A Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hugo Romero did his best to remain calm as he schooled his expression into something resembling less of a serial killer and more of a mildly pissed off man as he glared at the two front office staff, one male and one female, of the five-star hotel he was supposed to stay in for the next couple of days. He had landed in Saint Louis, Missouri, early that morning for a business meeting, and he had contacted the hotel, informing the front desk officer that he would arrive at the hotel around two or three o’clock in the afternoon. He was the owner of Hassle-Free, one of the most successful event planning companies in the USA, and a representative of a beverage company in Saint Louis wanted to meet up with him to discuss a possible long-term contract for the next five years for all of their events.

Since his flight had reached Saint Louis about forty minutes later than scheduled, he had no time to check in at the hotel first. Instead, he had brought along his small luggage to the meeting with the representative of the beverage company. The four-hour meeting had been a huge success, and he now got himself a brand-new client. Everything turned to s**t upon arriving at the hotel. The front desk officer he had talked to earlier that morning had forgotten to lock down the room he had booked several days ago, so the officer on the next shift had relinquished the booking to someone else. At the moment, he was cold, exhausted, drowsy, and enraged. He was waiting to speak to the hotel manager at the moment.

“You can’t be serious!”

Hugo was startled by the furious tone of the man standing approximately one foot away from him. The stranger looked rather familiar. He stared for a few seconds longer before remembering where he had last seen those beautiful green eyes and thick black hair. His own amber eyes and black hair were boring by comparison. The two of them had boarded the same flight from San Francisco. Hugo didn’t usually pay much attention to his fellow passengers, but this man was unbelievably gorgeous. The stranger was about an inch shorter than his own five-feet, eleven inches height, and probably weighed ten to fifteen pounds lighter than his own one hundred and ninety pounds, but he couldn’t deny how incredibly good-looking the unknown man was.

“Mr. Romero,” an older woman greeted him, startling him out of his reverie. “My name is Miranda. Please accept my sincerest apology on behalf of the hotel for the inconvenience. Due to the snowstorm raging outside, all of our rooms are fully booked, except for the presidential suite on the nineteenth floor. As one of our most loyal and most frequent customers, the management will be more than pleased to offer you the suite at no extra charge. I’m really sorry about this incident.”

Hugo nodded at Miranda. “Thank you, Miranda. I appreciate this.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Romero. Do you need any assistance with your luggage, sir?”

Hugo smiled at Miranda and lifted his luggage higher. “Just a light carry-on. I’ll be fine. May I have my access cards, please?”

“Certainly, sir.”

A few minutes later, Hugo accepted two access cards from Miranda. He was about to head toward the elevator when he caught sight of the attractive man pacing back and forth the hotel lobby with his smartphone against his ear. He could catch a word or two here and there as the man ranted to someone on the other end of the call. He waited until the man was done before approaching the stranger.

“Good afternoon.”

A pair of pretty jade-green eyes gazed straight at him. “Oh! Hey, man. Uh, good afternoon.”

“I’m Hugo Romero. Did the hotel lose your reservation, too?”

“Javier Gisbert, and yeah. Well, not this hotel. The pharmaceutical firm I’m working for will never fork out the money to pay for such an expensive hotel. I was supposed to stay at a three-star hotel about two blocks away, but it had somehow made the mistake of giving away my room to someone else. It wasn’t the best news to receive after a tiring meeting with a client. Then there’s this blizzard outside. I heard it’s going to get even worse tonight. Every hotel in the vicinity is fully booked. I have to search for a motel or something, so I’m asking Justin, the HR manager at the company I’m working for and also one of my best friends, to help me make a reservation. He can’t find any for the past two hours, and I’m getting rather desperate.”

Hugo was amazed and impressed at Javier’s long ranting, but he was also rather amused. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Javier shrugged. “Just my luck, I guess. My apology for rambling at you. I’m stressed out and exhausted.”

“It’s cool. I can understand your frustration. This hotel had forgotten to make a note on my reservation that I would be checking in quite late, and by the time I got here, my room was already taken by someone else.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

Javier sighed. “f*****g blizzard.”

Hugo noticed the vexed expression on Javier’s face, and he decided to take a chance. Admittedly, he wasn’t thinking properly. He had an instant attraction toward Javier since he had first laid eyes on the man at the airport in San Francisco, so his upper brain wasn’t working the way it should be at the moment. He didn’t think Javier was a criminal. At least he hoped not because he was about to risk it all.

“Javier.”

Javier, who had been staring at his smartphone, glanced up at Hugo. “Yeah?”

“The hotel compensated by giving me the presidential suite. If you don’t mind sharing the king-sized bed with me, we can get you registered at the front desk.”

The astonishment was written all over Javier’s face. “That will be awesome, man. Are you sure you don’t mind? I can sleep on the couch or something.”

