“Good to know. You have nice hands, too. They’re soft.”
I laughed. “I don’t want this to be awkward. Things are always natural with us.”
“This is natural.” He squeezed my hand again.
“It is.” I pulled his hand over to rest on my leg. That felt natural too.
“What color dress are you wearing tonight?”
“Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Light blue.”
“You look good in blue.”
I shifted in my seat to look at him. “I’m glad you approve.”
“I’m excited to see you in it. You’ve never dressed up around me.”
“I guess I haven’t.”
We spent most of the trip talking about the annoying things about work, and how much we were ready for vacation. Before I knew it, we pulled up to the valet line at the hotel.
Reed got our bags and led the way inside. He went right up to the desk. “We’re checking in. Last name is Bryce.”
The desk clerk typed something into the computer. “Reed?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like two keys?” the clerk asked.
“Yes.” Reed accepted the cards.
“Oh, I see here you requested we change your room to one with double beds. Unfortunately, we were unable to honor that request. Is a queen bed acceptable?”
Reed turned to me, and I nodded. “That’s fine.” My chest clenched. Did I really just agree to spend the night in the same bed as Reed?
I followed Reed to the elevator. I decided to calm our nerves with humor. “I don’t know if a queen is going to be big enough. You’ll have to stay on your side.”
“We’ll see if you’re still saying that later.” He winked. Maybe he wasn’t as nervous as I’d thought.
The elevator let us off on our floor, and we walked down the hall to our room. Reed inserted the key card, and he held open the door for me.
I looked around at the cream and light green décor of the room. The bed looked comfortable, and we had a view of a courtyard garden. “Nice room.”
“Yeah, it is.” Reed set down our bags.
I went over and unzipped mine. I picked up my dress and hung it up in the closet.
Reed hung his suit next to it. There was something comfortable about it—like we’d been staying in hotels together forever.
I took a seat on the edge of the bed, stretching my legs.
Reed looked at his watch. “We have some time. Want to go down to the bar and get something to drink?”
“Sure, that sounds great.” The room was nice, but other than turning on the TV, there was nothing for us to do. “I need to change first.”
“You mean you weren’t going to wear that sweatshirt?”
“As comfortable as it is, I should probably dress up a little more. Although jeans are okay, right?”
“I’m wearing this.” He gestured to his jeans and long sleeved shirt.
“Okay.”
I dug out the black sweater I’d packed. It was simple, but it fit perfectly.
I had a tank under my sweatshirt, so I decided it was safe to change in front of Reed. He watched with an amused expression. “This reminds me of when you changed into your Al’s Pizza shirt that first night.”
“You mean when I changed out of it?” I remembered how I’d given him an eyeful of my bra.
“Yeah, that was fun, too.”
I tossed my sweatshirt at him. He caught it. “You know, if you needed a new sweatshirt, you could have had one of mine.”
“It would be a sweatshirt dress.”
“You’re not that short.”
“But you’re that big.”
He laughed. “Yes, I am.”
“Why do I get the sense you aren’t talking about height?” I pulled on my sweater.
“Because I’m not.” He got up and headed to the door.
“Wait. I’m still not ready.”
“Oh. Is this going to be a while?”
“Haven’t you ever waited for a girl to get ready before?”
“But you pack light…”
“What does packing light have to do with getting ready quickly?” I went back to my suitcase.
“I’m going to watch some TV.” He lounged on the bed.
“Good idea.” I dug out my makeup bag and brush. I wasn’t going to do much, but it’s amazing the difference a little mascara and lip gloss can make.
Reed sat up when I walked out. He whistled. “All right. Now you’re ready, right?”
“Yes.”
He put a hand on the small of my back as we entered the elevator. We ran into a few of his brothers and their dates in the lobby, but Reed led me over to our own table.
I settled into my seat with a glass of wine. “Being anti-social?”
“We’ll have plenty of time to socialize. Now, I just want to spend time with you.”
I loved how he simply said it like it was. “I like that idea.”
“Good.” He took a sip of wine, never taking his eyes off me.
We were in new territory. Our time together before Savannah had been flirty, but it was still on the friends side of things. Maybe it was the fact that we were far from campus or about to spend a night in a hotel room together, but it felt different. Whether either of us admitted it or not, we were on a date.
***
Dressed in my blue Betsy Johnson halter dress with black kitten heels, I took a deep breath before pushing open the bathroom door. Reed’s reaction didn’t disappoint. “Wow. You look amazing.”
“Thanks. You look pretty good yourself.” That was an understatement. He looked incredible. I never would have thought it, but Reed was the kind of guy meant to wear a suit. Some guys looked like they were playing dress up—not Reed.
“You ready?” he asked.
“I think so.”
The hotel ballroom was gorgeous—one of those rooms that looked like it came from another time. The wood floors had to have been original, and they matched the details on the walls. In the center of the room hung a huge, crystal chandelier.
“What do you think?” Reed had an arm around my shoulder. His arm felt warm against my bare skin.
“It’s really pretty. Do you guys always do your semi-formal here?”
“No, but one of our alums manages this hotel now.”
“Oh, cool.” I glanced around the large room looking for Cara.
Reed spotted her first. “She’s over there.”