Late morning sun slanted through the windows as a cart filled with dishes clamored down the hall outside the door. Molly stretched lazily and rolled over. The other side of the bed was empty. At first, she thought Lucian left but then she heard the shower and smiled.
Lying side by side on the bed like a pair of old friends, she and Lucian had talked until the wee hours of the morning. It was strange but also kind of fun. He didn’t make a move on her like she had hoped but maybe he was too drunk. Dan liked to have sex while he was wasted but it never did much for Molly.
Maybe Lucian was a more considerate lover. At least she hoped that was the case. She didn’t want to entertain the notion that he might not be attracted to her in that way. Besides, she reminded herself, when he kissed her at the mine and also in the hall he had seemed pretty damn turned on, so it couldn’t be that—at least that was what she was hoping for. She sat up and pulled her hair back.
She had a half-assed headache and cotton mouth to boot. She needed a soda stat and a greasy breakfast sandwich. That was her go-to food when she had a hangover. Blowing on her hand, she checked her breath and groaned. Gross.
Her breath smelled worse than the shipment of over ripe cantaloupes the restaurant had gotten from market—they were funky, with a capitol ‘F’.
The shower turned off.
As the door creaked open, Molly quickly laid back down. Feigning sleep, she closed her eyes.
Hearing the soft padding of feet across the carpet, she cracked open one eye.
Wearing only a towel slung low over his cut hips, Lucian casually walked across the room towards the bed. His chest was completely bare and his hair was wet and tousled around his head as he used one of the fluffy hotel towels to dry his hair.
Squeezing her eyes tightly closed, she pretended to be asleep.
“What am I going to do with you,” he murmured.
Molly had to stop herself from automatically answering, “Anything you want!”
The bed gave as he lowered himself down beside her. “Wake up, Sleepy head.” He pushed her hair away from her face.
Blinking, she opened her eyes. “Good morning,” she said groggily, acting like she had just woken up.
“Good morning.” He smiled down at her.
Another zing of pleasure shot through her.
“You hungry?”
When wasn’t Molly hungry? “Um, sure.”
“Great. I ordered us some breakfast. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course.” It didn’t occur to Molly why he was telling her that.
♣
After Molly had taken a shower, dried her hair, brushed her teeth, put on some minimal makeup and got dressed, she walked back out into the room. A large cart with two silver domed lids sat between two of chairs on the pristine white cloth as well as a pitcher of coffee, cups, juice and fresh fruit, along with a plate of croissants. “Wow,” she said, taking in the all the food.
“I ordered the works,” he said, smiling. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Sure.”
His brows creased.
“Something wrong?”
“I charged it to your room. Is that all right?”
Molly blinked and then recovered. “Of course.”
“Good. I was worried.”
“Don’t be. We got to eat, right?”
“Yeah, and I’m starving.”
“Me too.” Molly sat down and poured a cup of coffee for them both. Lucian hadn’t gotten dressed yet and his bare chest flexed each time he moved something on the table. Damn, he was hot.
Lucian took a bite of croissant. “What do you want to do?”
“Hmm,” Molly answered distractedly, watching his muscles in fascination as she sipped her coffee.
“Earth to Molly.” He snapped his fingers.
She reluctantly dragged her eyes back to his handsome face. Big mistake. “Yeah.” She swallowed hard.
“What do you want to do?” he repeated.
Molly gave him a confused look. There was a lot of things she wanted to do and they all involved taking off that towel he was wearing and…
He frowned. “You still want to go sightseeing, right?”
“Of course.” Her face flamed five shades of red.
“I have to say…” He leaned back against the chair. “I am really looking forward to this.”
“Me too,” Molly agreed wholeheartedly and then she remembered she hadn’t told anyone at work she wouldn’t be in. Dang it. “Will you excuse me for a minute?”
“Sure.” His brows creased again.
She lifted her cell phone off the table and shook it in the air. “Work stuff.”
“Oh.”
She got up from the table, walked over to the bed and dialed the number for work. Lucian was still giving her a strange look. Not trying to be rude but also not wanting him to hear the conversation, she got up and walked over to the bathroom. “Bad reception,” she lied, and stepped inside, closing the door until it was almost shut.
Once Molly was out of the room, Lucian quickly grabbed his phone. He had put it on vibrate last night but could hear it rattling on the dresser. He had three messages and they were all from Cecily. Lifting his phone, he punched in his code and listened to them.
“Lucian, it’s me, Cecily.” She sighed. “Can you meet me, I have something to tell you.”
“Right,” he murmured. “I bet you do, Bitch.” He skipped the rest of the message and listened to the next one.
“Lucian, you can’t avoid me forever,” she whined. “I have to tell you…”
“Yes, I can.” He skipped past that message as well.
“Lucian, pleassse…” She was begging now.
“Not happening.” He hit the end button and took a breath. He didn’t want or need to listen to anymore of her lies. “Fuck you,” he grumbled at the phone and shoved it quickly back in his jacket pocket. Swiping his hands over his face, he stood up and got dressed.
♣
Molly stepped back out of the bathroom after a few minutes. She had talked to Rodrigo. He was her right hand and assured her he had everything taken care of for the finale so she could go and do whatever she needed. She told him she owed him and Rodrigo had jokingly said, “You bet your sweet ass you do.”
She didn’t take offense, he always joked like that and she didn’t mind one bit. If he wasn’t married she probably would have dated him. He told her on more than one occasion that Dan wasn’t good enough for her. At first, she would get upset, but now she knew he was just looking out for her.
As she crossed the room, much to her chagrin, she noticed Lucian had gotten dressed. She sighed. There went her heated fantasy right out the window. Sitting back down at the table, she set her phone next to her breakfast plate and then lifted her cup again.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, its fine.” She took a sip of her coffee.
He gave her a strange look but didn’t say anything else.