Dating the Boss (Blue Harbor #2) - Jaclyn Osborn Page 0,18

my phone from the stand and scrolled through the nearby hotels. “There’s a Holiday Inn two blocks away.” I gave him the directions before bringing my legs up into the seat and looking out the window.

We had been in the car together for almost nine hours total, four to Greenville, then the rest on the drive back and getting caught up in traffic and craziness from the storm. In that time, Daniel had seemed interested in getting to know me, but then he had backtracked and changed the subject.

“This doesn’t bode well,” he muttered once arriving at the hotel. The entire parking lot was crammed with cars.

“It really doesn’t,” I said. “This was the only hotel I saw.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Nope.” I pressed my lips together. “Unless you want to try a motel. There were two at the edge of town.”

“We might have to if this doesn’t work. I’m going to see if they have a room.” He stopped in a non-parking spot and left the car running as he opened the door.

I one hundred percent did not check out his ass as he walked toward the entrance and went through the automatic sliding doors. A huge line of people stood in front of him, and then he disappeared in the crowd. Five minutes later, he walked out of the building with a grim expression. His tie swooshed with the wind as he opened the door and slid back inside the warm car.

“No vacancy. It seems everyone else from the traffic jam had the same idea we did.”

“I’ll call the motels to see if they have any rooms,” I said before looking up the number to the first one and calling.

“Sorry,” the girl said, sounding frazzled. “We’re completely full.”

“Try the other,” Daniel said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t seem confident, though. Neither did I.

“Sorry, man,” the guy said after I asked for their availability. “Our last room was just booked like three minutes ago.”

“Do you know of anywhere else we could go?” I asked, keeping my tone steady despite the knotting in my gut. Freezing to death in my car because of a stupid blizzard wasn’t the way I wanted to be taken out.

“Wish I could help ya, man, but I can’t. With the only way out of the area blocked, everyone’s comin’ here.”

“Thanks anyway.” I disconnected the call and dropped my phone into my lap. “No luck.” Speaking of luck, ours was pretty shitty. Anything that could’ve gone wrong did. When the car started moving, I turned to him. “Where are you going?”

“We can’t stay in this parking lot all night,” he said. “Let’s get something to eat while we figure out our next move.”

The sun was setting now, taking away the little bit of warmth the day had. I stared at the Christmas lights still on people’s houses and envied them in their warm beds. And fuck, my ass was hurting from sitting in the car for so long. I needed to stretch my legs and walk around for a bit, but I feared we’d be stuck in the car for a lot longer than either of us wanted.

The bright side? Maybe we’d end up spooning each other in the back seat to keep warm. The thought alone was enough to send a rush of heat through my veins.

Save a life, spoon your boss. I snickered, then covered it with a cough.

“Do you like Chinese food?” Daniel asked.

“I love all food.”

He pulled into a Chinese buffet and parked. “We can dine in to give us a break from the car for a while.”

“Sounds good to me.” I got out of the car and walked with him to the entrance. Our size difference thrilled me way more than it should have. He was just so freaking tall and muscled in all the right ways.

I was like a squirrel, and Daniel Sawyer was the tree I wanted to climb.

An amazing aroma hit me right when we entered the restaurant, and my stomach rumbled. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until then.

“How many?” the host asked.

“Two,” both Daniel and I said at the same time. I smiled and looked away, while he remained his icy self.

We were led over to a booth against the far wall and told to help ourselves to the buffet. Not wanting to seem like I was following him, I grabbed a plate and started at the other end of the room, scooping fried rice onto my plate