Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
CHAPTER 4
Grace
The jolt of the elevator brought me back to reality, and I realized we were about to be set free. “Oh, thank God!” burst out of me as I stood up and grabbed my bag and stood at the doors, ready to jump out the minute they opened. As it began a smooth descent, I looked back at Carson, and he was still sitting on the floor, unmoving, watching me with a small frown on his face.
“Hey,” I started, “didn’t get enough time in here? Planning on staying?” I tilted my head and smiled.
He sighed and began to stand, just as the doors opened.
I stepped through them, breathing deeply. “Ah, fresh air! Freedom!” I exclaimed.
A man in a dark blue suit came toward me. “Are you okay, Miss? I’m the manager, Mr. Savard. We want to apologize for the inconvenience that our elevator malfunction caused you. If you’ll come with me to the front desk, I’d like to comp your room for the weekend.”
“Oh, ah, I’m okay. But a comped room? Okay…” I said as he took my elbow and led me away. I glanced back and another man in a suit was talking to Carson, most likely apologizing to him as well and offering him a comped room too. I’d see him at the front desk.
Mr. Savard led me to the check-in counter, and it only took a couple minutes for him to find my reservation and comp it on the computer. He also handed me a gift certificate to Picasso, a restaurant inside the hotel. He apologized profusely again, and I assured him we were fine and that it hadn’t been that bad. We. Now where was the other half of that we? I stopped and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen at the front desk. I glanced around the lobby area and didn’t see him there either. Did he refuse the comped room? If so, why would he just leave without even saying goodbye? My heart sped up. He had asked me to spend the weekend with him and I hadn’t answered. I hadn’t known what to say. I mean, it was just too crazy.
I had ended up liking him though, as unbelievable as that was. My shoulders dropped, and I stood there contemplating the time I’d spent with Carson Stinger. Yes, I’d judged him incorrectly and been pleasantly surprised. I would take that with me and consider the last couple of hours a good lesson about why not to judge a book by its cover. I took a deep breath and walked back to the elevators.
I chewed at my thumbnail as the elevator doors closed and rose to my floor, feeling troubled and out-of-sorts. Of course you do. You were just stuck on an elevator. A harrowing experience, regardless of coming to like the company.
I let myself into my room and dropped down on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. It would be insane to even consider spending the weekend with Carson, right? It was so far outside my neat, tidy life that the very thought of it was ridiculous…wasn’t it? I forced out a laugh. It sounded as unconvincing as it felt.
Was I considering a weekend with Carson? Was I really even entertaining the idea? Did I want that? I thought about it for a few minutes, picturing his smiling face, his honed body. All right, fine, yes, I wanted it. There, I said it. I liked him, I had already admitted it. I like Carson Stinger, Straight Male Performer. It was nuts. Bonkers. Cuckoo. But admitting my attraction for him was one thing. Following through? That was quite another. Just because I wanted something, didn’t mean I should do it.
It was only a weekend, though. How many other twenty-three-year-old girls meet a cute guy and spend a great weekend with them and then move on with their life? Him being in the business he was in didn’t have to be a negative. In fact, maybe it made things that much more perfect—it wasn’t like we could go anywhere beyond a weekend in Vegas. He knew that and I knew that. Maybe he was right—maybe it was within the realms of my plan. Why couldn’t he be Guy Number Two? Why not? Couldn’t I be crazy and outrageous just once in my life? Just once?
As I lay there debating, I pictured the proverbial angel and devil whispering into either ear. How had this happened exactly? I never gave in to temptation, and here I was strongly leaning toward spending a couple days with Carson Stinger in his Vegas hotel room, letting him teach me things? I brought one hand to my mouth, stifling a shocked giggle. Oh my God. Who am I? Two hours in an elevator with the man and I was unrecognizable to myself. And why did that thought not scare the living hell out of me? Why did I sort of… like it? I sat up quickly, giving myself a head rush. The head rush joined with a whole slew of excited nerves tingling all over my body, causing a noise to emerge from my throat that was half groan and half giggle.