I sat on a small couch in the lobby area and pretended to look through a brochure as Eden went to the front desk to check in. A few minutes later, she was coming my way, grinning with a key card in her hand. We held hands as we went up the elevator to our room and I couldn't help the smile that took over my face and the emotion that welled up in my chest. I felt like we'd come full circle.
We followed the signs to our room and when I spotted a Coca-Cola machine down a hallway, I pulled Eden with me, dropping our bags, taking out a couple dollars and purchasing two cans. I handed one to her and then popped open the other one, and leaned against the wall as I downed the whole entire thing in long swallows, the sweet fizziness filling my mouth, the taste that I still associated with forbidden happiness. When I looked back up, Eden was watching me with a huge smile on her face. She laughed out loud and winked at me, leaning forward and kissing me quickly on the mouth.
"Good?" she asked.
I took a deep breath. "So good."
Five minutes later we were safely locked inside our hotel room.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Calder
"It says here there's a small museum in town that tells the history of the hotel," Eden said, taking a bite of buttered toast with jelly with one hand and holding the brochure with the other.
I leaned back in my chair, sipping my coffee and letting my eyes roam over her. "Whatever you want to do," I said, "I'm game." I cocked one brow. "We could just stay in bed for a couple days."
She grinned, but didn't look up at me. "Haven't you gotten enough of me yet?" she asked, still reading the brochure.
"Never."
She raised one brow and finally brought her eyes to mine. "We did that once before, remember? It was . . . sticky."
"It was wonderful."
Her eyes grew tender. "It was. And necessary. But this week I want to get out and walk around with you, feel the sunshine on my face."
I smiled. "Then get your perfect little butt in the shower."
She stood up and walked toward the bathroom, shooting me a look over her shoulder. "Aren't you going to join me?"
I didn't need to be asked twice. I was up and out of my chair before she could take another step. Her laughter rang out as I came up behind her and scooped her up so we could get in the shower as quickly as possible. We left the bathroom door open and didn't try to be quiet. Not sneaking around felt so damn good.
An hour later, we were dressed and hand in hand as we looked through the shops in the lobby. Eden had her bangs brushed back, held by a wide, pale pink scarf tied in a knot at the back of her neck and sunglasses on. People still glanced her way, but I realized it was only because she was so pretty, not because anyone recognized her.
I had the same baseball cap on, but not much else in the way of a disguise. It seemed like enough. No one looked twice at me.
The weather was cool and crisp and we'd both brought jackets, but on that particular day, the sun was shining and it was warm enough to stroll to the casino a little ways away and eat lunch on the porch of a local restaurant.
My body relaxed, and so did my soul, finding peace and serenity in just being with Eden, enjoying our freedom. It'd taken all this time, and we finally had a small measure of it. Despite everything we'd lost, despite all the ways in which we'd both been stripped bare, we had each other and we could finally celebrate that. I could finally start letting myself believe that life held promise—for me, for her, for us.
That entire week we relaxed. We walked around enjoying the small town sites, we picked through tourist shops surprising each other with small trinkets we thought the other would like, we went horseback riding once, we made love whenever we wanted to, and we woke up every morning tangled in each other. It was heaven. Eden went to the spa once, and we swam in the large, picturesque indoor pool. As we lounged at the side, Eden pulled out a book and I squinted over at her, looking at the cover.
"His Rockin' Heart?" I asked, raising one brow.
Eden giggled, putting the book down on her stomach for a minute and looking over at me, her cheeks taking on a pink tinge. "It might sound like a silly title, but it's so good. And I haven't been able to read romance books all this time." Her expression took on a brief hint of sadness. "I just couldn't." She shook her head. "It hurt too much. That one I read at Kristi's, it was the last time I remember having hope." She paused for so long I wondered if she'd go on. "But now," she laid her head back on the lounger and bit her lip, "I can, and I enjoyed that first one. A lot." She smiled a flirty smile at me.
I thought back to that day at Kristi's apartment, to the sweet look of hope on Eden's face . . . our last truly happy moment before we were dragged back to hell. Looking at the same gentle, hopeful expression on her face now, caused gratitude to slam into my heart with such sudden force, I almost jolted. Somehow . . . somehow, we had found our way back. And I never, ever wanted that look to disappear from her beautiful face. I smiled back at her. "Oh I remember that book," I said. "It was a masterpiece."