Page 88 of Taking Sides

I whirl around and smile up into bright blue eyes. Conrad’s grin is all charm and mischief.

“How are you here?!”

“Surprise.” He lets go of me, then steps back. He’s wearing black dress pants and a matching sweater—obviously he was prepared for Montana weather too.

“Wow,” I say, giving him a second, appreciative appraisal.

“Yeah, you too. It took everything in me not to crash your dinner. I figured that wouldn’t go over too well.” His stare lifts over my head. “Are your brother and dad still here?”

“My dad is upstairs, but Victor left.”

His gaze finds mine again, and his lips curve slowly. “Does that mean you’re free for a drink?”

“You flew all the way here just to have a drink with me?”

“I told you. I couldn’t wait until Thursday to see you again.”

I’m speechless and more turned on than I’d like to admit. How could Victor think this guy is fake when he just did something so nice, I can’t even comprehend it?

“You’re adorable when you fly across the country to see me.”

He huffs a small laugh. “I have something even more adorable for you in my room.”

“You’re staying here?”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be free and I needed a place to stay either way.” He shrugs. “This place is nice.”

I crowd into him, holding his gaze as I lift onto my toes and bring my lips close to his. “I’m free.”

I’m so totally free.

TWENTY-TWO

Whitney pulls the sheet up around her as she leans over to the nightstand and smells the vase of flowers—sunflowers to be precise.

“I thought they’d be bigger,” she muses.

“Apparently, florists prefer the smaller varieties for arrangements.” Lucky for me, because if they’d had the bigger ones, I’d have checked into this hotel with a bouquet as tall as I am.

“What was your plan if I couldn’t get away from my family?” she asks, glancing at me as I pull on my boxers and then pick up the rest of our clothes from the floor where we discarded them as quickly as possible the second we got to my room.

“Room service and TV.” I set the clothes on the armchair and rejoin her in bed.

“You really were bored,” she says with a giggle as she sits up and wraps an arm around my neck, letting the sheet fall around her waist in the process.

Bored. Missing her so much, I couldn’t stand it. Same thing, right?

I slant my mouth over hers, and we fall back onto the bed in a tangle of limbs and hungry kisses. I know she has to leave soon, but I don’t want to waste a second of the time we have.

“Oh. Ouch. Ouch.” She yelps. I roll off her as she rubs the back of her head.

“What’s wrong?”

She pulls a diamond earring out from behind her. It’s then that I realize she’s currently only wearing one.

“I have no idea where the back went.” She scoots over, and we search for it under the pile of pillows and blankets, then on the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” I say when we haven’t found it ten minutes later.