the same thing as last night, they’ll wonder why you didn’t already have your clothes in my room.”
“Don’t worry.” Now that she was dry, he rubbed the towel over his own wet skin. Skin she was dying to wet all over again with her tongue. “It won’t take me more than a couple of minutes to run upstairs, grab my bag, and change.”
While she rummaged in her overnight bag for jeans and a top, he quickly put on yesterday’s clothes.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, then drew her close and kissed her before grabbing her room key and heading for the door.
She stared at the door for several long seconds after he left. No question, the hot sex had scrambled her brain. But it was his kiss—the kind of kiss people who were actually together gave each other when they were about to leave a room—that truly had her head spinning.
It must have been an accident. The two of them having hot shower sex in a hotel room had probably made him forget for a second that what they were doing wasn’t real.
That they didn’t have a future.
That they were together only temporarily…until they most decidedly were not together anymore come Saturday.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
True to his word, Rory was back inside of two minutes, changed into jeans and a T-shirt. Seriously, there couldn’t be another man alive who wore jeans better.
Noting she was still naked, her clothes in her hands, he said, “Not that I’m at all averse to you not wearing clothes, but are you sure you’re up for seeing Brittany and Cameron again this morning?”
He’d never believe her if she told him that his kiss had made her forget all about them for a few minutes. Pushing away her unease, Zara said, “I’m cool.” And as she put on her clothes and shoes, she was relieved to realize it was mostly true. Courtesy of Rory’s brilliant distraction methods.
She gathered up her clothes from where he’d tossed them on the floor the night before and shoved everything into her bag. “Here’s my secret sign if I need you to make an excuse so that we can escape.” She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.
He was laughing as he said, “They’ll never guess your secret code. Or mine.” And then he crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue too.
Of course, she had to pretend to bite it. Which ended in yet another kiss—one that meant her cheeks and lips were still flushed by the time they finally made it downstairs just past the ten-minute mark.
“I was about to ask the manager to let me into your room so I could make sure you were okay,” Brittany said when she saw them. “You always answer your phone and are never normally late.” She sent a borderline accusing glance in Rory’s direction, as though he was clearly the problem.
“I’m great,” Zara said as she gave her stepsister a hug, trying to hide her blush at the thought of what Brittany would have walked in on in if she’d come up to Zara’s hotel room five minutes ago.
Her stepsister studied her face. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Your cheeks are a little flushed.”
“It was a little hot in our room.” Talk about an understatement. Zara could have been in the Arctic and as long as Rory was there too, she would have overheated.
Brittany reached into her purse. “Here’s some gloss for your chapped lips.”
Zara made herself smile as she took the gloss, reminding herself that her stepsister was only trying to look out for her as she applied a light coat to her lips, which were in fact slightly chapped due to all the kissing she’d been doing.
With Brittany’s birthday a month before Zara’s, she took her responsibilities as “older” sister seriously. At times like this, when Zara was tempted to be irritated with her, all she had to do was remember the many nights her stepsister had held her while she sobbed over her mom. Though Brittany had been tougher on the surface, Zara knew how devastated she’d been over losing her father.
Cameron was looking worse for the wear this morning as he led them over to the facing couches and coffee table where four cups were waiting. Her ex had always been a little on the delicate side, too cold or too hot or needing more sleep.
As Rory put his hand on the small of her back while they walked across the room, Zara couldn’t imagine anyone ever