“Did you take every personal item out of the room?” I asked.
The man nodded. “Yes, sir. I went through the room and picked up everything I could find that did not belong to the hotel. It’s all here.”
I nodded back and stepped aside so he could push the trolley of luggage inside. If anything was lost, Klara would have to find it herself, but I wasn’t worried. He set the stuff down beside the couch. I’d already pulled my wallet out and made sure to give him a good tip before he left.
After closing the door, I headed for the bedroom again. I looked around. I’d picked up my clothes from the bathroom and folded Klara’s clothes at the bottom of the bed, with her purse on top of it and her shoes right beneath them on the floor. I pulled out the key card to my room and set it on top of the note, on the nightstand. I hesitated, looking at the message I’d written down.
Thanks, Klara, for a great night. You can stay in the room for as long as you want, it’s paid for until tomorrow. I need to go home and be a man.
I decided to leave it alone. It explained things without being too intimate. I took one last glance at her face and paused. Gripped by a sudden temptation, I moved closer to the bed and ducked down to kiss her on the forehead. Still, she didn’t wake up.
With a sigh, I ruffled her hair slightly and turned around. There was a lot about her I still didn’t know, and I wasn’t sure if I would have asked, but there was no way for me to know now.
I’ll just think of you like Sleeping Beauty with a secret, I thought with a huff and a quirk of my lips.
I picked up my things and left the suite, closing the door behind me. My heart felt heavy, but I’d already locked myself out.
Time to go face the family.
Chapter Nine
Klara
I was slow to wake up. I felt so warm and comfortable that I didn’t want to move. Even when my mind became conscious, I only sighed and hugged tightly at the soft thing in my arms. Then, I remembered last night and frowned.
My eyes blinked open, to be met with the hotel’s pristine white pillow. Only, when I moved, there was a suspicious stain on it. I pulled back and rubbed at my chin, sighing when I realized I’d drooled.
Well, that is embarrassing.
“Jake?” I called out.
I realized I couldn’t see him, and rolled around, but he wasn’t behind me on the bed.
Could he be in the shower?
I listened but couldn’t hear him there. So he was probably in the other room.
With another sigh, I slipped out of bed. I was a little disappointed not to wake up with him beside him, but by the light coming into the room, it was likely no longer early in the morning. I headed for the bathroom, unconscious of my naked body. I felt an ache in my hips and between my thighs. When I looked down, I could see some marks that Jake had left on me, and couldn’t help but blush.
In the bathroom, I got to see even more through the mirror, around my neck. Damn, it was so hot, and I’d have to walk around with a scarf to cover them all.
This is too much.
Even as I complained in my mind, though, I was smiling on the outside.
I went into the shower, ignoring the heat in my face as I stood to the side then turned on the taps, and waited for the water to warm up. I had a quick shower, then left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my body, and another around my hair.
“Jake?” I called again. “Are you there?”
He hadn't come into the bedroom, but surely he could have heard the shower from that side, right? I frowned, only then starting to feel a little worried. I went to open the door and looked outside. Even the front room was empty. Well, not empty, because I saw some very familiar looking luggage, and I wondered when that got here.
With a frown, I closed the door and turned around, and only then did I notice my things arranged so neatly on the bottom edge of the bed, and there was something on the nightstand. I went over curiously, one hand wiping at my hair, and noticed it was the room’s keycard, and a slip of paper beneath it, a note.
The realization dawned on me, and I figured out what happened before I even read the note.
Jake was already gone.
Slowly, I set the note down and calmly continued drying out my hair.