open the door.
“Hi.” He grinned at her wide-eyed expression.
“Is that your room or the rest of my room?” she asked, getting on her tiptoes to look over his shoulder.
He laughed, and stepped aside to invite her in. “Welcome to my room.”