“The king-sized bed will be more than spacious enough for the two of us. We can sleep on the same bed for a couple of nights.”

“Just one night. I’ll be leaving Saint Louis on a red-eye tomorrow.”

“Back to San Francisco?” Hugo asked as he led Javier toward the front desk, placing one hand on the man’s lower back.

Javier’s eyes widened. “How—?”

“I was on the same flight as you were earlier today.”

Javier’s bewildered expression quickly changed into a joyful one, complete with a huge grin on his face. “Oh, that’s such a lucky coincidence. Small world.”

“Indeed.”

As Javier got himself registered into the presidential suite, Hugo knew he should remove his palm from the man’s lower back, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He liked being in such close proximity to Javier. Touching Javier felt as if he was laying his claim on the man, which was objectively creepy and insane. He and Javier weren’t lovers or anything similar. They were, more or less, two strangers who were about to share a hotel bed for one night, but his traitorous c**k was hard and throbbing inside his black slacks. He couldn’t stop fantasizing about the possibility of f*****g Javier. Fortunately, he was wearing a pair of fitted trunks, so his erection wasn’t making an obscene bulge at the front of his slacks.

Less than ten minutes later, he and Javier entered the presidential suite on the nineteenth floor via the private elevator that was reserved for that particular floor only. At two thousand and seven hundred square-feet, the suite was spacious. He and Javier checked out the bathroom at the same time. The tiles were made of marble. It had two large mirrors and two sinks, and there were ten fluffy bath-towels in the shelves underneath them. There were four small towels hanging neatly on either side of the sinks. The bathroom even had a large flat-screen television on the wall right in front of the large bathtub, which had a view of the Mississippi river thanks to the full glass wall next to it. Then there was a huge shower area in one corner with glass walls all around it.

“s**t! Is this how the other half lives?”

Hugo could feel the heat of embarrassment rushing up his neck and cheeks. He wondered if Javier was one of those people who hated wealthy folks, so he decided to provide a casual response. Or he tried to at least.

“Uh, I guess. Do you…do you abhor rich people?”

Javier shook his head. “I envy them, but I don’t care about them one way or another.”

“Cool.”

Hugo stepped out from the bathroom and walked past the huge living room. He didn’t have to check if Javier was following him. He could hear the other man’s inhalation and exhalation quite close behind him. The living room floor was covered in dark, gleaming wood. The huge glass wall gave an unobstructed view of the Mississippi river and the Gateway Arch in spite of the snowstorm outside. There were two wide couches made of a light gray fabric and two single light brown couches. There was a vase of white roses on the top of the metal table in the center. The dining area, which was right next to the living room, had an oval table with six chairs all around it.

Then he trailed after Javier into the bedroom. Again, he could enjoy the sight of the Mississippi river and the Gateway Arch, thanks to the glass wall. There was a king-sized bed against the wall, a bedside table on each side of the bed, and a huge couch with the same light-gray fabric as the one in the living room. However, the couch was long instead of wide across, so Hugo could probably extend his legs all the way to the end. There was a small glass table next to the couch. There was a much larger flat-screen television on the opposite wall from the bed compared to the one inside the bathroom. Hugo could feel the soft carpet underneath the soles of his feet as he stared at the bed.

“Last chance to change your mind.”

Hugo swiveled his head toward Javier. “What?”

Javier gestured at the couches outside in the living room. “I can always sleep on the couch. I don’t mind.”

“No!” Hugo shouted before wincing a little at his outburst. “I…I mean, it’s just for one night. Besides, look at the bed. We can fit three people on it easily.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Hugo answered while forcing his traitorous mind to stop giving him images of him and Javier naked and sweaty on the bed.

Javier grinned. “Okay then. Do you mind if I use the bathroom first?”

“Not at all. Go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

Hugo expected Javier to grab some clean clothes from the bag and head toward the bathroom. Instead, he was treated to the delectable sight of Javier’s smooth, muscular chest, six-pack stomach with a thin trail of hair in the center going downward, and those muscled forearms with a light growth of hair all over them. He didn’t know if he should be disappointed or relieved when Javier only removed his slacks and kept the tight trunks on. He gulped as he ogled Javier’s perky ass and muscular legs moving farther away from him in the direction of the bathroom. He groped at his pulsing c**k through his slacks and groaned under his breath. He would have to jerk off and come at least twice while showering later. Otherwise, he might end up humping against Javier like a horny, desperate dog in heat later that evening while they were both asleep. That would be mortifying. Besides, he didn’t know if Javier was a straight man or if the man played on the same team as he was. He might end up with a fist to his face if he accidentally made the wrong move toward Javier, and he certainly didn’t want that to occur. He resigned himself to a freezing, cold shower later. It was one surefire way to keep his libido in check.