Rock Bottom (Dawson Family 6)

“I’d really like that, then. I’m exhausted and just the thought of chugging another sugary drink just to fall asleep makes me feel sick.”

He holds out his arm for me to take. “Then let me take you to my room.”

“It’ll be seven hundred for the night,” I say loud enough for a group of young twenty-somethings to hear. “Plus an extra hundred to let you call me Mommy.”

Dean laughs. “It’ll be the best eight hundred bucks I’ve ever spent.” We go back into the hotel and get in an elevator. “Do you need anything from your room?”

“My jammies. And my clothes for the morning.”

“Let’s stop there first. I want to hear how bad this snoring is.”

“You’ll hear it from the hall, I promise.”

I hit the button to go to my floor. Dean walks with me to the door, and JoAnne’s snores can really be heard from the hall. Dean snickers and stays outside while I dash in to grab what I need for the morning. I stuff it all in my carry-on bag and lock my suitcase back up.

“Tick-tick.” Dean taps his watch when I come back into the hall. “If I’m paying by the hour, I want to get my money’s worth.”

“Ohhh, there’s a rush fee too.”

“I don’t think you know how this works.” He hits the up button for the elevator.

“And you do? From experience, right?”

“I have never paid for sex,” he says right as the elevator doors open. We step inside and go up three more floors. The exhaustion I was feeling before is starting to turn into jittery nerves.

I don’t trust Dean’s intentions, but I trust Dean. Does that even make sense? He said he’s going to sleep on the pullout couch, and I know that’s where he really will sleep.

Is he still trying to get in my pants? I’m sure. In fact, if I suggested we have sex he’d be all over it. I know my own limits and refuse to sleep with him again unless something more transpires between us.

Dean opens the door to his room and steps aside, letting me in first.

“Wow. You weren’t kidding. This is a nice room.” I’m standing in a small foyer, looking into a living room. There’s a kitchen off to the side, and it’s bigger than what I have in my apartment. “And the view!” I cross the room, going to the balcony.

“There’s another balcony off the bedroom,” he tells me, coming up behind me. I set my bag down on a chair and put my hands on the railing. We’re only one floor away from being on the top of the building.

“I could live on this balcony.”

Dean stops just inches from me, and I can feel his body heat coming off in waves. Everything inside of me begs me to lean back into him, to let him wrap his arms around me. I’d spin in his arms, and one kiss is all it would take for us to stumble into the room. He’d carry me into the bedroom, and we’d make love before passing out in each other’s arms.

And then I’d wake up, feeling like we’re going to be together forever, and he’d tell me he’s meeting someone else for lunch.

Nope. Not doing it.

“I should get to bed,” I say, and my words physically hurt me. I turn too fast and smash myself right up against Dean. He shouldn’t be allowed to feel this good.

“Right. Me too.”

A fresh ocean breeze blows my hair over my face and Dean pushes it back. His fingers hover on my neck, and he leans in. My heart speeds up and I’ve lost all willpower to move away.

Kiss me.

His eyes close and his lips part.

Kiss me, now.

Then he inhales and steps bad. “Goodnight, Rory.” Turning sharply on his heel, he disappears into the hotel room. I let my eyes fall shut and exhale heavily.

I knew I should have brought my vibrator.“Shut up,” I groan, reaching for my phone to silence my alarm clock. I hit snooze, and I swear, only two seconds later, the stupid thing goes off again. Once I finally fell asleep, I slept peacefully. I left the balcony door cracked so I could hear the sounds of the ocean. And this bed—holy crap, this bed! It’s so comfortable and the sheets are impossibly soft. I would stay in here all morning if I could.

But, dammit, I get to go sit in a conference room and listen to someone talk about surgery. I stretch out, smiling when I remember last night. Dean was a perfect gentleman, but I don’t want to read too much into it.

Giving myself one more minute, I finally get up and drag myself out of bed. I take a quick shower, get dressed, braid my hair, and put on just enough makeup to look put together.