Chapter 31
Amber deserved a raise, Kristen decided as she dropped her head back against the elevator wall and watched the numbers change above the door while she waited for her floor. That was hands down the easiest signing that she’d ever been to.
From start to finish, Amber had thought of everything, ensuring that everything from her swag to her books arrived at the hotel on time, making sure that she had everything that she could possibly need to pull this off, and had left detailed instructions for the volunteer the signing assigned to her, making sure that everything went smoothly.
She’d anticipated every problem, made sure that Kristen had extra swag and books on hand, and even made sure that she didn’t have to lift a finger when it was all over.
When the signing ended, Kristen grabbed the empty boxes from underneath the table only to have someone from the hotel show up with fresh boxes and shipping labels to take care of everything.
Within minutes, they had everything packed, labeled and ready to ship back to her house Monday morning, leaving her to ask Mary, the incredibly sweet volunteer that had been assigned to her, to join her for dinner as a thank you only to find out that Amber arranged for Mary and her friends to attend the after party with VIP access.
With nothing else to do, Kristen decided to head back to her hotel so that she could enjoy a hot bubble bath and room service, all while pretending that she didn’t miss Garrett, which should be easy since she didn’t miss him.
Not even a little bit. In fact, if she was going to be honest, and why wouldn’t she be, she’d have to say that this was for the best.
She didn’t have to worry about anyone stealing her food or trying to distract her with soul-shattering kisses while she was trying to binge-watch 80s’ movies.
She also didn’t have to worry about waking up to find herself being pulled into Garrett’s arms while he whispered how much he’d missed her.
She could sleep in instead, alone, in the king-sized bed that was hers for a few more nights without having to worry about anyone trying to make her fall in love with him.
It was exactly what she needed right now.
And she fully planned on telling herself that until she believed it, Kristen decided as she pushed away from the wall and made her way off the elevator when it reached her floor.
As she made her way down the long hallway, she found herself debating going home early, something that she normally didn’t do after a signing.
She usually hung around for a few days, enjoying room service while she recharged, but right now, the thought of spending another day here turned her stomach.
If she left now, she’d hit rush-hour traffic and could be home in two hours, an hour and a half if she was lucky, Kristen thought, quickening her pace. She could be in Garrett’s arms in-
“What the hell?” Kristen said, frowning when her keycard didn’t work.
She pulled the keycard back out, wiped the strip on the back of her shirt and slid it back in again only to have the light flash red again.
After five more failed attempts, she finally gave up, sighed, and turned around, making her way back downstairs.
Ten minutes later, and an elevator ride with an elderly man who glared at her the entire way, she was finally next in line.
“Good evening. How can I help you this evening?” the front desk clerk asked with a warm smile as she stepped up to the counter.
“There’s something wrong with my room key,” Kristen said with an apologetic smile as she handed her keycard to him.
“My apologies. Let me see what’s going on,” he said, taking her keycard from her and scanned it into the system while she stood there, debating grabbing a chocolate milk from the hotel store for the ride home only to wonder why the very friendly man that she was counting on to fix her keycard was suddenly frowning.
“Can I see some ID, please?” he asked, his gaze flickering to her as he typed something into his computer.
“Of course,” Kristen said as she grabbed her wallet from her bag and pulled out her ID.
“Thank you,” he murmured, glancing at her ID before he focused back on his computer and typed something else. “Kristen Haven, room 13456?”
“Yes?” she said, wondering why that sounded like a question.
“I see that you checked out this morning at ten a.m.,” he said, picking the keycard off the counter and tossed it in the trash while she stood there, trying to make sense out of what he just said.
“Wait. That’s impossible. I was at a book signing at ten o’clock,” Kristen said, struggling not to panic when she realized that she’d left her laptop in her room. She’d brought it out of habit and decided to leave it behind today since there really was no point in bringing it to the signing.
She-
“I believe your ride is waiting outside for you, Miss Haven,” he said, that warm smile back in full force as he placed a white envelope with her name on the counter.
She turned the envelope over and-
You’re wasting time standing there frowning adorably.
-G.B.
-felt her lips twitch.
“Thank you,” Kristen said, curious to see what the devious man was up to now, she made her way outside only to find a man standing in front of a black town car, holding a sign with her name on it, waiting for her.
“Miss Haven?” he asked, giving her a warm smile as he turned and opened the passenger door for her.
“Thank you,” Kristen said, climbing inside the car to find a single white rose waiting on the seat for her.
Smiling, she picked up the rose and took in its sweet floral scent as the door was closed behind her and found herself wondering what was in the envelope.
She placed the rose back on the seat and ripped open the envelope, revealing a black keycard with the words “The Argent Hotel” printed in gold lettering and a small piece of paper with the number “520” written on it.
A few minutes later, the car pulled to a stop in front of a large brick building and-
“Welcome to The Argent Hotel, Miss Haven,” a man dressed in a black suit said as her door was opened.
“Thank you,” Kristen said, accepting the hand offered to her as she climbed out of the car.
Before she could say anything else, she was led inside to a lobby that looked like something out of a castle.
There were tapestries on the walls, a massive fireplace on one side of the large room, oil paintings of historic buildings, paintings of Paul Revere and other prominent historical figures, and several paintings depicting historical events that happened in Massachusetts on every wall.
Scattered throughout the room were leather couches with coffee tables and matching end tables, giving the expensively decorated room a touch of warmth.
“This way,” came the softly murmured words as she found herself led to an elevator with jet-black doors.
