Page 143 of Whisper Sweet Nothings
“Absolutely, Mr. Chadwick.” He pulled to the side of the road, and I jumped out and bought her the biggest bouquet of pink roses they had.
Thankfully she’d told me her room number. She did that every time she checked into a hotel, because she said if anything happened at the hotel or there was a fire, she wanted me to know her room number in case I needed to send help.
I laughed every time I thought about it.
But it would absolutely make surprising her easier.
Once I was back in the car, we made our way to the hotel. I glanced at my watch, and it was still early here, so she’d probably just be waking up.
“Thanks again for the ride,” I said. I slipped him a generous tip before pushing out of the car.
I couldn’t wait to get there.
Couldn’t wait to see her.
Hold her.
Kiss her.
Tell her everything I’d been holding in.
I glanced around, grateful when a man who looked like he was coming from the gym stepped onto the elevator, and I followed him in. He swiped his key, and I asked him to hit floor seventeen for me. It was one of those hotels that required a key to get to your floor.
He gave me a nod and stepped off on floor five.
I sent Winnie a text as the elevator continued to move.
Hey. Are you up? Do you have time to chat?
Winnie
Yes.
She was being short. She was annoyed with me, and she had every reason to be.
Hell, I was annoyed with myself.
I’d thought I was doing the right thing, and it turned out I was doing everything wrong.
I stepped off the elevator, walked to the end of the long hallway, and stopped in front of her door.
I knocked twice, holding the flowers in front of my face so if she looked through the peephole, she’d see the flowers and not me.
The door opened just a crack, with the chain still engaged.
Atta girl.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
I pulled the flowers away from my face and smiled. “Is now a good time to talk?”
“Archie? Archie!” she gasped, and she pulled on the door several times before realizing she needed to close it to take the chain off.
Once the door opened, I expected her to give me the cold shoulder, but she didn’t. She lunged into my arms, and I lifted her off the ground, her legs coming around my waist as she buried her face in my neck.
Little sobs escaped her throat, and I dropped the flowers on the dresser as the door slammed shut behind us. I walked us to the bed to sit, then settled her onto my lap and wrapped my arms even tighter around her.
“Hey, hey,” I whispered. “I’ve got you, beautiful.”
