Page 2 of Double Booked

He zipped his suitcase and turned to face her. “Does it matter? It’s only for tonight.”

“I was planning on sleeping on the first floor,” she said stubbornly.

“Fine. I’ll sleep in the loft.” He hauled his bag off the couch and stomped upstairs without another word.

She slumped down on the couch and covered her face with her hands. Eden couldn’t believe this was happening. She’d come to Colorado to be alone, and now this. Picking up her phone, she found the number of the rental company and dialed. After a few rings, the voicemail message clicked on.

“Hello. This is Eden Wright calling. I rented the Cozy Inn cabin, but there’s a problem. When I arrived, there was already somebody here by the name of Cole Turner (she’d seen his name on the receipt). Please contact me as soon as possible so we can rectify the situation.” She rattled off her phone number and hung up.

Cole clomped down the stairs. “How did you know my name?”

“I saw it on your receipt.”

“Oh. Well, I just came down to clean up the kitchen, unless…”

“Unless what?”

“I have leftover Chinese food if you want some.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. He was being nice now?

“Or not. It’s up to you.”

She’d eaten a bagel on the airplane, but that was hours ago, and the food smelled delicious. “Okay, I guess.” She went and sat down on the stool at the kitchen counter.

In the meantime, he took out a plate and fork and set it in front of her. “Help yourself.”

She flipped open the containers and filled her plate with fried rice and chicken. Then she drizzled it with sweet and sour sauce. “Looks good. Thank you.”

“Welcome.” Turning away, he rinsed his plate and fork and put them in the dishwasher. Then he dampened a cloth and wiped off the counter.

Her first impression had been that he was messy, but maybe she’d been wrong. Or maybe he was doing this for her benefit, and if she hadn’t shown up, he would have left things a mess.

Who cares? He’ll be gone by tomorrow, she thought as she ate.

Suddenly, he plunked a bottle of water in front of her. “It’s all I have,” he said. “I planned to go grocery shopping tomorrow.”

“One of us will be gone tomorrow.” She was counting on it being him.

“We’ll see,” he replied.

“What do you mean? We can’t both stay here for four weeks.”

“We might not have a choice. The resort seems to be booked up.”

The rental cabins were nestled in the foothills of Rocky Mountain National Park, just outside the town of Estes Park. Admittedly, on the drive in, she’d been so focused on reaching this cabin, she had paid little attention to the other ones.

“Well, we can’t both stay here,” she reiterated.

He leaned against the counter. “Technically, you’re wrong.”

Wrong? The nerve of this guy! She was about to argue, but he continued.

“There’s plenty of space here for two people. We’d each have our own bedroom and bathroom. Not to mention, there’s a finished basement.”

“No.”

Ignoring her, he went on. “I’ll be gone working most of the day, so we’ll hardly have to see each other.”