“Thank you,” Kristen said with a warm smile as she stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor.
A soft whirring began seconds before the elevator doors closed and it began to move, quickly bringing her to her floor before the elevator doors slid open, revealing a tastefully decorated hallway.
Releasing a shaky breath, Kristen stepped out of the elevator and found herself standing in front of Room 520. She-
“Close your eyes,” came the softly whispered words that had her lips pulling up into a smile as she felt the soft kiss pressed against the back of her neck.
“What are you up to?” Kristen asked, closing her eyes as Garrett wrapped his arms around.
“It’s a secret,” he whispered against her skin.
“Are you going to make me walk the plank?” Kristen asked, nearly moaning when she felt his lips pull up into a smile against her skin.
“You promised to go after I did,” Garrett reminded her, making her lips twitch as she remembered that fateful day.
“And I would have done it, too, if the boards hadn’t broken apart,” Kristen said, lying her ass off since once she saw him drop out of sight, followed by that bloodcurdling scream that she found deeply unsettling, she decided that it would be in her best interest to practice walking the plank from the safety of the community pool’s diving board.
“Liar,” Garrett said, chuckling as he pressed another kiss against the back of her neck.
“You have no proof,” Kristen said with a teasing smile as she felt one of his arms drop away seconds before she heard a small beep followed by the sounds of the door opening.
“I still have the scar,” Garrett drawled, making her wince because she had noticed that the other day when she dropped to her knees and-
“Did you miss me?” he asked, dropping his other arm away and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle tug that had her following him inside.
“I’m afraid that my prediction came true,” Kristen said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of her head when she heard the door close behind her. “I forgot what you look like.”
“It’s only been two days,” Garrett pointed out seconds before she felt his warm breath tease the back of her neck as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m even now struggling to remember your name,” she said as he pressed his lips against the back of her neck.
“I can see how that would be a problem,” Garrett said while Kristen stood there wondering if she was going to find red rose petals or white ones sprinkled throughout the room.
Would there be rose petals sprinkled in the shape of a heart on the bed or simply rose petals leading to the nightstand, where she would find a bottle of white wine along with a fruit and cheese tray waiting for her or a bottle of champagne on ice with a plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries.
Then again, if he was anything like her last boyfriend, she’d find a white silk nightgown waiting for her on the bed, possibly a basket filled with scented lotions and oils, and a romantic candlelight dinner waiting for her on a table by the window, ensuring the moonlight hit them just right.
She wondered if there would be a trail of petals leading to the bathroom where she would find a basket of expensive bath oils and salts waiting for her, along with another bottle of champagne chilling on ice and a bathtub big enough for two.
Would the room already be dimmed so that the dozens of candles placed around the room gave it that romantic glow or would he wait until after they spent an hour in the tub drinking champagne before lighting them?
She wondered if the sounds of romantic music would start playing when she opened her eyes or would he turn on a fireplace, filling the air with the sounds of wood crackling as it slowly burned in the grate.
Then again, maybe he would-
“Open your eyes,” Garrett said as Kristen opened her eyes as the unmistakable sound of television filled the air, drawing her focus to a big screen television to her right playing what appeared to be Raiders of the Lost Ark.
That was followed by taking in the dimly lit room, looking for rose petals, candles, glasses of champagne and a lobster dinner waiting for her only...
“Is that...” Kristen began to ask only to pause so that she could lick her suddenly dry lips, “A platter of Snoballs?”
“Mmmhmm,” Garrett murmured against the back of her neck as she took in the incredibly beautiful room, absently noting everything from the unlit fireplace to the king-sized bed and-
“Are...are those extra pillows and a wide selection of throw blankets on the bed?” Kristen asked as she glanced from the mountain of pillows stacked against the headboard to the throw blankets that would make all of her binge-watching dreams come true before taking in the bottle of what appeared to be a bottle of extra-chocolatey milk on ice, and the basket on the nightstand that would easily meet all of her junk food needs.
“I believe so,” Garrett said as Kristen found herself stepping away from him so that she could take in the rest of the room, noting that her fluffy pink bunny slippers were waiting for her by the bed, her laptop was charging on the nightstand just in case the need to write struck her, and found herself making her way to the table covered in a half dozen covered platters.
Swallowing hard, she picked up the first dome and-
“Oh, God...”
-was forced to grab onto the back of one of the chairs when her legs threatened to give out on her.
“I love breakfast for dinner,” Kristen whispered reverently as she placed the dome on the table before grabbing a plate with a trembling hand and began filling it with a stack of fluffy pancakes before she moved onto the next dome and found it filled with bacon and sausages.
She quickly added some of each to her plate before she focused on the next dome and found home fries.
That was followed by scrambled eggs, fried apples, french toast, and a selection of syrups, butter, and powdered sugar.
Digging into her food, Kristen decided to take in the rest of the room.
She found the mini-fridge filled with chocolate milk and her bags in the closet.
Nibbling on a sausage link, she made her way into what she assumed was the bathroom and released a heartfelt sigh as she took in the flannel pajama pants and Bradford Construction tee-shirt waiting for her on the bathroom counter, the bottle of chocolate milk chilling by the clawfoot tub, the stack of extra-fluffy towels stacked on the counter, and the small flatscreen television on the wall playing The Goonies before her gaze shifted back to that tub and took in the bottle of Mr. Bubbles and found herself finishing off another bite of sausage before she reached back and closed the door.
One thing was certain, the man definitely did his homework.