I sagged with relief.
“Michelle’s been hurt,” Emmitt said, his voice deceptively calm. He shushed me when I tried to insist I felt fine. “She needs to rest.”
I heard Thomas cover the phone with his hand. A murmur of voices continued for several seconds before Thomas came back on and asked us to wait while Charlene booked us another room. I could hear Charlene speaking rapidly in the background but couldn’t make out the words. After a few minutes, Thomas gave Emmitt directions to a new hotel.
“Emmitt, be careful.” There was a lot of love in those three words.
“We will,” Emmitt said.
I hung up the phone, and Emmitt took me by surprise with a long kiss. He poured his relief into it, tenderly holding me close. In the distance, someone shouted encouragement. It cooled the moment. Emmitt pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, breathing deeply.
“I won’t be able to let you go for a while.”
I kissed his cheek in response. He walked away from the phone, carrying me snugly. Once he reached the shadows of a side street, he sprinted away from our audience.
A smiling attendant greeted us outside the new hotel and moved to open the door for Emmitt as we approached. I felt silly being carried but didn’t try to get Emmitt to put me down, yet.
The red and gold patterned carpet in the expansive reception area muffled Emmitt’s steps, and every piece of highly polished metal we passed gleamed in the lights.
The person behind the desk welcomed us with a smile. “Mr. Cole. Good to see you. Your mother’s description was very accurate.” The man held out a room card, which I accepted on Emmitt’s behalf. “Room service will be up with your meal. Please let me know if you need anything else. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
Neither Emmitt nor I said anything for a moment. I wondered what Emmitt’s mom had done or said to have completely registered us before our arrival. The man should have at least made us sign something.
As long as he was being accommodating, I decided to see if he could help a little more. “Do you think someone could get me some socks and shoes? I lost mine.”
The man smiled serenely and nodded as if it were an everyday occurrence to have a guest request shoes. “I’ll have something delivered as soon as possible.”
I thanked the man, then Emmitt turned away, heading toward the bank of elevators. I pressed the button for Emmitt, and he stepped in as soon as the doors slid open. After checking the number on the room card’s envelope, I selected the top floor. The doors slid shut, and the elevator started moving.
“Could you set me down? I don’t want to attract any more attention than we already have.”
He grudgingly obliged, but as soon as he set me on my feet, he wrapped my hand in his and rubbed his thumb in slow circles against the pulse in my wrist. I stood carefully, trying not to wince at the aches I felt.
When the elevator chimed and the doors whispered open, Emmitt breathed deeply before we both stepped out into a deserted hallway.
“Are we okay here?” I asked softly. I didn’t think he’d scented anything but after being taken once, I was feeling cautious.
He pointed to a camera mounted just outside the elevator. “Better security.”
He led me left from the elevator. Our movements were strangely hushed, making me feel like we were in a library rather than a hotel. Several feet down the hallway, just before the first numbered door, I noticed another camera. This hotel definitely had more security. And more space. The doors were so far apart, I wondered what kind of room Charlene had gotten for us.
Our room card opened the second door on the right side of the hall. Decorated in neutral colors with black accents, the suits of rooms not only looked clean but smelled clean, too. The door closed behind us with a click. After one last swipe of his thumb, Emmitt released my hand.
The light cream walls of the kitchenette flowed into main room where a fireplace danced with electric flames. The leather sofa and oversized chair beckoned, but I hesitated to step from the dark laminate floor that ran from the entry door to the light carpet. I didn’t want to leave dirty footprints.
I noticed a bathroom through an open door to the right. It was immaculately clean, and I stared in grateful appreciation. Three times larger than the one at home, it had a glass corner shower with dual shower heads, a whirlpool tub big enough for two, and a heated towel rack.
“I call dibs on the tub,” I whispered, half-reverently.
Emmitt laughed but didn’t follow me as I drifted into the bathroom, flicking on the lights. I moved to the tub and turned on the water. Fluffy, white towels sat on the tub’s ledge along with a pair of white robes.