I'd expected a nice room, but not the presidential suite.
I was about to refuse it when Cary gifted me with a big grin and two thumbs up.
Having no willpower to refuse his joy, I gave in and hoped we weren't putting Gideon out of a more profitable reservation.
"Still want a cheeseburger?" I asked him, reaching for the room service menu on the console table behind the sofa.
"And a beer.
Make that two."
Cary followed the manager into a bedroom on the left side of the living area, and I picked up the vintage rotary phone to place our order.
Thirty minutes later, I was fresh from a quick shower and dressed in my pajamas, eating chicken Alfredo cross- legged on the area rug.
Cary was plowing through his burger and looking at me with happy eyes from his position on the opposite side of the coffee table.
"You never eat a massive pile of carbs this late," he noted between bites.
"My period's coming."
"I'm sure the workout you got on the way here helped, too."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"How would you know? You were passed out."
"Deductive reasoning, baby girl.
When I went to sleep, you looked irritated.
When I woke up, you looked like you'd just smoked a fat joint."
"How did Gideon look?" "He looked the same - tight-assed and hot as hell."
I stabbed my fork into my noodles.
"That's not fair."
"Who cares?" He gestured around us.
"Look how he puts you up."
"I don't need a sugar daddy, Cary."
He munched on a French fry.
"Have you thought any more about what you do need? You've got his time, his rockin' bod, and access to everything he owns.
That's not bad."
"No," I agreed, twirling my fork.
I knew from my mom's many marriages to powerful men that getting their time was the most important thing of all, because for them, it was truly the most valuable thing in their lives.
"It's not bad.
It's just not enough."