Olivia
The week pasts by quickly. My apartment still needs to be fixed and I shouldn't be happy about it. I'm loving living with Carter. We drive together to work every time, I even join him on his morning runs.
It shouldn't be this easy with all the sexual tension between us, but it is. We both know nothing can happen deep down.
I left Tallulah with my friend Scarlett, she came here for a long weekend to promote her new makeup store and I need to catch up with her. But lately, it has been busy since she lives in New York and barely visits.
We have a 14-hour flight that I'm not looking forward but I know it will be worth it. I've seen pictures of the hotel we're staying in and it looks unreal.
"You want anything to drink?" Carter asks.
"Anything that goes well with Xanax it's fine," I say and he chuckles.
"You really don't like flying?"
"It's not that I don't like it. It's weird thinking I don't have anything underneath me. Usually, I wouldn't take one but a 14-hour flight? I'm thinking about taking this whole box," I joke.
"Alright, let me get you a glass of water," he motions for the flight attendant that practically jumps at the opportunity "Can you get us a glass of water?" she nods immediately with a way too friendly smile that I want to smack from her face. I don't know what's going on but I'm feeling very jealous, I usually keep it to myself but this level of jealousy is something new.
I hope that when I wake up I'll be in Palma or at least really close.
My wish realizes. I wake up as we're landing.
"Hey," Carter smiles.
"Did you sleep? my voice's raspy and I rub my eyes.
"Yeah, just woke up too,"
Of course. He looks the exact same, so put together.
Palma is the dream. Everything so respectful to all of the pictures I've seen. So many palm trees and so many couples. It's hot just like we thought it would be and we're now on our way to the hotel.
We're greeted by Mr. Roth "Welcome! How was your flight?"
"To be honest, we slept most of the trip," Carter says while shaking his hand and the man chuckles "The flights are way too long," he nods in agreement and walks us to the lobby.
He gives us a quick tour of the hotel and the public places.
"I'll walk you to your room," he smiles.
"Room?" I ask, panic settling in.
"Yes, I got you the suite. You and Mr. Saunders are married right?" my mouth opens but nothing comes out of it. All this time he's been calling me Mrs. and I didn't realize or even linked it to this possibility. I can see Carter is amused by this, his smirk grows every second.
"We're not married," I blurt out.
"I'm so sorry, I just assumed. You were the one doing the business meeting and I just thought,"
Carter interrupts him "It's fine Mr. Roth, you had every right to assume that. We'll just find Vi another room,"
If Mr. Roth face was any indication of what was happening I was sure it was bad.
"All the rooms are booked for the weekend," his words are barely audible and all I want is to run inside the room and lock myself.
"There's no problem, we'll make it work. Don't worry about it Mr. Roth," Carter assures him and the man nods before saying goodbye and apologizing one more time.
I should be thrilled I'm sharing a bed with Carter, instead, I'm panicking and I don't know why. Am I afraid I'll see right through me? Am I afraid of letting something slip while we're here? I don't know the answer to those. All I know is that my poor heart is hammering against my rib cage.
Carter seems to feel my hesitation and worry, he moves closer and puts his hand on my shoulder "It's okay, I'll sleep on the couch if you want,"
"No," I answer quickly, way too quickly.
"No?" he raises a brow and there's a hint of a smile forming on his pink full lips.
"No. I mean, we're both adults here. I think we can enjoy a king-sized bed without..."
"Fucking," he finishes and I nod. God, I need to put myself together.
I look around the room "This is even beautiful in person," I say and he nods in agreement.
"I know we came here for a business weekend but I made my decision a long time ago. I'm buying the hotel. So all the work you need to do, you're doing it on Tuesday, back in the office. Enjoy the beach, the pool, the spa. Whatever you want, charge it on me."
He pops the bottle of champagne that had been delivered at the same time we were talking with Mr. Roth and offers me a flute glass "To a new beginning," we clink glasses.
God, what a new beginning it would be indeed.