Page 98 of My Best French Wedding

She kissed him again, keeping her hand low and tight on his behind. Now that she’d blazed that trail, it was fair game—and Walter’s ass felt like a safe place to start before things really escalated. There had to be a graceful way to ease onto the bed without either of them chipping a tooth. Hildy was attempting a slow sag when her phone buzzed.

“Ignore that,” she told Walter, breaking away long enough to drop onto the edge of the mattress. She patted the space next to her thigh.

He sank down beside her, and Hildy managed to get them horizontal without too much struggle. They stayed like that for a while, lying on their sides, facing each other, lips and tongues togetherwhile their hands wandered. She wanted to close her eyes and savor the feeling of Walter touching her, but couldn’t seem to stop her own restless exploration, from his ears to his shoulders and chest. When her fingers brushed against the button at the waistband of his shorts, Hildy pulled away just far enough to look him in the eye.

“It’s actually a snap,” he whispered. “Not a button. Just FYI.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

“Any time.”

Her fingers had just started tugging on the pull of his zipper when the hotel phone on the bedside table rang, the sudden burst of shrillness startling them both. Her hand jerked, bringing her knuckles into contact with a sensitive part of Walter’s anatomy. She wasn’t experienced enough to know whether his yelp meant she’d hurt him, or the opposite.

“Should you get that?” His voice was slightly strangled.

As much as she wanted to ignore the call, Hildy was afraid whoever it was might come knocking if she didn’t answer. Sighing, she rolled over and grabbed the receiver.

“Hello?”

Ten seconds later, Hildy’s insides had turned to ice. The freezing sensation spread from her stomach to her heart and then to her face. She was dimly aware that Walter was watching her with concern.

The person at the front desk was waiting for a response. Hildy needed a defibrillator for her brain.

“Tell him… I just got out of the shower,” she stammered, with none of her usual flair for ad-libbing. “I’ll be down in ten—fifteen minutes. Tell him not to come up,” she added, with a sudden stab of panic.

Hildy let go of the phone. She had considered beating herself to death with it, but she didn’t have the strength—or the time.

“Hildy?” Walter asked, placing a tentative hand on her arm. Itwas a sympathetic gesture, as if she needed another sign that the romantic portion of the evening was over. “Is everything okay?”

“My uncle’s here.”

He scrambled to his feet. “Here—at the hotel?”

“I told him not to come. It’s so typical of him to show up anyway.”

“He wanted to be here for the awards?”

Hildy shrugged. Uncle Richard would claim he was there to support her, but he undoubtedly had other reasons for making an appearance. Throwing his weight around, glad-handing a few cronies, being fawned over—the usual.

“That’s kind of nice,” Walter pushed back, ever so gently.

“Is it, Walter?” She cast a significant glance at the front of his shorts, still gaping open. He adjusted himself before zipping up his fly. Now all he needed was a duffel bag to hide the evidence of what they’d been doing.

“What’s the plan?” He looked around the room, from the tangled sheets to the trail of rose petals. “Do you want me to help clean up?”

She shook her head. “I need to get dressed and get down to the lobby before he decides to come up here.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

Hildy could tell he wanted her to say no, but she wasn’t ready to introduce him to her family. That would require more preparation—on both sides. She’d been a little too focused on getting Walter naked to worry about explaining her life story.

“Sorry,” she said, as if that would soften the blow of kicking him out.

“That’s okay.” He leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “I’ll see you later?”

It was a classic Walter response: hopeful but trying not to push. Hildy’s heart squeezed with affection. “I’ll call you.”

She wanted it to be tonight, but there was no telling how longit would take to manage her uncle, and Hildy was tense enough without worrying about Walter waiting for her.