Yes, he’s insanely hot. And great in bed. And bought me a year’s worth of People magazines, based on something I said once, nearly a year ago. And yeah, he looks at me like I’m irresistible—me! Doofy, awkward, Kristal…
But…BUT…you’re just performing a service to get Jae-Hyun what he needs for the coming year, I remind myself before my heart can place the needle on Track 1 of the Pet Sounds record. I know you’re the nerdiest elf that ever has lived, but be cool, Kristal. You’ve got to be cool. That’s the only way you’ll get out of this with your heart intact.
Yes, I’ll be cool, I re-decide, walking out of the bathroom fully dressed. I’ll be cool, and these ten days will pass before I know it.
It’s worth it for Jae-Hyun, I tell myself. Again.
Will there ever come a morning over the course of our arrangement where I won’t have to tell myself that? Or even a waking hour?
“Good morning.”
I stop, all of those reminders and resolutions flying from my head when I find Hayato sitting up in bed. It looks like he was waiting for me to come out. Not just his eyes, but his entire torso turned toward the bathroom door. And good gosh, could he look any hotter?
Even after studying under Jae-Hyun for years, I don’t think I’d be able to draw him looking any better, any more appealing than he does right now. Technically he’s covered up by the bed’s old fashioned quilt. But it sits so low. I can see every one of his abs and a happy trail leading down to…
“Good—good morning,” I stutter. Ugh! Could I sound any less like a sophisticated escort? When will I ever stop feeling so gosh darn awkward around him?
He gives me a head bow much politer than my thoughts about how insanely delicious he looks sitting in that bed. “You were once again not here when I woke up.”
“No, I wasn’t. I was taking a shower,” I say, not sure how else to answer that. Or why he cares one way or the other if this is just sex and not True Love, like my cousin Krista claimed.
He looks down, then to the side, his eyes and chin making precise swipes. “I do not like that.”
“You—you don’t like me taking a shower. But I thought that was one of the things you expected from—”
“I do not like you not being here when I wake up.”
My chest starts to warm but then cuts off in a jangle of confusion bells. His words are lovely, romantic even. But his face is grim, like he’s just admitted to peeing in the bed, not having an actual shred of feeling about waking up without me.
See? See? This is what makes it so hard to do this with Hayato. What he’s doing to my heart goes way beyond mixed signals.
Asking myself, not for the first time, what a real escort would do, I paste on a professional smile and say. “Okay, do you want me to wake you up before I take a shower?”
“I would like for you to stay in bed until I wake,” he answers.
Again, nice words, but his teeth are gritted like I’ve beaten a confession out of him.
“Okay,” I agree quietly, nonetheless, falling back on my “what would a real escort do” protocol.
“Thank you,” he says with another polite nod.
An awkward silence falls between us. “I was…I was going to go downstairs and see about breakfast. The owner and the cook are still stuck in the next town over, but Declan’s mom said she’d make us breakfast herself.”
“Thank you.” He responds with another perfectly polite nod as if he’s not naked as the day he was born underneath that quilt. Funny how it had seemed heavy last night. Now it appears way, way too thin. And I can’t help but recall all the things he did to me on top of those covers while the nor’easter howled outside…
Okay, breakfast. My body burning with memories of last night, I head toward the door, which isn’t that far away at all. Of hotel rooms we’ve stayed in, this one is easily the smallest. About twelve by twelve feet, with just enough room for a narrow bed, one thin secretary’s desk, and a small chest of drawers.
Given that the hotel is almost empty, I’m still a little surprised that Hayato didn’t book the honeymoon suite. But according to Declan, this was one of only two rooms that met Hayato’s standard.
“Sorry about the small quarters, but Nakamura’s got a lot of requirements for his hotel accommodations. You know, kind of like feng shui.”
Kind of like feng shui? That explanation didn’t sit quite right with me as I ate dinner with Declan and his mother in the kitchen after Hayato skipped the meal last night, saying he wanted to take a nap in the room.