The Love Wager (Mr. Wrong Number, #2)(46)

“Much,” she breathed, half hot and bothered, half trying not to laugh. All of a sudden, she was glad she’d decided to go with glasses for traveling instead of her contacts.

“Hey, Hal,” Ben said. “Long time no see.”

Hallie felt Ben’s voice like a punch, and she shifted her gaze to his face. He looked beautiful and just like the boy she’d loved with her whole heart, and her throat was tight as she turned her lips up into what she hoped was a casual smile. “Right? How are you?”

“Fantastic,” he said without a hint of awkwardness, like it was easy to face her.

“Great,” she replied, suddenly unfamiliar with words. She didn’t love him anymore, but his face was like a song: One look at it and she felt every single bit of sad emptiness from their breakup. “That’s really great.”

He nodded and smiled.

“Do you have our room key, babe?” Jack asked, knocking her back into the present.

“What?” Hallie tucked her hair behind her ears as Jack gave her a knowing look, like he was absolutely sure of where her head had just been. She nodded and said, “Yes. Key. I have it.”

“Where are you guys?” Jamie asked. “We’re in 326.”

“Everyone’s on three,” Lillie said. “We blocked off the whole floor.”

Chuck asked Hallie, “What’s your room number?”

“Um.” She bit down on her lip before muttering, “I’ll text you.”

“What?” Her sister put her hands on her hips. “Why are you acting all secretive? What room are you in?”

Hallie glanced at Jack, who was giving her that sexy smirk, before saying, “Can’t a girl and her boyfriend move to a quieter floor without it being a criminal offense?”

“You’ve never been to this hotel. Why would you assume three is noisy?” Hallie could tell that for some reason, this pissed her sister off. Lillie asked her, “Did you change the reservation?”

“I did,” Jack said, picking up his carry-on and putting it over his shoulder. “We, uh, just wanted a little privacy.”

“Privacy?” Her sister looked confused. “You have your own room, for God’s sake.”

Jamie started laughing, and when Hal looked at her, it was obvious what she thought.

She glanced at the rest of the group and she could tell that they thought the same thing now, too.

They all thought that Jack had reserved a room on a different floor so he and Hallie could have a weekend of wild sex. She felt her cheeks get hot as they all stared at her, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Suck on that, Ben.

She picked up her own luggage, pulled out the room key, and said to Jack, “Shall we go get settled in, baby?”

He looked like he wanted to smile at the endearment they both knew she would never use for him, and he said, “It would be my absolute pleasure.”

As they walked into the hotel, he quietly said, “Is Scarf the ex-douchebag?”

“Yes.” She started laughing, so glad she’d brought him. “Scarf is.”





Jack


“I’ll just call the front desk.” Hallie dropped her bags and walked to the phone on the nightstand. She pressed the zero key and said with a laugh, “But this is hilarious. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of this actually happening in real life.”

Jack watched her kick back on the king-sized bed, twirling the phone cord like everything was fine. “You’ve never heard of a reservation getting screwed up?”

“I’ve never heard of an only-one-bed trope actually happening.” She rolled her eyes at him and said, “It’s a romance novel thing. You know, two people forced to sleep together in one bed because there’s no other option . . . ?”

His collar felt tight. “That is ridiculous.”

She rolled over onto her stomach and muttered, “You’re ridiculous. Oh, hi. My name is Hallie Piper, and I’m up on . . .”

As she spoke to the front desk associate, Jack set down his suitcase and walked over to the window. The room was amazing—stone fireplace, overstuffed reading chairs, wood floor with a thick rug, king-sized bed—but the view from the balcony was even better.

He opened the door and stepped outside. The Rocky Mountains filled the horizon, a breathtaking panorama, and a wide, clear stream gurgled below with a thick border of yellow aspens on either side.

He braced his arms on the railing and took a deep breath of Colorado air.

“I have good news and bad news.”

Jack heard her step out onto the balcony, but he didn’t turn around. “Of course.”

“The good news,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her cheek against his back, “is that we don’t have to move to a room on the third floor.”

Jack could feel every tiny movement of her fingers on his chest, could feel her voice rumble soothingly against his skin. He swallowed and managed, “Nice.”

He looked down at the ten pink fingernails that were spread out on his chest. Fuck.

“But the bad news,” she said, kind of giggling as she spoke, “is that we have to stay in this room.”

“What?” He turned around and stared down at her face. She looked startled by his reaction, and her hands fell to her sides as he said, “You’re telling me they can’t find a single room?”