I gave him a skeptical glance. “Am I making you late?”
“No.” He smiled confidently as we approached the check-in desk.
“Hi, Jessica,” he said, reading the name of the 30-ish woman behind the counter.
“Hi, may I help you?”
“I hope so,” Luke said, rubbing his chin sheepishly. “I’m Jason Ryker, from the hockey team that checked in earlier. I’ve left my wallet with my room key at the arena and my skates are in my room. I need to get to my game, so can you possibly get me another key?”
Jessica looked from Luke to me. “I’m supposed to check your ID,” she said.
“It’s in my wallet.” He reached for his phone. “Hey, if you can’t do it, I understand. I’ll just call my coach and let him know I’ll be late for the game. They’ll have to bring me the key.”
“No, don’t do that.” She typed a few keys on her keyboard.
Luke gave her a broad grin. “Thanks, Jessica. See, sis, I knew she’d be able to help.”
She glanced up and Luke wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed.
“Yeah, this is my sister Bertha. She travels with me sometimes because she can’t work due to her irritable bowel syndrome.”
I gave Luke a tight smile. “Right.”
“You need to hit the can before we go, Bertha?”
“I’ll just use the can in your room,” I said.
Luke shook his head and rolled his eyes at Jessica. “She stinks up the bathroom of every room I stay in.”
The clerk at the next computer gave me a disgusted look.
“Oh,” Jessica said, glancing back at the screen. “We have you in a room with one king, Mr. Ryker. Would you like two queens instead?”
“No, Bertha prefers the couch anyway. She likes to sleep on her side because of the gas.”
“Alright,” I said, irritated. “Enough about my condition. Let’s hurry it up.”
Jessica gave me a terse look and passed Luke the key. His fingers lingered over hers as he took it.
“You saved my ass,” he said. “I’d invite you up for a drink after my game, but trust me, you don’t want to be trapped in a confined space with my sister.”
Now I was getting the evil eye from Jessica, whose orange bob with bad bangs made me pretty sure she didn’t get many invites to men’s hotel rooms.
We walked in silence to the elevator, and Luke glanced down at the envelope holding the key when the doors closed.
“You’re in 211,” he said, handing it to me. “I’m right across the hall, so you crazy kids better keep it down.”
“Thanks, I owe you one,” I said sarcastically.
“You’re my brother’s wife. I’m allowed to tease you.”
The doors opened and he gave me one last smile. “I’m taking the stairs to another exit. Have fun.”
“Thanks, Luke.”
“No problem, Bertha.”
***
I’d dozed off when the sound of my phone woke me up. I grabbed it and saw Ryke’s name.
“Hey, good game,” I said. Though I was in Nashville, I’d watched it on TV so I could be here to surprise him when it was over.
“Thanks. How are you?”
“Good,” I said, glancing at the clock. The game had ended 45 minutes ago, and that was when I’d gone to sleep. Now I had to keep it casual and not give away my secret.
“Are you going out?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, sighing. “I’m hungry and too charged up to sleep, but … I don’t know.”
I ran my fingers over the satin fabric of the pale pink robe I wore over my bra and panties. “Do you think maybe you could go back to your room instead? I was hoping we could talk.”
“Hey, hold on, babe.” There was muffled chatter between him and a fan whose hockey stick he was signing before he came back on the line. “Yeah, I’m getting a cab right now. I’ll just get room service. What do you want to talk about?”
“Um … you know, nothing exciting. I just miss you.”
“Tell me you’re coming to Vancouver with me.”
“I can’t, I have clients.”
He groaned, obviously frustrated.
“I wanted to,” I said. “But I have a client who … she’s new, but very important to me. I don’t want to reschedule her.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got a day off when I get home and I’ll just hold you hostage in our bedroom the whole time.”
“I’m more than willing. I can’t stop thinking about the other night.”
His low note of satisfaction made me smile. “Me either. I love it when you talk dirty.”