Renee knew if she allowed her smile to slip for a moment,
she would start bawling her eyes out.
“You sleep in here,” Colton announced, tossing her bags onto
the wide bed. “I’ll be next door.” He left the room and the door shut. The
walls in this residence were diametrically different to the worn elegance of
his Spanish home. No sound penetrated between the rooms.
Renee sat on the bed and simply stared at the floor. The
carpet was beautiful, a soft grey with the faintest hints of a pattern in the
weave. It matched the coloring of the bedding and the rest of the room. The
monochromatic tones were soothing, easing some of her tension after the day of
hectic travel.
She slipped off her shoes and crept into the hall. Peeking
around the corner, she double-checked his door was shut, then went back out to
the main room.
The condo was in the upper half of a skyscraper, looking out
over the lights of downtown London. Giggles rose up inside her as she took in
the view out the floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows. Real giggles, not ones
dredged up to dispel her worry and fear.
She had not realized what Colton meant when he said he was
wealthy. “Just my luck” she had quipped to her parents, likely now fast asleep
in their luxury hotel. Rosa and X were lodged in yet another small house, commuting
to work so Colton could have his condo to himself.
Not anymore. Renee scowled at her translucent reflection.
She should have gone with her parents. No one knew her here and likely wouldn’t
care if she was around or not. Especially if all his friends were of Felicia
and Y‘s sort.
Remembered mortification made Renee cringe. What do you do
or say when a six foot, one-hundred twenty pound beauty slinks across the floor
and calls you a cow? Most of her, the rational part of her mind that didn’t
have a constant headache, knew that her own weight was perfectly healthy, that
she was pretty, and that personality was more important anyway. The other part
of her…the other part of her needed to get some sleep and stop worrying about
it.
Apparently the floors were built to be silent as well.
“What are you doing up?”
Renee jumped and whirled around. Colton turned on a light,
scowling across the room at her.
“It’s late.”
Renee summoned up her tartness. “And since I haven’t had a
curfew since junior high…”
His scowl only deepened.
“You need to rest.”
Of course he was right. He was always right, but she refused
to admit it. “So do you,” she retorted. “Why aren’t you in bed?”
She had him there. He winced a little and looked away. He
was really bad at lying. She wondered at him being a successful businessman.
Didn’t that involve him making shady deals with unsuspecting buyers?
He sighed and looked sheepish now. “I just wanted to check the front door.”
As she had been contemplating checking the door herself,
notwithstanding the armed doorman, he keycode in the elevator and the
electronic doorlock, she said nothing. He grunted and went to the foyer. Renee
shook her head in disbelief. This apartment had a foyer. And cashmere throws on
the leather couches. Silk sheets?
“What are the sheets made of?”
Colton looked confused. It made him look younger and
endearing. “Sheets?”
“The sheets, in the bedrooms. What are they made of?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Why?”
Renee smiled for real for the first time all day.
“Nevermind. Go to bed.”
He grunted and left. She sighed and went to her own room,
hoping tomorrow would finally be better.
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