“My job pays for it. It’s a great perk.” At least that much isn’t a lie. Lavin Fashions does pay for all of my travel. Since I own the company, I suppose it’s technically like paying my right pocket from my left pocket, but it’s still truth.
“This is definitely a great perk. You must be one hell of a salesman.” Casey leans against me in the elevator as another couple gets on.
I put my arm around her and pull her close. She rests her head on my chest and nothing has ever felt so right. A few floors later, we’re alone in the elevator and Casey giggles.
“You forgot to push a button. What floor are you on?”
This entire time I’ve been so wrapped up in her that I forgot the elevator isn’t going straight up to my floor. “Third floor.”
She pushes the button and the elevator descends. When it stops, she steps off, looking over her shoulder at me playfully. “I can’t wait to see this room. If the rest of the hotel is any indication, I bet it’s pretty swank.”
Her statement makes me want to show her just how swank a hotel room can get. But there’s no way I can do that, not just because I have no explanation for that room, but because Philippe is there. Not that my brother would ever cock block me, but he’d definitely have questions later.
Questions I’m not ready for.
The door to room 3472 opens right away with the electronic key on my phone and I let out a sigh of relief. I hold open the door so Casey can enter and her wolf whistle makes me smile.
“Does it meet with your approval?”
She sets her small bag down on the table next to the bed. The room that Kate reserved is little more than a king size bed and a small balcony. The linens appear to be the same as the ones used in the suites though, fluffy and luxurious. The room also has similar paintings on the wall.
Casey sits on the edge of the bed, folding her hands in her lap. Despite her frank words outside the bar, she looks incredibly uncomfortable now that we’re here. It makes me wonder even more about her sudden boldness in propositioning me.
“Would you like a drink?” I gesture toward the small minibar. “I’m not sure what’s here but they usually have a pretty good selection.”
She relaxes slightly, her shoulders dropping a little. “Sure. Maybe a glass of wine?”
I look over our choices, selecting a small bottle of champagne. There don’t appear to be any glasses other than the short tumblers normally used for water so I use those. Casey accepts the glass and takes a tentative sip, stiffening slightly when I sit on the bed next her. When I look over and catch her eye, she blushes.
“I guess you can tell I really don’t do this often,” she remarks.
That makes me laugh a little. “Would you believe me if I told you I don’t either? It’s not that easy to trust people these days. I spend a lot of my free time on my own.”
“Me too!” She smiles, more at ease now. “I can’t afford to get distracted. I trusted the wrong person in the past and had to drop out of school. Now I’m focused on my career. I really want to prove to myself that I can do this.”
The conviction in her voice speaks to me.
“I understand. Can I tell you a secret?”
She leans closer. “You can tell me anything. This is a one-night stand, remember? One night of fun before we go back to our real lives. We’ll never see each other again so you can think of me like a vault. Whatever you tell me will never see the light of day.”
Although the thought of never seeing her again makes me feel anxious, she’s right about tonight. Here inside this hotel room, we can be our true, authentic selves and no one will ever be the wiser.
“I want to do something completely different. I love what I do now but I also want to work on helping the less fortunate. Maybe a non-profit program to help them get warm clothes in the winter. Something like that.”
Casey bumps her shoulder against mine. “I knew it. You’re a good guy. I could tell.”
Her words make me blush slightly which for a man of my age is unexpected. “It’s probably not going to happen. There’s a lot of people depending on me. For money, I mean. I need to focus on what’s most profitable. I don’t want to let them down.”
“I understand that. My mom has always struggled and now that I have a new job, I’m going to be able to send money home to help her. So I get it. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do this new project, too. If this is what you’re meant to do, I think you’ll find a way to balance the need to make a profit with your need to help others.”
“You really think I can do that?”
There’s so much more to it than she knows. I wish, not for the first time, that I could explain it all to her. Lavin Fashions is a billion dollar brand. If I abandon that to start a non-profit, it affects not just my own wealth, but those of my family who are invested in it and all of the shareholders, too.
Not as simple as just walking away because I feel like doing something else.
“Yes, I really think you can do it. Something tells me that you can do just about anything.”