“Good night, Titmouse.”
I roll my eyes, kiss his chest sweetly, and lay my cheek on him. The steady rhythm of his heart puts me right to sleep.
Chapter 14
Sarah
Thesunisshiningbright the next morning; the storm has passed, and we get on the first flight to Florida. I have never been to any of the states we are going to besides North Carolina, so I am excited to explore new places.
Because our days were cut short, we will only have one day to go bird watching and the next day we have reservations to visit a seabird sanctuary.
Once we get to the hotel, Chris pulls me aside as everyone else goes in.
“I know you already have a reservation, but I wouldn’t mind if you stayed with me.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“One hundred percent.”
I’m not sure about staying with him the whole time. I feel like I still need my space to decompress and walk around naked if I want. Not that he hasn’t already seen me naked, but yeah.
“We will see. I have some things I need to catch up on tonight for work, but maybe tomorrow.”
He leans down and kisses my cheek.
“I’ll take any time you will give me,” he whispers in my ear and the chills consume my whole body.
I let a giggle slip and look at him as he moves back. His smile is dangerous, and I have never wanted to be a rebel more than I do right now.
I check into my hotel room and begin unpacking. We will only be here for a few days, so no need to pull everything out. I need to take advantage of the washers they have here. I separate the clean clothes from the dirty and take them down to the laundry mat.
Thankfully, the washers and dryers are free, and my room came with enough laundry soap for one load, which is all I have.
“You had the same idea I did.” A female voice floats in behind me as I am shoving my clothes into the small washer. I turn around and see a lady from the other group.
“Yeah. We are here early enough, might as well.”
I close the top and see an older lady. Late thirties early forties. Curly brown hair and the same height as me.
“Are you enjoying yourself so far?” she asks.
“I am. It was a slow rainy start to the trip, but that’s ok.”
“That storm was pretty crazy.”
“For sure.”
She goes about her business, putting her clothes in the wash and I take a seat in the corner of the room. I brought my book down with me so I can get some reading in while I wait. I’m a sucker for sweet and sappy, but every now and then I need something deep and dark. Mafia romance for the win.
I get a few sentences in when the woman sits beside me.
“What are you reading?”
“Oh, it’s a romance book.”
“Ah,” she says and looks away. The sneer on her face is very prevalent.
“This one is about a mafia man who will do anything for the love of his life. Even if it means killing anyone that crosses her. Super gory, but really frickin’ sexy.”