Hayden pauses and stares at me for a moment before reaching into his back pocket. “Here,” he says, withdrawing his phone and tapping it on. After a few swipes, he extends it toward me. “Send yourself a text.”

  I nod and take his phone. “Exchange of info,” I say. “Smart.”

  “Give me a holler if you need rescuing from tan suit guy,” he says. “I’ll come running.”

  I start a new text message and hit send, prompting my phone to chime from my clutch on the dresser. “You’ll come walking,” I say, eying his knee as I pass his phone back. “Doctor’s orders.”

  He smirks and pockets his phone. “Right.”

  We sit still, staring at each other across the gap between beds. My pulse quickens once again, waiting for one of us to acknowledge how incredible last night was.

  Hayden clears his throat. “Well. I should get going…” he says again, though he doesn’t move.

  I nod, barely breathing. “Yeah, maybe.”

  Tell him you had fun.

  Tell him you like him.

  Fucking say something.

  “I like fun,” I say.

  Hayden blinks. “So do I?”

  “I mean—” I shake my head. “I meant that… I had fun last night. It was fun.”

  He smiles. “Yeah. Me, too.”

  “Maybe tonight…” Oh, God, am I really? “Tonight, we could get together again?”

  “Have some more fun?” he asks.

  I hold my breath. “Yes.”

  “Sure.” He stands up and walks over to the chair in the corner to grab his jacket. “I’d like that.”

  I try to stand but my spine feels like jelly. I stay seated, watching him head toward the door. “Okay,” my voice squeaks. “Bye, Hayden.”

  He opens the door and smiles at me. “Bye, Penny,” he says.

  My cheeks catch fire. I manage to stay upright until he exits into the hallway and lets the door close behind him. When it finally latches, I fall back onto the mattress and smother my face with the nearest pillow.

  That. just. happened.

  Chapter 10

  Hayden

  I look both ways up and down the empty hallway. Running into Penelope’s mother right now would be more than a little awkward but, at the same time, it would sell our lie just a little bit more.

  Though, is it really even a lie at this point?

  Last night was... Fuck. I’m not even sure what last night even was.

  But I’m dying to find out.

  I walk down the hall toward the elevator and slap the call button. As I wait, I reach for my phone. There was a missed call from Graham when I checked it before but I’ll get back to him later. I tap into my messages instead, quickly saving Penelope’s information into my contacts.

  “Have yourself a good night?”

  I glance over my shoulder, partially startled by the deep voice out of nowhere.

  Dylan stands behind me, his arms crossed tightly to make himself look big and tough, I gather.

  I purposefully look down the hallway toward Penelope’s door and nod. “It was fantastic, actually,” I answer. “Thanks for asking.”

  He doesn’t move. Just stares at me beneath his hard, crinkled brow with that same territorial sneer I’ve seen on him since the bar yesterday.

  Man, Penelope was not kidding about this guy. Who knows what the hell is going on in his head but whatever it is, I don’t exactly like what I’ve seen so far.

  Unfortunately, Penelope doesn’t seem like the confrontational sort so she’s not going to push back against him anytime soon.

  Me, on the other hand...

  “All right...” I clear my throat as I turn toward Dylan. “Listen, McCooly...”

  “McCoy,” he corrects.

  “Let me give you a friendly word of advice,” I say. “When a lady says no, repeatedly, over the course of ten years, give or take... she means no.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, flexing his jaw.

  “Then, allow me to dumb it down for you in a way your primitive, caveman brain will understand.” I take a step forward. “Back off Penelope, okay? She’s not interested.”

  His eye twitches. “You entitled pricks.”

  I cock my head. “Excuse me?”

  “With your luxury hotels and yachts and flashy bullshit,” he murmurs with bile in his voice. “You think you’re so fucking cool, don’t you?”

  I smirk. “Wouldn’t you?”

  “But I’m onto you, Botsford.”

  I sigh and turn to face the elevator. “Gosh, I can’t wait to hear where this is going.”

  “Twelve weeks? Three days?” He pauses for some sort of effect. “That’s how long you say you and Pen have been together, right?”

  “Twelve weeks, four days, and counting...”

  “Then...” he sidles forward into my eyeline, “how is it that you were in New York that weekend for Opening Day while she was three thousand miles away at her dad’s birthday party?”

  I feign a shiver. “Oh, gee, I dunno, McKyle. How about you let me know once you figure it out?”

  “Oh, I’m fairly sure I’ve already got the two you all figured out,” he says. “Pen’s been dragging her little guy friends to these things since high school to wedge between us—”

  “Sounds like one heck of a hint, bro.”

  “But she only does it to make me jealous.”

  I cringe. “Somehow, I doubt that very much.”

  “I could never prove it before,” he says, “but she made a mistake this year tagging you in.”

  I shrug. “I dunno, man. She really seemed to enjoy it.”

  He ignores the quip but his brow pinches with anger. “That’s the thing about being rich and famous. Everything you do, everywhere you go, is on the internet somewhere and I think it’s really telling that neither of you has even mentioned each other in the time you claim you’ve been together. I think her parents ought to find that real interesting, too.”

