A Fare To Remember_ Just Whistle_Driven - Vicki Lewis Thompson [28]
Somehow they navigated the revolving door without losing touch. Silly things, revolving doors. He’d never liked them. The blessing of a small lobby was that it took no time at all to cross it. They were almost to the elevator when the desk clerk called Hannah’s name.
She glanced at him and slipped her arm from his. “Excuse me a minute.”
“I’ll go with you.” He followed her over to the desk.
“Miss Robertson,” the desk clerk said. “I’m so glad I caught you. We have a small problem. We’ve had to switch your room again.”
“Oh!” Hannah turned bright red. “Did you…um…move everything?”
“Absolutely. Certain…pest-control issues on the top floor came to light this evening, and they had to be dealt with. You wouldn’t have wanted any of your belongings in that room while we handled that. The top floor will be sealed for the next twenty-four hours.”
“But I do have a room, right?”
Zach touched her arm. “Listen, if not, it’s no problem. You can stay with me.” She could stay with him as long as she liked, or until his rent money ran out. Strange how that possibility didn’t bother him as much as he’d expected it to.
“Oh, you definitely have a room!” The desk clerk reached for an envelope. “Here’s the key.” Then he glanced at Zach. “The room should work out fine, at least temporarily. With the top floor out of commission, we had to do a little squeezing.” He chuckled, as if that was a huge joke.
“All right.” Hannah took the envelope, which had the room number written on it. “Twenty-five B? Where is that, exactly?”
“It’s one of our few basement rooms. Quite charming, really. There may be some slight noise from the furnace units, but on the whole, it’s very quiet. No hallway noise, which is such a bother in the rest of the hotel.”
“Um…” Hannah looked over at Zach. “Are you okay with that?”
He was trying hard not to laugh, because he wasn’t sure if she thought this was funny. Now that he’d decided to risk his whole future on one night with her, everything seemed funny. “I never liked hallway noise,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.
“Then let’s go take a look at it.” She picked up the envelope with the key and started toward the elevator. “I am so embarrassed,” she said once they were out of earshot of the desk clerk.
“Don’t be.” Zach put his arm around her shoulders. “Suite, schmeet. Who cares what kind of room it is?” But he had to admit he was curious about this basement deal.
“I’m not embarrassed about the room.” She pushed the elevator button and the doors slid open. “I’m sorry we don’t have the suite, but if they had pest issues, I’m just as glad we’re not up there.”
“Me, too.” He stepped into the elevator with her. “I hate to think what would cause them to seal off an entire floor.”
“I just wish I’d known in advance, that’s all.” She punched a button marked B.
“Yeah, I’m sure you don’t want them manhandling your stuff.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Her cheeks had turned pink again.
“Oh?” As the elevator descended, he massaged the back of her neck. “Gonna tell me about it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then I might have to kiss it out of you.” As he leaned down to try that technique, the elevator thumped to a stop and the doors opened.
“Greetings!” A short, stocky man in a gray maintenance uniform stood beside the elevator. “You folks lost?”
Hannah stepped out of the elevator and held up her envelope. “We’re looking for 25B.”
“With any luck we’ll have to take a secret passageway and use pitch-soaked torches,” Zach said.
The maintenance guy laughed. “Not quite. Go all the way to the end of that hallway. You’ll find it.” He got into the elevator and the doors closed.
“Alone at last.” Zach reached for Hannah. Yes, he should probably use some restraint and wait until they were inside the room, but his lust had been building for two solid days. “I need to kiss you.”
“Here?” Smiling, she dropped the key into her purse and wound both arms around his neck, letting her purse dangle over his shoulder.
“Right here.” And he backed her up against the wall beside the elevator. “Right now.”
“This place