Page 65 of Heal Me, Love Me

Across the pickup lane, a black Escalade pulled up to the curb. It matched the description Grant Bishop had sent two days ago with the hotel confirmation, the gym address, the schedule, and the driver’s name. I was used to having details laid out for me while in the Air Force, but this felt different. He hadn’t given me orders; he’d made things easy, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it yet.

The driver stepped out, scanned the crowd, then lifted his chin when he spotted me.

“That your guy?” Keaton asked.

“Looks like it.”

We crossed to the SUV, and Josh confirmed my name before loading our bags into the back. Keaton climbed in first, and I followed, grateful for the air-conditioning as soon as the door shut.

A few minutes later, the airport slipped out of sight. Keaton sat beside me, sunglasses still on, his gaze fixed on the window as he took in our surroundings. He was close enough that I felt him there, but with Josh in the front seat, neither of us reached for more.

“Nervous?” Keaton asked after a few minutes.

“Not really.”

His brows lifted.

I let out a slow breath. “Okay. Maybe a little.”

“I figured.”

“I’m glad you’re here, though.”

“Me too.”

The hotel was about twenty minutes from the airport, set back from a road lined with restaurants, gas stations, and shopping centers. It wasn’t flashy, just a clean business hotel with palm trees near the entrance and a small pond off to one side.

The driver pulled beneath the covered hotel entrance and got out before either of us could open a door. Keaton and I stepped out as Josh unloaded our bags from the back. “Thanks,” I said, taking mine from him.

“No problem. Grant asked me to stay available this afternoon,” Josh replied. “Just text when you’re ready to head to Atlantic.”

“Appreciate it.”

He gave me a card with his cell number, then got back into the SUV while Keaton and I walked inside.

Check-in went smoothly, mostly because Grant had handled everything before we arrived. The woman behind the desk gave me two key cards, pointed out the elevators, and told us breakfast ended at nine-thirty.

Keaton took one of the cards from me as we walked away. “You hungry?”

“Always.”

“Do we have time to grab some food?”

“Yeah. Grant said to come to the gym after we get settled.”

“Okay, cool. I could go for tacos.”

“Tacos it is then.”

Our room was at the end of the hall on the fifth floor, away from the elevators. I unlocked the door and we stepped inside.

Keaton dropped his bag near mine, taking in the room before turning back to me. “Two beds. Cute.”

I set my duffel near the dresser. “It’s because Grant doesn’t know about us.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean we have to use them both.”

A laugh slipped out of me. “No?”