  “Glorious social media,” I muse. “I bet that makes it real easy for stalkers to keep tabs on girls who don’t want anything to do with them, but you wouldn’t know anything about that now, would you?”

  “Pen and I were meant to be together,” he says, his voice sliding into some schoolboy desperation. “Someday, she’ll realize that and you’ll be nothing more than a distant mistake we joke about.”

  I snort. “Dude...”

  “Stay away from my girl, rich boy, or I’ll expose your little game.”

  “Stop,” I say. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

  The elevator dings in arrival and the doors slide open.

  I step on, purposefully blocking the entrance as I turn to face him. “You can take the next one,” I say as I tap 25.

  Dylan digs his feet in and straightens his back, trying oh-so-hard to intimidate me while I flash a smile and hold it until the doors close on his face.

  Nice try, Dickweed.

  Penelope is mine.

  I step off onto the 25th floor and take a hard left down the hall toward my room. I pause in front of my door to slide my keycard from my wallet. A door down the hall opens behind me, followed quickly by a deep, soft chuckle.

  “Well, this seems about right.”

  I glance back at Ira as he closes his door behind him. “What does?” I ask.

  “I’m leaving to go to work and you’re coming in from a night out,” he says.

  I laugh as I open my door and turn around to face him, sliding my foot into the frame to keep it propped open. “I wasn’t out. I was just... in another room.”

  He leans his back against his door, getting comfortable. “So, you secured the invite to Ms. Warren’s room after all?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  He raises a brow. “But?”

  “But what?”

  “I sensed a but there.”

  I shake my head. “No but. I spent the night with her.”

  He shifts off the door. “Well, good for you.”

  I exhale. “But...”

  He stops and leans right back into the door. “But?”

  “Okay, so...” I pause, thinking hard about how to express this. “I slept with her,” I say.

  “Right.” He nods. “I figured.”

  “No, like, really slept with her. We didn’t even have sex.”

  Ira laughs a bit too hard. “So, you’re dragging around a pair of blue balls this morning, eh? Go fire one out and sleep it off. You’ll be fine.”

  “No. That’s the thing, Ira. I feel fine. I feel... content and... satisfied, just in a different way.”

  He tilts his head slowly. “Did you two stay up all night?”

  “Yeah, almost.”

  “Talk until the sunrise?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Leave sweet little kisses on each other’s cheeks? Fingers entwined?”

  “Yeah!”

  He sighs. “Gross.”

  I nudge my door open with my rear. “You’re just jealous.”

  “Nope,” he says. “Been there, done that. I’ll take meaningless sex over that any day.”

  “Yeah, you say that now.”

  “I’ve always said that.” He pauses. “You’ve always said that.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind.” I pause as my phone vibrates in my pocket. I fish it out and read Graham’s name with a smile. “Oh, hey, a man who understands human emotion.”

  Ira rolls his eyes and takes off down the hall.

  I step into my room and swipe to answer my phone. “Hey, big brother,” I answer. “You called?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Graham says. “I’m still on Toronto time; forgot it was too early for you.”

  I kick off my shoes. “No problem. How’s the old-new wife?”

  “She’s...” he hesitates, “adjusting.”

  “Uh-oh.” I laugh. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “No, it’s fine. We’re fine. Listen, do you want to tell me why my authorization code was used on a discount for a party of thirty last night?”

  I wince. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Hayden.”

  “Have you checked with the front desk?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” he says. “Rian told me to ask you.”

  I grimace. “Okay, yeah. I did it,” I say.

  “Why?” Graham asks.

  “My girlfriend’s family reunion is in town and I wanted to impress them.” I plop onto the chair at the writing desk. “It worked, by the way. Free money is definitely the way to go if you’re still looking to get in good with Jen’s parents. You know, after that whole eloping without telling them while they were just across the street thing...”

  There’s a long pause.

  “Graham?” I ask.

  “Your what?”

  “My girlfriend,” I repeat.

  “You don’t have a girlfriend.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Since when?!”

  “We’ve been seeing each other for twelve weeks and four days!” I say, testing the lie. “We’re in love.”

  Graham scoffs. “Wow, that really falls apart when you say it out loud, doesn’t it?”

  I sigh. That gossipy bitch. “Ira told you, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah, he told me all about your little crush on your new fake girlfriend,” he says, chuckling.

  “It’s not a crush...” I pause. “Actually, at this point, it might be...”

  “That’s really adorable,” he says. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Look, brother, I think it’s really nice you’re trying to help this woman out.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But leave my code out of it, will you?” he asks. “If Dad notices, he’ll flip.”

  I blow a raspberry. “Please. I can handle Dad.”

  “Hayden.”

  “All right. I won’t use it again. I promise.”

  “Thank you,” he says. “Now, go take a cold shower. Blue balls ain’t nothing to mess with.”

  I hang up with a groan.

  Dammit, Ira.

  Chapter 11

  Penelope

  I pause in front of the mirror to check my hair one last time before stepping out into the hallway. I managed to get cleaned up and dressed with three minutes to spare to make it to the party bus but I’m sure my mother will still consider me late but I’m still buzzing enough from this morning to care about that.

