Fated Hearts (Southern Bride 8)

What made me smile, though, was the way all his items were neatly pressed to the other side of the bathroom sink. I had unpacked mine last night and had left everything all over the sink. He could have been a jerk and pushed mine to the side in a pile, but he hadn’t. Why did that make my stomach flutter?

“Oh, for the love, Anna. It’s been too long since you’ve been with a guy.”

After I brushed my teeth and exchanged my pigtails for a ponytail, I headed to the front desk. It was my lucky morning because Heidi was gone. A younger man stood behind the counter, and when he saw me, he grinned.

“Good morning. How may I help you?”

“Yes, I’m in room sixteen thirty-three, and it was double-booked. I was wondering if…”

He shook his head, and I stopped talking. Clearly, he already knew the situation. “Ms. Michaels, I’m so sorry. Mr. Carter was here only minutes ago. I’m sorry to say we still have no available hotel rooms, and with the way this storm is continuing, I doubt we will. I’ve called to a few of our sister hotels to see if I might be able to find a room, and I haven’t had any luck yet.”

I sighed. “Well, it was worth a shot. Do you think you could keep checking?”

“I’ve already made a note of it and put it in our daily pass-down so that the next person on shift will be on the lookout as well.”

Smiling, I said, “Thank you so much—” I glanced at his nametag—“Hunter. Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure, Ms. Michaels.”

With that a bust, I headed back to the elevator and to the gym, which was on the third floor. The entire time I walked down the hall, I tried to think of a solution to the sleeping problem. Maybe they had a rollaway bed I could ask for.

Shit! Why hadn’t I thought of that last night?

Pushing open the door to the gym, I saw a man about my age running on one of the two treadmills. There were two elliptical machines and two stationary bikes as well. I walked over to the other treadmill and stepped on. I hit the buttons and started a nice, fast walk to warm up before my run.

When I glanced up and looked into the mirrored wall, I tripped over my own freaking feet.

“Roger,” I whispered, taking in the sight of him lifting weights. He had on headphones, and his eyes were shut while he concentrated on doing bicep curls. My tongue instantly went to my lips to moisten them.

The man was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt that said, “Born and Raised Cowboy.” I knew I’d heard a hint of southern in that accent.

It looked like the damn shirt was painted on him, it fit so snugly.

“Right? He’s hot, isn’t he?”

My head snapped to the right to find a girl on one of the elliptical machines. She was also watching Roger work out in the mirror. Her dark hair was up in a ponytail, and she looked close to my age, maybe a few years younger. For sure in her late twenties.

“When he started working out, my best friend was running on the treadmill and missed a step. She went flying off the damn thing, and he touched her!”

I screwed up my face in confusion. “He…touched her?”

She laughed. “Not like that. He ran over and helped her up. Asked if she was okay and all of that. I swear the little bitch did it on purpose. Although, she did have to go back up to the room because her elbow was cut open and bleeding.”

Gasping, I asked, “Is she okay?”

Elliptical Girl shrugged. “No clue. I told her she was on her own. No way I was leaving this front-row seat. You should see when he does one-legged squats. He has an ass that you could bounce a quarter off of.”

I shook my head as I kept walking. “Wait, your friend got hurt, and you stayed here just to watch Roger?”

Her eyes snapped from the mirror to me. “Oh, my God. Like, is he your man? I’m so sorry! He’s just so…handsome isn’t even the word. He’s so pretty, hot, built, fine…I could go on.”

I laughed.

“You’re so lucky. He’s a gentleman. He helped Lynn and asked if she needed him to go get help. You look good together. With you looking like Cinderella and all, and him…Prince Charming.”

I rolled my eyes. Good Lord, this man had a powerful effect on women, that was for sure. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

She nodded. “Husband then. Lucky bitch,” she whispered.

Before I had a chance to correct her, I heard my name.

“Annalise, princess. What are you doing here?”

I turned and looked in the mirror to see Roger walking up. Elliptical Girl had to slow down, probably for her own safety.