Bitter Sweet Love

Chapter Eight

The couple-hour drive down Interstate 87 was blissfully uneventful and also very beautiful. The rolling hills were a lush green, the trees thick and stately, but the almost pristine wilderness gradually gave way to buildings larger than the tallest trees as we neared the city. My face was practically planted against the side window the whole time as I soaked in everything I saw.

“You haven’t been this far south?” Dez asked, and I looked over at him. One hand on the steering wheel, the other on his thigh.

I shook my head.

He grinned as he sent me a sideways glance. “You used to sneak out to fly when I was around. I’m sure you didn’t stop.”

“I sneaked out a time... or two afterward.” At his wry look, I smiled. “But I never flew south. I always went north. I didn’t want....”

“To get caught?” He laughed at my innocent expression. “That’s smart. You probably would’ve been seen if you came south.”

Driving to the city took a little more than three hours, but it took less than thirty minutes for one of us to fly. If I had dared to venture south out of curiosity, I would’ve been caught due to all the Wardens that covered the city, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if my dad locked me up.

It wasn’t too long before the last of the high hills cleared and New York City came into view in the distance. I leaned forward, grasping the dashboard. “Wow.”

“It’s something, isn’t it?”

I nodded as my eyes widened. The city created its own skyline, an elegant stretch of buildings against the backdrop of blue skies, some tall enough that they seemed to have their very own stairway into Heaven. I could almost imagine what it looked like at night, all lit up, dazzling and awe-inspiring. My heart thumped in my chest as the giddy realization that I would get to see that with my own eyes sunk in.

Traffic slowed as we crossed over one of the long, wide bridges, and only then did I feel Dez’s stare on me.

I looked at him. “What?”

He didn’t say anything as he picked up my hand and brought it to his mouth. Against the center of my palm, he placed a kiss, and my heart did another jump, this time a backflip. I started to ask why he’d done that, but realized that question would sort of ruin the moment and it was a very nice moment.

Instead, I smiled.

It took an absurd amount of time to make it into the city, to the point where the buildings were so tall and so crowded that they blocked most of the sun and the streets were in their shadows.

Dez parked the SUV in a large garage and I followed him to the back, my eyes darting over the never-ending line of cars snuggled tight in their parking spaces.

Too much was roaming through my head as I trailed after him, into the ground floor of one of the tall buildings we’d passed. There wasn’t much I knew about Dez’s plans for this trip. No matter how annoying I got demanding details, he wouldn’t tell me anything, but since he was carrying our luggage inside, that meant we had to be staying here. I could barely contain the squeal as I’d been worried we’d do a drive-by through the city. I had wanted to enjoy it.

A young woman behind the desk looked up when Dez and I approached. She blinked twice at Dez and then smoothed a hand over her already neatly coiffed hair. Her gaze moved to me once and then centered back on Dez as if I didn’t even exist.

I folded my arms.

“How can I help you?” she asked, smiling as though Dez was her own personal sun.

Dez leaned against the counter, one side of his mouth curled up. I rolled my eyes. “We have a reservation.”

We did? As Dez took care of our check-in, I noticed that he mentioned only one room, but I was too fascinated by everything around me to make an issue of it. As lame as it sounded, I’d never been inside a hotel before, and especially not one as trendy as this.

The lighting was dark and mysterious. Rock music wafted from unseen speakers. Black and red couches lined the walls, low to the ground and level with the tables. A bar separated the lounge area from the dining section. All the staff, male and female, wore black and looked as if they’d just stepped off a runway.

I glanced down at my jeans and T-shirt and raised my brows. I really didn’t fit in.

“Ready?” Dez asked.

Nodding, I turned and discovered the clerk watching him wistfully. Who could blame her? It wasn’t until we stopped at the elevator that I thought to ask, “Where’s our luggage?”

“They’re taking it up to the room for us.” He placed a hand on my lower back, guiding me into the mirrored elevator. Once inside, he waved a card in the air as he grinned. “Your eyes are so big, they’re about to pop out of your face.”

I flushed. “I’m sorry. I probably look like an idiot, but I’ve—”

“You don’t look like an idiot.” He reached up, tucking my hair back behind my ear.

The elevator moved smoothly, clicking away at the floors. “I know I look like I’ve never been anywhere.”

“It’s cute.” He draped his arm over my shoulders, causing me to stumble into his side. “And stop worrying about it. This is for you. Have fun.”

Reassured that I didn’t look like a total loser, I was bursting at the seams by the time the elevator stopped on the twentieth floor and the doors slid open. We hung a right and followed the curving hallway until Dez stopped in front of our room.

A knot formed in my belly. Our room. I doubted Dez had gotten one with two beds.

Dez opened the door after the handle showed a little green dot. How high-tech. Cool air greeted us as we stepped in. He moved out of the way, letting me investigate. In the small hallway, I found a closet and a door leading into the bathroom. A separate shower, wide enough to fit two people, was on one side, and a large circular tub on the other.

Clasping my hands together, I inched past a wet bar and a desk and into the main part of the room. A large TV was attached to the red wall...and across from it was a bed big enough for four people. My cheeks heated as I glanced away. Aside from a small chair under the TV, there was no other place for anyone to sleep. We’d be sharing a bed tonight. I wasn’t going to think about that right now.

I hurried toward the curtains and threw them open. Holy crap. Leaning forward, I pressed my forehead against the pane of glass as I stared down at the busy street below.

“Do you like the room?” asked Dez.

“Yes,” I whispered, and then louder, “Yes, I do.”

“This is supposedly one of the nicest hotels in the city, or so I’ve been told.” His voice was closer. “I figured we could stay for two nights and then leave Thursday morning. That should give you time to really see Manhattan and also give us enough time to get down to DC. You’ll only have a day there before our seven days are up, but I guess we can stay longer, if that’s what you want.”

As I stared out the window, my throat worked hard to swallow the sudden emotion clogging it. I knew that most males wouldn’t have gone to this amount of trouble. Sure, they would’ve attempted to woo me, but to meet all my demands and not fight me on my desire to enjoy the simplest of freedoms? Not likely. But Dez was doing all of these things. There was something to be said for that, but I wasn’t sure words would do justice to the feelings working through me. I had a feeling that if I attempted to tell him I’d mess it up somehow.

“Jas?” Uncertainty threaded through his tone.

Dropping the curtains, I spun around and launched myself at him. Dez caught me around the waist, stumbling back a step as I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing tight.

“Thank you.”

“What?” He laughed.

My face was buried in his chest, so I lifted my head and repeated, “Thank you.”

He looked at me. “You’re welcome.”

I didn’t think he understood the depth of my gratitude. Stretching up, I placed a kiss against his cheek. I knew it wasn’t much, but it was something, wasn’t it? When I pulled away, he was staring at me as if I was insane.

Then he lifted me off my feet and turned. “I would’ve brought you here the moment I returned if I knew it would make you this happy.”

A laugh caught in my throat as a different look seeped into his eyes. The hue brightened and then his lids became heavy as his lips parted. Slowly, he let me slide down so that I was on my feet, but he still held me to him with one arm. He cupped my cheek, smoothing his thumb along the curve of my bottom lip. Every nerve in my body zeroed in on that touch of his. His chin lowered, and I thought he would kiss me. My eyes fluttered shut and anticipation rose sweetly.

But the kiss never came.

He let me go, stepping back. “Well, we better get going if you want to see as much as you can.”

The pang of disappointment surprised me, but I nodded. It was probably better this way, though. Because I had wanted him to kiss me, and it didn’t have a thing to do with any of our conditions.