  The door barely closes behind me before I nearly get run over by a housekeeping cart.

  “Whoa!” the girl jumps back, catching it at the last moment. “I’m so sorry. I totally didn’t see you!”

  I look up and smile, recognizing Carly from the night before. “Oh, hey!” I say with a wave. “It’s all right. I’m okay.”

  She exhales hard at my face. “Good. It’s just you. Not that it wouldn’t hurt you or anything but if I smack another old lady with one of these carts by accident, Faye’s gonna have my ass.”

  I laugh. “Don’t worry about it. I’m a tough broad.”

  “Yeah, you are.” She pauses and rests her elbows along the handle. “Last night was fun. It was nice having an extra lady at the table for once.”

  “It was awesome. Thanks for having me.”

  “I’d ask you come back next week, but...” She shrugs.

  “Yeah, my family is just here through the weekend, unfortunately. I would otherwise, though. I had a blast.”

  “Well, I just mean... you know...” Her head tilts. “You were Hayden’s date.”

  I pause. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t mean anything negative by it! Don’t get me wrong,” she says. “You’re awesome. Hayden’s awesome. He’s just a… one night only kind of guy. Usually.”

  “Oh, so you two have…?”

  She snorts. “God, no! He wishes. No, I just hear things from other ladies on staff. Guy basically uses the room chart like a bingo card.”

  “I see…”

  “So, if you guys do end up hanging out again, you can consider yourself a pretty lucky lady. Or unlucky, depending on your perspective, of course.”

  I nod slowly. “Right.”

  Carly lets out a deep breath and gives her cart a little push. “Anyway, I’ve got rooms to clean. See you later, Penelope!” She looks me up and down. “Cute dress. I like it!”

  I step back and glance down at my blue sundress. “Thanks. Bye, Carly.”

  Make that two minutes to spare to make it to the party bus.

  Unfortunately, now I’ll have to get there without as much of my morning buzz.

  A one night only kind of guy?

  Does that mean last night was all we’d have?

  If so, then why did he agree to get together later?

  Or is he just hanging around to get sex and then bounce over to the next room to mark off on his bingo card?

  No, Penelope. This is Hayden you’re thinking about here. Sweet, lovable, fake boyfriend Hayden.

  Actually, that doesn’t make me feel any better.

  That would mean he’s faking and none of this is even real, just like two of you agreed upon in the first place.

  I jolt out of my trance. Shit.

  Make that one minute.

  I rush to the elevator and slap the call button. Thankfully, the doors open automatically and I begin the slow trek down to the lobby.

  “Well, it’s about time.”

  I hear my mother before I even step up onto the rented bus. She sits in the front row next to my father with her sunglasses balanced on the tip of her nose.

  “Sorry,” I say as I pass the driver. “I got mowed down by a runaway housekeeping cart.”

  She pushes her glasses up her nose and gestures to the seat across from them. “Well, sit down. We’re all very hungry.”

  I look forward at the thirty heads scattered around the bus and what was left of my morning buzz practically fades to nothing when I see the only empty seat she’s pointing at.

  Right next to Dylan McCoy.

  Lord, kill me now.

  He smiles wide and taps the seat with his palm.

  Or, you know, just kill him instead.

  I step forward and slowly lower myself into the seat. Maybe I won’t have to talk. Maybe he’ll just sit quietly until we make it to the breakfast diner and then I can bolt away to sit by Trudy and the girls instead.

  “Couldn’t find you last night.”

  Dammit.

  I glance at Dylan out of the corner of my eye. “No?”

  “I was hoping we could talk,” he says.

  “We talked at dinner,” I point out.

  His smiles, his chin flat and uninteresting. “I meant something more private. Just the two of us.”

  I stare daggers at the driver. What the hell is he waiting on? Let’s go.

  “Sorry,” I say. “I met up with some friends.”

  “Well, how about tonight?” he asks. “We could meet at the hotel bar. Have a drink. Catch up.”

  “I have plans tonight, actually,” I say, embracing what’s really true. “I’m hanging out with Maggie and Trudy.”

  “How about after?”

  I exhale slowly. “Dylan…”

  “It’s him, isn’t it?”

  “You mean my boyfriend?”

  His jaw flexes. “He’s not your boyfriend,” he spits, his voice so low even I can barely hear him. “Any moron can see that. You’re not fooling anybody, Pen. Especially not me.”

  The bus revs with life as the driver finally decides to do his damn job.

  I grit my teeth, tasting the words on the tip of my tongue.

  Piss off, Dylan.

  It’s never going to happen.

  Get out of my life.

  Dylan’s face softens. “Christ, I’m sorry, Pen,” he whispers. “I just… I really think we’d have fun together. If you’d just give me another chance. Just one drink. As friends. Tonight.”

  I turn my head toward my mother across the bus. She smiles the moment we make eye contact and gives me a gentle push with her gaze.

  One of these days, I tell myself.

  But I can already tell that day is not today.

  If I don’t agree to this, he’ll just keep bothering me. He might even tell my parents about his obvious suspicions about Hayden and then this weekend will get even more awkward than this ambush.