my hard work washes right down the drain. The damn outfit is practically indecent, and I really like it. Much more than I should.
When Brayden shivers against me, though, I’m able to push all the perverted thoughts away.
“Are you cold?” I ask. Without waiting for her response, I start pulling my arms out of my suit jacket. Why didn’t I think of offering it to her before? “Here,” I say, holding it open for Brayden to slip one arm in. And then, when she leans up, I pull it around her back so that she can slide her other arm inside.
Inhaling deeply, she says, “Thanks, Logan.”
“You don’t have to keep thanking me,” I tell her. The words are gruffer than I intended, because I feel bad about letting my dirty mind think of her in ways I shouldn’t, even if it was only for a few quick minutes.
“Sure I do,” Brayden says as she curls up against my side again and clutches my arm with both hands. “I owe you big time.”
Is it just me or did her voice make that last sentence sound huskier, like she’s offering…
“No, you don’t,” I quickly assure her.
“Yes, I do,” she counters, her warm breath fluttering over the sensitive skin of my neck. “I’ll have to find a way to make it up to you.”
My dick swells with his own ideas; and if I were alone, I would definitely punch him.
Luckily, the cab finally pulls up outside the Omni Hotel. I climb out and subtly adjust myself before turning around to offer Brayden my hand. She takes it and slides across the seat, hiking her dress up even higher. I try to forget the image as I hand the driver my card to pay him.
“Are you able to walk? Hopefully, it won’t take long to get checked in since I made reservations earlier,” I tell her once I have my receipt.
“Yeah, of course. My legs feel stronger,” she says. “Just go slow.”
“Absolutely,” I agree.
Brayden continues to lean against me to steady herself, so I place my hand on the small of her back, not because it’s necessary, but because I like touching her.
Unfortunately, it takes a while to get checked in. Even at this time of night, there’s a line.
“Um, Logan,” Brayden asks softly while we wait.
“Yeah?” I ask, assuming she’s going to say she’ll sit on the bench to wait instead of standing here when she’s already weak. Instead, though, she says, “I don’t really want to be by myself, alone in a room in this town.”
“Oh,” I mutter in understanding. I didn’t even think about reserving two rooms earlier today when I was in such a rush. And now that we’re here, I’m sort of relieved that Brayden wants to share a room. Otherwise, I would worry about her all night.
“If that’s a problem, then maybe we could do an adjoining one, just so long as you’re not, like, on a different floor –”
“No, it’s fine,” I tell her. “In fact, I only reserved one, but I’m fairly certain it has two beds.”
“Good,” Brayden says with a sigh of relief.
After we get to the counter, the young hotel clerk looks at Brayden with her nose scrunched in repugnance, which pisses me off. Sure, the girl looks rough, but she’s been through a hell we can’t even imagine, I want to say in Brayden’s defense, but I keep silent.
“Here’s your keycard for the one-bedroom villa,” the snotty clerk says.
“Wait, a villa?” I ask.
“All of the rooms are booked up, so you’ve been assigned the villa. I assure you they’re much nicer and more private,” the woman says as she gives a pointed look at Brayden.
“But it’s only one bed?” I repeat.
“Yes. There’s also a pullout sofa…”
“That’ll work,” I agree, volunteering to sleep on the pullout for the night even though those beds are notoriously awful for sleeping.
After I sign some paperwork, the clerk gives us the directions on how to find the villas that run along the shoreline, and then I take the keycard.
“You’re not sleeping on the pullout,” Brayden says as soon as we step outside and begin the hunt for our villa.
“I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Those things suck,” she replies.
“Then I’ll sleep on the sofa. I bet it’ll be long enough for me to stretch out on.”
We thankfully don’t have to walk far before we reach our villa.
As soon as we step inside and flip on the light, Brayden says, “There’s no way you can fit on that couch.”
She’s right.