Stella reached over and placed her hand on top of mine, and I turned my palm up to take her hand. Whether it was the low-lit atmosphere of the restaurant shrouding what I was trying to do or whether it was how warm her skin was, I couldn’t go another second without feeling it against mine.
If only for just a second.
We ate and laughed over dinner before Stella settled the check, then we headed over to the hotel. I could practically feel the way that pillow was going to mold to my head, and my eyes began to droop even as I leaned against the hotel lobby desk.
“Reservations under Christian Gunn and Stella Harte, please,” she said.
The woman typed something on her computer before her brow furrowed slightly, and I groaned before the words even left her mouth.
“Stella Harte, you said?” she asked.
“Yes, and Christian Gunn. Two n’s.”
“I’m sorry, but I only have a reservation for Christian Gunn. He has a suite, and it has two rooms in it, will that be alright?” she asked.
“You don’t have a reservation for Stella Harte?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I don’t see it in the system.”
“Christian, do you have the electronic receipt for the reservation you made?” she asked.
“Does it even matter?” I asked. “The room with be fine, ma’am; thank you.”
She gave us two room keys while Stella looked wildly up at me, and I grabbed her wrist. I pulled her toward the elevator, anxious to get to a bed to lay down, not thinking about what I was doing. I was pulling her along behind me as if she were nothing but property, and I felt her yank her arm away from me just as the elevator doors open.
“You can let go of me now,” she said.
“Sorry,” I murmured.
The two of us stood in the elevator as we rode it all the way to the top, and Stella got off first. She led us to the room before she threw the door open, and I headed straight for the room to the left. I was well aware of how I had let my guard down at dinner, and I had no intentions of being around her any longer than I had to tonight.
“Christian? Your room alright?” she called out.
“It’s just fine, Stella. Thank you for asking. See you in the morning.”
“You don’t want to stay up and talk or anything?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I need to get some rest. I’ve got an early morning of going over these notes and preparing paperwork,” I said.
“The meeting isn’t until Monday. We could enjoy the city a little bit. Maybe get out and go walking around town tomorrow,” she said.
“Goodnight, Stella,” I said.
Suddenly, the light in my room turned on. I groaned at the harshness as I closed my eyes. I felt Stella’s hand on my shoulder as she whipped me around, and I pulled away from her grasp before I straightened my back and opened my eyes.
“What gives, Gunn?” she asked.
“I’m not sure I understand,” I said.
“One second you’re holding my hand and embracing me in your arms and kissing my ear, and the next you’ve thrown your guard up and are intentionally trying to get rid of me. You give me your first-class seat and crack jokes about how big we both know your dick is at dinner, and then you come into this room and try to brush off this entire weekend like it’s supposed to be something professional.”
“It is something professional,” I said. “And we need to treat it as such.”
“I’m not doing this with you anymore,” she said as she pushed my chest. “I’m not going to let you go all hot and cold on me like Greyson did.”
“What?” I asked.
“You’ve been weird ever since we slept together,” she said as she pushed my chest again. “You’ve been hot and then cold. Passionate and then guarded. Nice and then closed-off. What the hell is your deal?”