I managed two more slices and another toddy before we called it quits and all headed back up to the lodge. The closer I got to that sprawling beacon of light, the better I felt. I was desperate for a few minutes of alone time to reflect and refocus. Nothing like a long, hot bath to get the airplane germs off of me. After everything today? I could use a few minutes away from Sam, too.
It wasn’t that he was bothering me—he never bothered me. It was just that every time I looked at him I heard the voices in my head that seemed suddenly intent on reminding me that he was a man and I was a woman. And that, when I looked at him now, I wasn’t just seeing my friend Sam. I was seeing...well, broad shoulders and striking blue eyes. Shaggy brown hair and a sculpted, toned frame.
I looked away as we reached the concierge desk and sidled up next to Sam as he requested my room key.
“We’ll meet up with you guys some time later or…not,” Jeremy said, waggling his eyebrows before leading Peter to the elevators.
But my attention was squarely on the man behind the desk, whose face looked strange…
“I’m sorry,” the man said, mouth pinched with regret as he looked up from his computer. “We contacted you back on the number provided shortly after you called us this morning. We weren’t able to get you a second room.”
My shoulders sagged. “No rooms?” I repeated blankly.
He looked me in the eye. “No rooms.”
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Mags. My room has two queen beds,” Sam said. “You can bunk with me. You’ll have your own bed and we can try another place nearby tomorrow if you’d rather.”
“I couldn’t do that. You paid all this money for a nice vacation and now I’m—”
“Making it more awesome by being here. Don’t be ridiculous.” He turned to the concierge and handed him a five. “Could you please bring her bag to room 417?”
“Surely, sir.” The concierge nodded and then slid another key toward us. “Your key, ma’am.”
I took it, then turned it over and over in my palm, like if I just flipped it fast enough, a magic solution might appear.
But was this really a problem? I’d stayed at Sam’s house a million times. I’d fallen asleep in his lap just the other night. What was the big deal with sharing a hotel room?
Yesterday, it would’ve been no big deal at all. Now though? When I was seeing him with new eyes? The eyes of apparently everyone around us…
It was everything.
With a deep breath, I followed Sam up the steps and down the hall until we arrived at the room. He opened the door for me and I stepped inside, glancing from the mirrored bathroom and soaker tub to the wide, queen-sized beds with homey quilted comforters. It was a true ski resort and I flopped onto the bed gratefully before glancing out the windows and catching sight of the fresh flurry of snow that had begun to fall.
“I bet they have Christmas movies still if we ask,” Sam said.
I shook my head just as someone arrived and set my bag down at the foot of my bed. I thanked him, placing a discreet tip in his palm, and he disappeared with a swift nod, clicking the door shut behind him. The sound echoed through the room like a shot and my face went white hot.
“I’m going to take a shower, I think. Get the travel off of me,” I mumbled.
“Okay, then. I’ll be here.”
I opened my bag and grabbed my pajamas before rushing into the bathroom and turning on the comforting spray. As the steam began to rise and coat the mirrors, I stripped down and then stepped into the walk-in shower. Water sluiced down my back and hair as I closed my eyes and sucked in a steadying breath.
This awkward feeling—the knot in my stomach whenever I thought of Sam lately—would pass. It was just all the influence of the people around me and the shock of Trevor’s infidelity that had me reeling.
The idea of actually being with Sam...
I shook my head as my entire body tingled. It was impossible. If it didn’t work out, I would be ruining one of the most important relationships in my life. I just had to remain cool, calm, and collected. Keep my head on straight. And when everything was said and done? I’d feel normal around Sam again. Just like I always did.
Or had I?
My mind drifted back to that time we went to the beach last summer and I’d caught sight of him stepping out of the ocean looking like a Greek god with his broad, muscled chest and six-pack abs. Lord knew I didn’t feel normal that day. And although I’d pretended my dream man that night had been some faceless fantasy, I was pretty sure, if I was being honest with myself, that he’d looked an awful lot like Sam.
Or when he and Melanie had first gotten together and I’d eaten an entire pint of mocha chip ice cream in one sitting because I’d felt all weird inside but couldn’t put my finger on why.
I let out a muffled curse and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to make these thoughts stop.
I stayed like that for a solid ten minutes, using the breathing techniques I’d learned in yoga until I felt marginally better, then I soaped up quickly and rinsed off. By the time I stepped from the shower and climbed into my pajamas, I was ready to face him.
No big deal. It was just Sam, after all. We’d crawl into our respective beds and watch some bad movie on TV. Totally normal, just like every other night we’d spent together.
I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
Walking back into the room, I pasted on a smile and got ready to suggest a movie, only to find my gaze drawn to Sam’s chiseled, naked chest. He was changing into his pajamas, too, and the low-slung fleece pants did nothing to make him look less like an off-duty superhero.
Son of a—
“Movie?” I croaked.
He grinned. “Great minds. But first, I wanted to say—I know you’re going through a lot with this Trevor thing and, for what it’s worth, I think you’re better off. I never thought he was the one.”
Are you applying for the job? I wanted to ask. Instead, I swallowed hard. “Thanks.”
“I mean, he just wasn’t good enough. Not for you.”
I climbed into my bed and snuggled down into the pillows and then turned to look at him. The knot in my belly tightened at the solemn expression on his beautiful face.
“I appreciate that, Sam. You’re a good friend.”
He turned away but not before I saw a flicker of…something in his eyes.
Something that made my whole body go up in flames.
Chapter Six
Sam
If I’d thought listening to Maggie take a shower in the next room had been hard on me—literally—the next two hours were the longest of my life.
We lay just an arm’s length apart as we watched some mindless movie starring Will Ferrell. Or, at least she did. I just pretended to watch it as my brain ran until there was nothing left in it but fumes.
Did she really mean that brother-sister thing?
And, if she did, then why had she been giving me looks I could only describe as hungry as the night had progressed?