Chapter 12 #2
My cheeks warm, and I clink my glass against his before taking a sip.
My lips curl into a smile as the bubbly orange drink hits my taste buds.
Turning from me, Theo digs into his breakfast, and I take his lead, cutting a huge piece off and sticking it in my mouth.
I nearly moan from the flavor that explodes on my tongue.
This has got to be the best French toast I’ve ever had.
Who knew I had to get on a private jet to experience it?
I scarf down the rest in record time, then lean back in my seat, fully satisfied.
And sleepy.
“You can nap if you want,” Theo offers. He doesn’t look up at me, but somehow, he can tell I’m getting increasingly tired as the minutes tick by.
Swiveling around in my chair, I find a comfortable position, propping my elbow on the armrest and resting my chin in my hand. “No, that’s okay,” I murmur before yawning. “I’m good right here.”
My eyes feel heavy, and I can’t help but close them. Theo says something else from far away, but I’m already too far gone to hear it.
The next thing I know, I’m being jolted awake, and an arm wraps around me tightly, holding me in place. I blink my eyes a few times, trying to get rid of the sleep still clouding them. My cheek is pressed against something warm, and my hands are knotted tightly in front of me.
I realize I’m resting against Theo’s chest, and his arm is placed protectively around my waist. I pull away and wipe at my mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling all over him.
Theo gazes at me warmly once I’m sitting up. “What happened?” I ask. “How long was I out?”
“A little over an hour,” he says before reaching up and brushing a few strands of hair off my forehead. “We just hit some rough turbulence. But you were out like a light.”
“Sorry I fell asleep all over you,” I say with a timid laugh.
“Trust me, it was no inconvenience,” Theo says, his tone hinting that there’s an underlying meaning to his statement.
“How much longer do we have?”
Theo checks his wristwatch. “Probably half an hour, forty-five minutes or so?” Looking back at me, he shrugs a shoulder. “I’m not entirely sure.”
I settle back in my seat and look out the window. The rest of the flight passes with very few encounters of turbulence. When we land, we’re escorted off the plane and into another cart, which takes us to a black car waiting for us.
The attendants load our luggage into the trunk, and Theo opens the back door, motioning for me to get in first. I slide across the seat, leaving room for Theo to join me. He lands beside me with a soft oomph and then leans forward to say something to the driver.
When we pull away from the airport, Theo asks, “Have you been to New York?”
“Once, when I was little, you?” Then I laugh at myself. “That was probably a dumb question, considering this is an annual gala we’re attending this weekend.”
Theo smirks at me. “Not a dumb question. But yes, the gala is held here every year. Growing up, we traveled to New York often for my father’s work. My mom would take us around the city while my dad was in business meetings.”
“What does your dad do?”
“He’s retired now and mostly helps with my mom’s charity. But before, he was a freelance financial advisor. I think that’s where Chase got his love of numbers from,” Theo says with a fond chuckle for his brother.
“Is it just the two of you?” I ask.
Theo shakes his head. “No, we have a sister, Kelsey. She’s the youngest out of the three of us. She works as an agent for a record label in LA.”
“Will she be here tonight?”
“Doubtful. Usually, my siblings leave it to me to be the tribute. I suppose I could have dealt with many worse things as the oldest.”
I laugh. “I don’t know, going to a fancy gala with an open bar seems a pretty difficult endeavor.”
His eyebrow twitches, and he fights off a smile. “I’m unsure how I would have gotten through it without you tonight.”
Though I know he’s teasing, I can’t help the flush that appears on my cheeks. I give him one more amused smile and then turn to look out the window, watching as the streets of New York pass us by.
After a bit of a drive, we pull up in front of our hotel doors. Theo and I enter as a bellhop waits beside the car to unload our luggage.
“Hello,” I say eagerly to the concierge at the hotel's front desk. I place my bag on the counter and dig around in my wallet, pulling out the black Amex business card Theo gave me. “We have a reservation for two king rooms under the last name Hurst.”
The woman behind the desk gives us a warm smile and then types on her keyboard, her eyes flying across the screen as she browses her bookings. Slowly her smile falls, and my stomach knots.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, it appears I only have one king suite booked for you tonight under that name.”
I frown at her, and Theo shifts on his feet behind me. “That can’t be right. I have the confirmation email. Can you check again?”
She gives me an apologetic nod and scrolls her mouse. Finding my phone, I pull up my email and type in a keyword to pull up my confirmation email.
There.
I show the clerk my phone screen where it clearly says two conjoined king rooms.
Her face pales, and she rolls her lips together.
“I’m so sorry; there must have been some mix-up on our end.
Perhaps seeing the same last name on the rooms, someone thought it was a mistake.
” She clicks a few times on the screen and then grimaces.
“We are all booked up this weekend. We have a major charity event tonight and also two weddings this weekend. Unfortunately, I have no other rooms available.”
My eyes widen, and I spin around to look at Theo, silently asking him, "Can you believe this?” He shrugs and then looks back at his phone.
Taking a deep breath, I calmly fold my hands on the counter. “How can we fix this?”
The woman gives me a tight smile. “I’m sorry, there are just no other rooms to switch you to at this time.”
