Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
ROMAN
Afew hours later when we pull up to the hotel, I’m surprised at how fast the last bit of the drive went. It felt like I blinked and suddenly it was over.
“Remember, any time we’re not in our room, we have to be ‘on’,” I caution.
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Just reminding you so you don’t give me shit for what I’m about to do.” I hop out of the car and open her door. I can practically see her eyes twitching with the restraint it takes not to roll them. Holding out my hand, I help her out of the car. Instead of letting it go, I clasp onto it.
The valet comes and I give them the keys and our names so that our bags can be brought up to our room. When we reach the lobby, Clover walks around, taking in all the decor and appreciating the rolling green hills and vineyard showcased by the large windows of the rustic, luxurious hotel.
“Here’s the key to your room,” the hotel employee at the desk smiles and hands the card over.
Clover is still staring out at the hills when I approach her from behind, placing my hands on her hips and holding her there for a moment. I could be imagining things, but I feel her shiver slightly.
“I have the key. Ready to go up?”
“Definitely. How long do we have before our vineyard tour?”
I look down at my Rolex. “An hour and a half.”
She nods and steps out of my hold, heading toward the elevator.
When the door to the room opens, a beautiful suite unfolds before us.
With rich brown hardwood floors and cream walls, the living room space is filled with furniture that looks like it was created with nights of conversation over glasses of wine in mind.
It’s cozy and luxuriously soft, with various red blankets and throw pillows decorating the seats.
Clover steps in, her eyes wide and her plush lips slightly parted in awe before she goes to explore.
I doubt she’s ever stayed somewhere like this before, and it’s kind of fun to see how she reacts to it.
There’s a small kitchen with the most up-to-date appliances off to the right, and a dining room that was designed for dinner parties—the likes of which we certainly won’t be having—but it’s beautiful, nonetheless.
“Oh my God,” Clover sighs from a room to the left. I follow in there and see an oversized standalone bathtub that’s deep enough to fully submerge one’s shoulders. It’s in front of a floor to ceiling window that overlooks the rolling hills of the vineyard attached to the hotel.
“I can’t wait to try you,” she whispers reverently to the tub. “Points to Janine for booking this.”
There’s a door from this bathroom connecting to a spacious bedroom. The king-sized bed is so inviting I have to give myself a mental pep talk not to sit down on it, otherwise, I know it’ll be impossible to peel myself off in time for our wine tasting at a vineyard this afternoon.
Clover leaves to go inspect the rest of the unit, no doubt searching for the second bedroom. It’s peaceful for about thirty more seconds before she comes rushing back to me.
“Uh, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“There’s no other bedroom.” Her eyes are wide as saucers.
Of course there isn’t. I make a mental note to give Janine a permanent spot at the top of my shit list for this.
I assume that this was a strategic move on Janine’s part, or complete stupidity, and I’m trying to give the benefit of the doubt and not be an asshole where I can.
“Well, do you take the left or the right side?”
“Roman!” she scolds. “You can’t possibly be okay with this?”
I shrug.
“Well, what do we do?”
“I trust you’ve had sleepovers before, Sparky?”
“Of course I have,” she sputters.
“Great. So, left or right?”
“Right.” She crosses her arms and begrudgingly walks over to the bed, pulling the decorative pillows and creating a wall in the middle of the bed.
“What are you, ten?”
“I swear to God if one of your giant feet so much as touches me in the night I’m cutting it off.”
“I think I’ll manage to keep all parts to myself, Bob the Builder,” I say as I gesture to the makeshift wall she continues to construct.
She makes a little noise of exasperation and hops off the bed. Grabbing her bag of toiletries and a garment bag, she heads toward the bathroom, muttering, “fuckin’ Janine,” under her breath.
On that, I’m inclined to agree.
While Clover takes the time to get ready for the vineyard tour, I head into the living room space. Pulling out my phone, I send a quick email to the Starlight Legal team and wait. After a few agonizing minutes, my heart jumps when I see there’s a note from Mahdi.
Roman, Thank you for reaching out. I chatted with the rest of the team, and unfortunately, we’re unable to make any further changes to the signed contracts without approval from the studio head.
If you can get Deacon to agree to the changes you requested, we’ll be able to draw up some new documentation for signing.
Let us know how you want to proceed.
- Mahdi Jafari, Lawyer, Starlight Studios
Fuck. While it’s not an outright impossibility to change the franchise plan, I’ll need to get my father on board before it happens. It’s like saying, “Good news, while the ship you’re on is sinking—you know how to swim!”
Before I lose the nerve, I send a text to my father.
Roman
We need to have a chat about the franchise casting contract for Darkness Rising.
Deacon
Why?
Roman
I need to strike the clause I added.
Deacon
You expect me to inherently remember what that was?
Roman
The one about Clover Daly not being cast in future films for the franchise. I want to strike it.
I grit my teeth as I await his response. Even typing out what I did feels fucking slimy.
Deacon
Meet me at my office on site next week to discuss.
Swallowing, I let the phone go dark. Naturally, he’s not going to make this easy, but I know I’ll do whatever I can to fix this. I have to. She deserves better.
How long does it take to put on a fucking dress and toss on a little makeup?
“Let’s go, we’re going to be late.” I give a few knocks on the bathroom door. If she doesn’t hurry up, I swear I’ll go in there and throw her over my shoulder.
“Coming!” The door swings open, and my breath catches.
Clover’s wearing a dress that fits as if it were made for her and only her.
The white and blue fabric clings to her waist and flares out over her hips, showing off how incredible her body is.
And fuck me—her breasts look like the perfect handful, and suddenly I’m jealous of the fabric for the privilege of touching her there.
Her hair is styled in loose waves, and part is pinned back with a clip that has pearls on it, and she’s so beautiful it takes me a minute to remember to breathe.
As she bends down to adjust the strap on one of her sandals, she wobbles slightly. I offer an arm to help her, and I’m surprised when she actually takes it without giving me a snide remark.
We make our way down to the lobby, where we join up with a small group of other hotel guests for an intimate tour of the vineyard.
Clover listens intently as the guide leads us outside, telling us all about the climate and the grapes grown here.
It goes in one ear and out the other, because I can’t think straight when she looks like that.
She’s so beautiful right now that I’m having a hard time remembering that she’s ever pissed me off.
This dress is going to fucking wreck me.