CHAPTER TWO: Double Booked and Double Crossed
1266 Words
“AH! What the f**k, get out of my room!”
Brittany grabbed the sheet, yanking it up to her chest as her heart practically leaped out of her body. Her voice echoed through the room like a gunshot.
The man standing in the doorway didn’t even flinch.
He just stepped in.
And damn!
He was tall. Broad shoulders. Sharp jawline. Hair tousled like he’d just run his fingers through it. His black coat clung to his frame, soaked in the rain, his white shirt underneath nearly see-through and clinging to muscles that clearly didn’t skip gym days with his rose tattoo on his chest. His face was calm, unreadable, but his eyes? Intense. Piercing. Like he saw everything.
Every inch of her.
And that was when Brittany’s brain short-circuited.
Her panic slammed right into… awe.
What was she supposed to do now? Keep shouting? Keep covering? Keep pretending she wasn’t two seconds from a nervous breakdown and an orgasm?
Her voice came out weaker this time. “I said, what are you doing in my room?”
The man raised his eyebrows casually and shut the door behind him. “You know, if you're going to have that much fun alone, you might want to lock the door.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” He walked past her like he owned the place, tossing his box on the other bed.
“Whoa! no. This is my room,” she snapped, scrambling to her feet, the sheet wrapped tightly around her. “I paid for this. I checked in. You need to leave.”
He gave her a look; calm, cool, annoyingly smug. “Room 406, right?”
“Yes!”
“Yeah,” he said, pulling out his key card. “Me too.”
She stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “That’s impossible,” she screamed with certainty.
“Well, unless I just broke in and printed this from my imagination, I think it’s pretty damn possible, right?” he said while flaunting his key card at her face.
She marched over to the hotel phone, snatched it from the desk, and dialed reception.
“Hello? Yeah, this is Brittany Blair in Room 406. There’s a man in my room claiming it’s his too. What’s going on?”
A pause.
Then, “Oh… Miss Blair, we sincerely apologize. It seems there was a system error, and the room was double booked for tonight. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience,” the receptionist replied in a low tone.
Brittany’s mouth dropped open. “You did what?”
“I understand how upsetting this is. Unfortunately, we are at full capacity. The rest of the rooms are currently under renovation. We can’t relocate either of you tonight.”
“So what you’re saying we just have to share? I didn't pay a huge amount of money for a premium master-class bedroom to share with a stranger!”
“Well, you heard her well,” the mystery man replied in a cocky tone while rolling his eyes.
“Arggghhhh!!!” Brittany exclaimed.
“Unless one of you wants to sleep in the lobby, I’m afraid so.”
Brittany looked at the man. He was casually peeling off his coat, like this was just another Tuesday.
She turned her back to the phone. “There’s no way I’m sleeping in the lobby.”
The receptionist cleared her throat. “Then I suggest… try to work something out. Just for tonight. Again, we deeply apologize.”
Brittany slammed the phone down before she could explode.
“This is ridiculous.”
He smirked. “Let me guess, they offered you the lobby too?”
She folded her arms. “You’re going.”
He kicked off his shoes. “Nope.”
“Fine. But just so we’re clear, you’re sleeping on the floor.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And why would I sleep on the floor?”
“Because I was here first.”
“And I paid too,” he said unapologetically.
She narrowed her eyes. “I will literally scream.”
“Go ahead darling,” he said, flopping onto the bed. “We’re already famous for the last five minutes.”
She stormed over and yanked a pillow from the bed, tossing it onto the floor. “You. Floor. Now.”
“I don’t do floors.”
“Well, then I guess you don't sleep either.”
He looked up at her, amused. “Look, why don’t we just split the bed? It’s king-sized. I won’t touch you, I promise.”
She hesitated.
He raised his hands in surrender. “Unless you want me to.”
“Ugh, you are insufferable.”
“Most people say charming,” he said while being cocky.
She groaned, yanked the sheet tighter around her, and climbed into the bed, turning her back to him. “We’re putting a pillow wall between us.”
“Deal.”
A few silent minutes passed. Just the soft hum of the drizzling rain outside and her blood pressure trying to return to normal.
Her phone lit up again.
Bianca.
She sighed, grabbed it, and answered.
“Hey…”
“Brittany? You okay? You sound… tense.”
“I’m fine,” she said, glancing sideways at the man lying beside her, arms folded behind his head like he had not a single care in the world. “Better, actually.”
“You sure?”
“Well, a stranger just walked into my life. Literally. And now I have to share a bed with him.”
A beat of silence.
Then Bianca giggled.
“Oh my God. Is he hot?”
“Bianca!”
“I’m just saying, maybe the universe is giving you a little… payback gift.”
Brittany rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that.”
“Does he smell good?”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Just make good use of the stranger, sis. You never know what tomorrow might hold!”
Brittany groaned and hung up. She turned her face to the pillow, letting out a long breath.
“Let me guess,” he said beside her. “Sister?”
“Yup.”
“Did she tell you to make good use of me?”
She turned her head to glare at him. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He chuckled.
A few minutes passed again in silence. Then…
“Are you really just going to sleep like that?”
She didn’t even look at him. “Yes.”
“Isn’t this boring?”
“I don’t care.”
“Suit yourself.”
A pause.
“… Want to play a game?”
She snorted. “No.”
“Poker.”
That got her attention. She turned. “Poker?”
“You could earn a lot of benefits from it.” He smirked. “Unless I win.”
“You won’t. I’m good at poker.”
“Then prove it.”
And that’s how she ended up sitting across from him on the bed, playing hand after hand. Brittany kept winning. Again. And again.
And again.
Until finally, he leaned back, looking almost… bored.
She raised an eyebrow. “Giving up already?”
“Nope,” he said slowly, his eyes locked on hers. “Just thinking…”
She watched him suspiciously. “About what?”
A grin curled on his lips.
“… How about we raise the stakes?”
She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of stakes?”
He leaned in, voice low, teasing.
“Strip poker.”
- Writer
