Built Overnight (Middleton Hotels 5)

“What happened? Is the deal going south?”

“No, not at all, but I have to leave right away, so I need someone here to monitor and secure the hotel.”

“You can’t just hire security or send another guard?”

“No, I can’t. I need someone I can trust. Someone who won’t make a move on my future wife.”

“Whoa! Slow down, please explain.”

“I met the woman I’m going to marry, but if I stay a day longer, I’ll be arrested for being a pedo. She’s got three months until she’s legally mine. I need you here. You have a vested interest in this hotel, too. So please get your ass here. I’ve already set up your stay here.”

“Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Tony. Seriously, though. She’s mine. No one, and I mean no one, goes after her.” I would laugh at him, but I was in the same boat and had no fucking idea where my woman vanished to. Perhaps this was just the trip I needed. Three months away from my house that now reminded me solely of Denise and our perfect night together that I thought was going to last.

Chapter 8

Denise

Two months being without Anthony and I was barely clinging to life. Knowing that he was in another state made it a bit easier to avoid calling him, but only just. My heart missed him more than I could have ever imagined. As I lie in bed every night, sleep took forever to come. All I would think about was that I should be wrapped up in Anthony’s arms. Feeling his warm breath on my neck as he whispered how beautiful I was, but that was just a fantasy. We’d both caved to the sexual tension that flowed between us. Now, I was all alone and feeling sick about it.

I’d been kicked out of my apartment by my cunt-erific roommates. It seemed they didn’t like that I wasn’t the same as them. I didn’t come from a well-to-do family with money up the ass. Apparently, I was a last resort for the apartment, but once they got a new replacement they did everything they could to make sure I was gone. They were unnecessarily cruel to me.

I found another place after staying at the Middleton Hotel for a week. It was a small apartment just down the road from the hotel, which was fantastic because my car was on its last legs. It wasn’t the only thing on the way out. It seemed my health had done a one-eighty. I went from feeling perfect to feeling like I got hit by a bus.

I was dressed and ready for work. I’d been doing overtime every day since I ran out on him. I didn’t know if it was because I wanted to get him out of my head or if I hoped by some off the wall chance he would come into the hotel and see me. But then I learned that the day after our night together, he’d gone to Oregon for work. I was scheduled in an hour, but wanted to get there early, so I got in my car and started the engine, then switched it into gear.

"Oh shit," I grumbled. I stopped the car just outside the parking spot, threw open my door, and vomited on the pavement. "Damn it."

I closed the door and reversed back in. I went around in my heels and grabbed the hose. After spraying down the ground, I got back in and tried again.

I got on the phone right away with my doctor’s office since I wasn’t feeling too hot. “If you can come in within the hour, I can take you. Either that or you’re going to have to wait a few days.”

“Okay. I’ll be there. Thank you for seeing me so quickly,” I said gratefully.

I got to my doctor’s office as fast as possible. “You’re just in time, Denise. Let me get a urine sample.”

I took the cup and went in the bathroom. I wondered if I had a kidney infection or something. Or maybe food poisoning. After handing the nurse the sample, they showed me into the room. I sat there nervously. I’d never been really sick. My period was the only thing that had ever been off. It was the reason I was on birth control pills.

It took about five minutes before the doctor came in. She was so nice. I’d been coming to her since I was fourteen.

“Hi, Denise. How are you?”

“I feel like crap all the time.”

“Well, we have an answer for that. It’s a pretty simple one. You’re pregnant.” I shook my head in disbelief.

“I can’t be,” I muttered to myself. All I could think about was becoming my mother. Anthony wasn’t going to want me or this baby. He was twenty-three, and I was a one-night stand.

“Did you have sex?”

“Yes, but just twice,” I admitted, looking at her in shock.

“It only takes once.” I rolled my eyes because what the fuck was birth control for if it didn’t work at all.

“But I’m on the pill and don’t miss my time to take them…like ever.”

“Yes, and it’s not a hundred percent.”