Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(92)

Emily smiled as if she read her thoughts. “That brings me to my second thing.” She produced a room key. “This is also between you and me. Tory and I are leaving within the hour. My oldest has a sick daughter and a useless husband. I hate leaving her alone. So our gorgeous suite will be vacant tonight. Starting in an hour. Just thought I’d mention it. Between you and me!”

Emily leaned in and gave Krista another stern eye, then a wink. “Have fun. Talk to you later.” And she was gone.

Krista watched her leave for a moment before she looked at her hand. Emily basically just said, ‘Go have sex with Sean in my room. Thank me at the wedding’.

Emily liked to play match maker, but this was getting to be a bit much.

The next two hours were a daze of conversation, together with Krista’s growing certainty that Emily wanted her to use the room that night. So, Krista decided that if were was the case, the least she could do would be to do it right.

Krista talked to Marcus, asked a huge favor, and got him to take Sean’s stuff to the suite. When he got back, Krista learned that his socks stunk and he was a clothes horse. She next asked Marcus to go persuade Janice to keep a lid on Krista being away that night. When Janice found out, she insisted on moving Krista’s stuff, as well. Apparently she was worried people would notice if she was gone.

When she was done, she informed Krista that her dirty clothes should have been put in a plastic bag. She also said that Krista couldn’t leave the bar area for at least another hour. Everything that was done was under the desire to dispel gossip. Little did she know that Krista was already the cause of loose lips and didn’t much care anymore.

Krista talked to her region, she talked to Perry, and she even talked to Ron. She made her rounds and smiled, seeing Sean doing the same thing. They caught eyes often, and he seemed like he wanted to come talk to her, but he was networking, and she let him. Finally, though, when she couldn’t stand it anymore, and also when Janice gave her a disapproving nod, she made her way to Sean.

Krista felt eyes on her as she crossed the bar area. She got more than one scowl, mostly from the admins, but no one stopped her progress. Sean was talking to someone from Utah, and turned to her when the guy he was talking with noticed her. His eyes lit up before he opened his body to include her.

“Krista, I was just telling Jared how we plan to switch things up,” Sean said.

Krista had no idea how they were trying to switch things up. She also had no idea how she was going to get him away from Jared.

“Well, Sean, I need to head out. Call me on Monday,” Jared said, making her job easy.

Sean looked surprised. “Great. See ya, Jared,” he said in confusion.

Sean watched Jared walk away before he turned to Krista. “That was weird.”

“Weird. Hey, I want to show you something. Would you mind taking a walk, or are there other people you need to talk to?”

“Always time for you, beautiful,” Sean said smiling.

Krista got a shiver from the ground up. “Uh huh. C’mon.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sean smiled at various people as they headed away from the bar. Krista seemed nervous as she led the way into one of the non-glass elevators.

“So, where are we headed?” Sean asked, slightly apprehensive himself, wondering if they were finally going to cross the line. Wondering if she was finally allowing him back in.

But when she pushed the button for the pent house, and not their floor, a cold fear gripped Sean.

“Krista, what are we doing?” Sean asked, trying to stay calm. He wanted warning before they faced Tory. He didn’t want to hear that Krista was quitting tonight. He needed more time to figure out a way to keep her—for Tory to look at the finances and figure out how much they could offer her.

“I want to show you a cool view,” Krista answered, not looking at him.

The needle on Sean’s mental record slipped. It wasn’t the answer he was expecting.

Krista opened the door to Tory’s room with a key. She walked in like she was staying there. Sean stayed in the doorway, double-checked the number—it was definitely Tory’s—and hesitated.

Krista noticed and stopped in the middle of the large, beautiful room. A look of worry and indecision crossed her face. She suddenly looked like she had gone out on a limb, and Sean had just sawed the branch off.

He stepped in and let the door close. Tory’s desk was empty. So was the bedroom. But it didn’t explain why they were in his room. Sean walked in slowly, looking around.

~*~*~*~

“Do you want a drink?” Krista asked, going to the mini bar to gather some courage. He’d said he loved her. He’d acted like he wanted her. Hopefully that was still the case.

“Sure,” Sean answered, walking toward the sliding glass door.

He liked scotch on the rocks, so Krista made him that and made herself a vodka and cranberry. She went to join him at the sliding glass door. He hadn’t crossed the threshold onto the balcony.

“Isn’t this Tory’s room?” Sean asked as he received his drink. He was looking out at the blackness. There was not much of a moon and no city lights, so it was a dark sky and darker horizon.

Krista looked up at the stars. “Technically, yes. But they had to leave for a family thing. View is probably better when there’s light.” Krista tried to keep it light and casual. It wasn’t working. She could hear the small nervous quiver in her voice.