Page 22 of Never Till Now

She silently nods with eyes filled with pain and hurries out.

I’m twenty minutes later than Adam expects as the cab pulls up in front of the hotel. I sling my workbag over my shoulder and attempt to fix my messy bun as I walk through the hotel lobby. I instantly regret not changing out of my maroon scrubs at work when I spot Adam talking to an older gentleman in a tailored suit. His tall stature and dark-brown eyes give me one guess who the man is. An older clone of the man I’m toying around with. I don’t meet parents. But with the desperate look on Adam’s face asking for compliance, I walk over because his dick is hard to turn down.

“Crazy shift?” Adam raises his eyebrows as his eyes trail over my body.

“Try a crazy week. My shift ran late again and I didn’t change.” I adjust my bag on my shoulder in an attempt to slow my words down. “I might fall asleep in the elevator.”

I realize I forgot to remove my badge as the man squints at my chest. “Practitioner,” he muses and assesses me. “That takes years.”

“I’m a fast learner, sir.”

“You look too young.”

“Age doesn’t measure competence, sir.”

“Well, you’re interacting with my son—” He stifles a laugh and it comes out as a grunt.

“Who speaks nothing but highly of you,” I cut him off and raise my eyebrows.

He pauses, holding eye contact until a small smile turns upward. “Call me George.” He nods. “I hope you keep my son in line with your quick remarks. Good night, you two.”

Adam takes my hand, jolting me to the elevator as if he can’t escape the lobby fast enough. His eyes roam over me, trying to decipher something, or maybe I’ve grown two extra heads. I sense he wants to talk but keeps rubbing the back of his neck instead. We enter his suite and if I wasn’t so tired, I’d call him out on the weirdness.

“I really need to shower, if you don’t mind.” I glance around the perfectly decorated cream walls and expensive furniture.

“Yeah, take as long as you need. Did you have a chance to eat?”

I shake my head.

“I’ll whip something up for you. Go clear your head from today.” His smile shouldn’t make my stomach flip.

I shower in his guest room and change into my workout gear. My body aches but I am determined to make sure I have no energy left to spend. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sleep past 5:08 tomorrow. I follow the smell of grilled food into the kitchen as Adam sets a wrap in front of me, along with a large glass of water. I take a seat next to him on a barstool.

“Did you actually make this?” It looks like something room service would bring.

“Yeah, it’s a grilled chicken and veggie wrap.” He takes a long sip of his beer, still in his suit. “Do you not like them?”

“I do.” I smile and take a bite. “This just tastes and looks so good that I thought a chef made it.”

He chuckles and the sound resonates in my core. “Cooking is not as hard as you make it out to be.”

“You look a lot like your father.”

“I’m sorry you had to meet him unannounced.” He shakes his head. “I don’t introduce many people to him, and I know our boundaries.”

“You didn’t introduce me. You looked mortified.” I silently giggle, recalling his eyes moving back and forth between George and me.

“Lauren, you held your own in a respectful manner and didn’t take shit from him. That was fucking sexy.”

“Does that mean I get an extra orgasm after our workout?”

“I admire your ambition, but you don’t need those clothes for tonight.”

“So, I get an orgasm first?”

“Remember how I mentioned I like to hike and see the coolest clouds when I called the other night?”

I recall a brief mention when he called after one of my long shifts but was too tired to really care. I feel my face scrunch and try to piece what he’s not saying. “Adam, just tell me the plan so we can move on to orgasms.”