Frustration starts to bloom in my chest. “But I booked us for two rooms. I paid for two rooms.”
“I’ll issue a refund for the second room.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I now only have one room,” I say. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I exhale sharply. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. This is our mistake. Unfortunately, as I said, I don’t have any way to upgrade you or get you another room.
The suite you booked has a pullout couch and the king bed if you need another sleeping space.
” She looks between Theo and me, as if unsure of our dynamic.
Can’t really blame her. Sometimes I’m still unsure of our dynamic.
At that moment, Theo decides to join the conversation. He steps up next to me and rests one of his large hands on my lower back. I momentarily look up at him to meet his gaze before he turns to the concierge. “That will be fine. Can you just make sure to refund us for the extra room?”
The woman looks a little starstruck by the intensity of Theo’s stare. “Of course, sir.”
“Thank you,” Theo says, effectively ending all discussion of the one room vs. two rooms.
We get our hotel keys, and then, with his hand still on my lower back, Theo guides me toward the elevators and presses the button to call the car. When the doors close behind us, I cross my arms and huff out a breath.
“I promise I booked us two rooms. I even have the confirmation email!” I shout, about to reach for my phone, before Theo grabs my hand and threads his fingers through mine.
“It’s not a big deal, Whitney. It’s for one night.”
I close my eyes and breathe through my nose, letting Theo’s hand be my grounding force. “You’re right. I’m just sorry for the inconvenience. I can take the pullout bed.”
He scoffs. “Don’t be absurd.”
“There’s no way I’m letting you sleep in it,” I fire back. “I doubt you’ve ever slept on anything but the finest mattress with the highest thread count sheets.”
He gives me an amused smirk. “Oh, yeah?”
I glower at him. “Am I wrong?”
He nods once but is still smiling. “Yeah, you’re wrong.”
I turn away and glare at the doors to the elevator. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s lying just to make a point. “We’ll see. Good luck getting me into that bed.”
Now Theo barks out a laugh. “Is that a challenge, Whit?”
I glare at him but don’t deign to respond. We make it to the hotel room, and I swipe the key over the door to gain entry. The room is nice. Immediately after walking in, we find the lounge area with the couch that I assume is the pullout bed.
Walking right over to the couch, I drop my purse onto it, effectively claiming it as my own. Theo watches me, unamused, with his hands shoved in his pockets. Thankfully, he doesn’t press the issue and walks further into the room toward the bedroom.
I follow him, mostly out of curiosity, just to check if the rest of the room is as nice as the lounge area.
Right in the middle, against a side wall, is the king bed and a TV hangs directly across it on the other wall.
The bed is immaculately made with several colorful throw pillows and a beautifully stitched bed scarf right at the end.
I hate to admit it, but that bed looks incredibly comfortable. Maybe I should’ve let him be the gentleman and take the king bed for myself.
But I’ve planted my flag. I can’t go back solely based on principle. But that’s a problem for later tonight. Surely there’s no harm in claiming it for myself until then, right?
Glancing at the time on my phone I ask, “What time is the event?”
“Not until seven this evening. We’ve got plenty of time to do whatever. I’ve got to check some emails and catch up on a few other things, but then we can maybe get lunch and walk around the city if you’d like.”
“Mind if I take a nap?” I suggest. Theo nods, tilting his head off to the side as if gesturing for me to go ahead.
Wasting no more time, I launch myself onto the bed, landing right in the center of the squishy mattress and heavenly pillows.
Theo’s eyes are wide, clearly not expecting me to have done that.
I shoot him a sardonic smile as I wiggle under the covers and get settled.
Theo’s expression turns from surprised to amused.
He shakes his head and smirks at me before switching the lights out and closing the bedroom door behind him.
I smile, pleased that I could stake a claim for now. As I get more and more comfortable, I start to regret making such a big deal out of me taking the pullout. Going from this five-star bed to a likely lumpy and squeaky roll-out mattress will be hard.
Once I’m settled, I reach for my phone and send a quick text to Leila, letting her know we made it.
After she found out I’d be attending this gala with Theo this weekend she was all in, begging me to send her every little detail.
I had no doubt she would’ve been able to attend had Chase made it this weekend as his date, but he was busy moving himself out of Theo’s apartment and into his own.
After I put my phone down, I close my eyes and try to relax.
The minutes tick by, and I’m frustrated I’m not asleep yet.
My mind is too jittery with thoughts of how tonight’s event will go.
Aside from the fact that I’ve never been to such a fancy event before, Theo’s parents will be there, and that knowledge is making me over think everything.
I want to make a good impression on them.
I want them to know that their son is important to me, and I hope they’ll appreciate that fact.
I’m terrified that I won’t know how to act or make a fool of myself and that will somehow prove to them that I’m not worthy of Theo’s attention.
But at the same time, I know Theo will never let that happen. He’s the one who asked me to come with him after all, as his date. He’d never put me in a situation where he wasn’t confident I belonged.
Thoughts of how he stared at me on the airplane flood my mind now, putting the anxious thoughts to ease. His warm, brown eyes become all I can think about.
Eventually, my body starts to feel heavy, and suddenly, I can’t find it inside myself to care. Slowly, I fall into a deep sleep and dream of ballgowns, castles, and beds fit for a king.