My Favorite Souvenir(12)

“Sorry,” he said, running a hand through his wet hair. “I was in the shower.”

God, he had the most amazing body I’d ever seen. His shoulders were broad, his chest lean and sculpted, and his skin was perfectly smooth and tanned. Not to mention, that towel hugged the most delicious V.

“Uhh. Shower, right.”

I blinked a few times and forced my gaze to meet his before I got caught staring. But the cocky smirk and the glint in his eyes told me that ship had sailed. He’d totally watched me ogle him.

Milo folded his arms across his chest, and his smirk widened to a full-blown smile. “How did you sleep?”

“I…uh…slept.”

Seeming amused, he chuckled. He looked down to the two coffee cups in my hands. “Not much of a talker before you have your morning coffee?”

I nodded. “Ah…yeah. That’s me.”

“Is that why you have two?”

I shook my head and offered him one of the cups. “Oh. No. One is for you. That’s why I knocked.”

He took the coffee. “Thank you.”

At least one of us was completely at ease having a discussion in the hotel hallway with him wearing only a towel. Too bad it wasn’t me.

“Did you already have breakfast?” he asked. “I was going to knock and see if you wanted to grab a bite after my shower.”

“No, I actually didn’t. Just went downstairs for the coffees. I need to take a shower myself.”

“How long will that take you?”

“Umm… I don’t know. Maybe twenty minutes if I don’t wash my hair.”

He nodded. “Okay, sounds good. I’ll knock in fifteen.”

My eyebrows drew together. “Fifteen? Are you telling me to hurry?”

He winked. “I’d like a chance to appreciate you in your towel, too.”

I felt my face warm. Jesus. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d blushed, and now it had happened multiple times in the last twenty-four hours. “Very cute. You couldn’t let that pass, could you?”

Milo rocked back on his heels. “Not a chance, sis.”

“I’ll tell you what,” I said. “How about I knock on your door when I’m all ready?”

He shrugged. “Won’t be half as much fun, but sounds good.”

? ? ?

“I just want to thank you again for last night,” I told him over breakfast.

Milo finished off his side order of bacon and wiped his mouth. “It was no big deal at all.”

I sipped my second cup of coffee. “That’s the thing. Maybe it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but it was—for me, at least. I had trouble sleeping last night because I was thinking about all the things missing in my life. I’ve only been going through the motions the last few years. But when I was living the day to day, I didn’t realize anything was missing. And now that I do, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.”

He nodded. “I guess that’s why they say hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

I sighed. “Yeah, it definitely is.”

We were seated in the hotel restaurant next to a big picture window. Outside, the trees drooped with heavy snow, and fresh flakes were coming down again. “It really is beautiful here.”

“It is. I might’ve forgotten that over the last few years.”

We’d talked so much about me, yet I didn’t really know much about Milo other than he grew up here in Colorado. “What made you leave here and move to Seattle?”

Milo’s eyes stayed glued to the outside. “I needed a change.”

Something about his voice told me there was more to the story. I usually wasn’t one to pry, but this time, I did.

“Did you have an epiphany moment like I did last night? That you needed something more out of life and you went in search of it?”

Milo’s eyes slanted from the window to meet mine. He seemed to lose focus for a few seconds as he considered my question, then he shut his eyes and shook his head. “I lost someone close to me, and staying here afterwards was difficult.”

Oh God. Now I knew why I never pried. I felt terrible for bringing that to the surface. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“It’s fine. It was four years ago.”

I didn’t know what to say after that, so I just kept quiet. Milo called the waitress over and got another cup of coffee, and then a busboy came to clear our plates. The air still felt awkward a few minutes later. Eventually, Milo broke the silence.

“So I guess we both needed to get out of town to find a way to move on.”

I nodded. “I’m not sure I found my way, but I’ve definitely realized I need to make some changes.” I looked at the time on my phone. We’d been down at breakfast for almost two hours, yet it felt like ten minutes.

Fake Milo looked at his watch, too. “It’s getting late. I should probably go upstairs and pack up to get to the airport for my flight to New York.”

“New York? I thought you lived in Seattle?”

“I do. But I’m going to visit a friend after this, so I’m flying into JFK.”

“Oh. That’s funny. I’m actually flying to New York, too. But LaGuardia airport. It’s easier to get a direct flight there than the airport closest to me in Connecticut. I’d rather drive the hour home from New York than get stuck somewhere on a connection. Though my rescheduled flight has a connection now anyway.”