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Paige smiles. That sweet, sweet smile.
“Thank you, Oli,” she whispers.
That ought to keep me going for a night. Maybe two. Or fourteen.
I give her the phone. I bite my lip with hesitation, giving myself a chance to re-think these words, but…
Fuck it.
Carpe diem.
“You know,” I say, “I rarely encourage such obscene behavior, but the next time you come home and there’s no one waiting for you, I...”
I pause as she furrows her brow, her eyes sunken in thought.
“Everything okay, Paige?”
“Uh, yeah.” She looks up at me. “Yeah, I just... I have a lot of missed calls.”
“Graham lose his keys?” I joke.
She laughs. “Probably.”
“Well, I’ll let you get to work.”
“And I’ll let you do the same.”
I try to move, but I can’t. Not yet.
I reach out to wrap a finger around another unruly lock of her hair and push it back behind her ear. Her gaze lingers on mine as she wets her lips and waits for her goodbye kiss.
“See you around, Paige,” I say.
She nods. “You, too.”
Finally, I give in. I lean over and she tilts upward, both of us drawn to each other for one last kiss. She touches my hand on her cheek, welcoming a second kiss; long and sweet.
“Bye,” I whisper.
“Bye, Oli.”
I step back from the bed and her touch falls away, but the spark of it lingers on my skin long after I leave the suite. It buzzes with each step toward the elevator, and I’m still smiling as the golden doors open for me.
“Incoming!”
I hop backward to dodge the housekeeping cart as it bolts off the elevator.
“Good morning, Carly,” I greet her.
“Mornin’! What are you doing up on the fancy floor?” she asks, her blonde ponytail wagging back and forth as she curiously scans the quiet hall.
“Oh, I was just...” I think quickly, “catching up with the Botsford boys before the convention.”
There are four of them. Chances are one of them is still up here. A perfectly reasonable alibi.
She groans. “Is that today?”
Seems like she bought it.
