“Yes. I’m fine.”
She doesn’t sound it, but I don’t press it. It’s none of my business.
“Okay, well if you need anything, just press reception on the phone in your room, and it’ll bring you straight through to me. Goodnight, Mia.” I step back, ready to leave.
Her brows knit together. “How do you know my name?”
Damn, I should have called her Ms. Monroe, but something about her feels familiar like I should always be calling her Mia.
And now I sound like a stage five clinger.
Awesome.
“I got it from your details when you filled the form in.” I smile.
“Oh, right. Yes.” She laughs a little sound, and it hits me straight in the chest, leaving a tingling fullness there.
What the hell?
“What should I call you?” she asks.
There are a million different ways I could answer this, none of them clean.
I lean my shoulder against the wall and push my hand into my pocket. “Jordan.”
She turns and mirrors me, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Is this your hotel, Jordan?” My name sounds amazing on her lips.
I let out a laugh. “No. My dad’s. He’s away taking care of my Grandpa at the moment, so I’m holding the fort.”
“Oh, nothing serious I hope?”
“No, just a minor op, but he’s off his feet for a few weeks, so Dad’s gone to take care of him.”
She nods her pretty head. “Well, thank you. Again.” She smiles once more before disappearing into the room.
The door shuts. I hear the lock click.
I lean back against the wall.
So I have a very hot, nervous one minute, friendly the next, chick on my hands who I cannot have sex with under any circumstances.
Should be interesting.
Feeling unsatisfied … but satisfied that my only paying guest is settled for the night, I push off the wall and head downstairs to feed my other guest.
He’s actually more of a resident than a guest. Guests usually leave, but he’s been a permanent fixture here for over a year now.
He makes for a great alarm system, but he’s slobbery and hairy, and the only one I’ve ever let sleep in my bed. He’s a mouth we could do without feeding, but when he turned up at our door a starving puppy just over a year ago, I couldn’t turn him away. So we kept him, and now we have a dog. A huge f**king dog.
I go to the kitchen and get his clean bowl off the drainer. I grab a can of his favorite food from the pantry and empty it into the bowl. Jesus, this stuff stinks. I mix in his biscuits just as he likes and call for him.
“Dozer, dinner’s up.”
I hear his huge paws pound against the floor as he makes his way from our private living room down the hall.
He comes barreling through the open kitchen door and straight into my legs, nearly knocking me off my feet. “Jesus Christ, Dozer!” I growl, steadying myself on the counter.
With a grunt he sits by the backdoor with a dopey look on his face.
“Bulldozer.” I laugh, shaking my head.
I pick up his bowl and cross the kitchen. On the way, I grab a beer from the refrigerator.
I turn on the outside light and open the back door, letting Dozer out. I set his bowl on the step, and his nose goes straight in it.
I sit on the step beside him and take a swig of my beer.
“We’ve got a guest, Dozer, and she’s hot, really hot, but flighty, so no sniffing round her as we don’t want to scare her away. And your ugly mug would definitely scare her.”
Dozer lifts his head, gives me a dirty look, and grunts.
“What?” I chuckle.
Then he farts.
“Fuckin’ hell, Dozer!” I bury my nose in my arm. “You stinky bastard! I bet you did that on purpose! There’s no way you’re sleeping in my bed tonight after that!”
I’m trying not to laugh because laughing means inhaling, and that dog’s farts are killer. Seriously.
Dozer shoves me hard with his head, knocking me to my side. He starts climbing on me, nudging my head with his wet snout.
“Get off me, you crazy f**kin’ dog!” I’m breathless, laughing, which means inhaling, and now I’m gagging. “Jesus, Dozer, you stink! Okay! Okay! I take it back, you can sleep in my bed! Now get the hell off me!” I shove at him.
Satisfied he’s won, he climbs off me and goes back to his food.
Sitting, I pick up my beer. “Crazy ass dog,” I mutter, chuckling.
I take another swig of beer, and lean back on my hand. I stretch my legs out and look up at the night sky.
Tonight is going to be a long night, knowing I’ve got Sex Goddess upstairs, in one of my beds, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. And the only person I’ll be sharing a bed with tonight is Dozer and his farts – awesome.
I bet Mia sleeps in those sexy negligées. The see through kind. Without any underwear.
Goddamn it to hell! It’s going to be a long two f**king weeks.
I’m going to have to find someone else to keep me busy for the time Mia’s here to ensure I keep my hands off her. Someone uncomplicated and easy. Won’t be hard to find. There are always plenty of girls here vacationing with their families, bored and in need of entertainment.
The kind of entertainment I’m perfect at providing.
I’ll go up to Mountain Resort tomorrow and find myself a new f**k buddy.
With that thought in mind, I go inside to take a cold shower to get me through the rest of the night.