Fated Hearts (Southern Bride 8)

“We don’t need the room cleaned, but we could use more towels. I’ll go ask,” Annalise said.

I gently took her arm to stop her. “No, I’ll do it. You go on in, and if you get seated, can you order me a coffee, no cream or sugar?”

She flashed me that brilliant smile of hers. “Of course.”

I watched as the three of them headed off in the opposite direction of the front desk. I made my way over and stood behind another couple. Once it was my turn, I stepped up and gave the young guy behind the desk our room number and asked for more towels and an extra pillow. My pillow was so damn flat, it didn’t even feel like I was sleeping on one. As I turned to walk away, a thought hit me, and I stopped.

“I believe we have a note attached to our room to give us a call if you have any other available rooms. We no longer need it, so I wanted to go ahead and remove it.”

It was a ballsy move on my part, but I was pretty sure Annalise wouldn’t want to change rooms either at this point.

He smiled as he typed something in, read for a few seconds, and then looked up at me. “That note has already been removed.”

Frowning, I asked, “What do you mean?”

He looked back at the computer and said, “It looks like we had an available room come up this morning, and they called and spoke with…um…Ms. Michaels? She stated there was no longer a need for another room.”

I felt my brows shoot up, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face.

“Is that correct, sir?” he asked with a concerned expression.

“Yes,” I quickly replied. “Yes, that’s fine. Be sure to use my card to charge the room and not the other one that’s in Ms. Michaels’s name.”

He nodded. “Yes, sir. It also looks like the last of the snow is moving through. We’ve just received word that they’ll most likely be re-opening the airport tomorrow afternoon unless they can get the runways cleared off faster. If so, then flights will start going out tomorrow morning.”

A strange pang hit me in the middle of my chest, but I forced a smile. “That’s great news. Thank you.”

“Yes, sir. Enjoy your morning.”

“You, as well,” I said before I turned and headed away from the front desk.

So, Annalise didn’t want this to end either. I knew I had a smug smile on my face. Shit, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was going to miss her. But fate worked in weird ways, and we clearly were meant to have this time together. If all we had left was today, I intended to enjoy it as much as I could. And even though I wanted to drag her back to the room and fuck her until neither one of us could move, I had other plans in mind, starting with breakfast.

When I walked up to the table, I immediately noticed the glow on Annalise’s face. Had she always had that, or was it because of the amazing last few hours we’d spent together? I was going with the latter.

“Everything set?” Annalise asked. “We getting more towels?”

“Yes. Also, the front desk clerk told me the airport is opening again tomorrow. Some morning flights going out possibly, but it’ll most likely be in the afternoon.”

Annalise jerked her head back up to look at me. “Tomorrow morning?”

I didn’t miss the disappointment in her voice. “Maybe, if they get the runways clear.”

Mary glanced at Dylan. “I just got an email from United Airlines with my new booking information. Looks like I’m flying out tomorrow at two.”

“Wow, that’s great news,” Annalise said as she stared at me. Her voice sounded happy, but those blue eyes of hers said something entirely different. “You’ll finally be rid of your unwanted roommate.”

“I wouldn’t use the word ‘unwanted,’” I said with a wink.

She blinked a few times, and something moved across her face that I couldn’t read. Truth be told, I hadn’t ever gone out of my way to read a woman’s expressions before. Not that I didn’t care about their feelings—of course, I did. I made sure, though, that I never took a woman to bed whom I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk away from afterward, and who wouldn’t be able to walk away from me.

Until I met the woman staring at me, that is. With Annalise, everything felt so damn different. A part of me knew it would be hard to walk away from her tomorrow, but I would do it. There was no way I could ever allow myself to open up my heart again. I’d hang on to every single moment in my memories, and I knew I would never forget her. If I were a better man, I’d beg her to come to Texas with me. To let me wake her up every morning with a kiss on the lips before I made love to her.