Chapter 14

Oliver

It was late by the time we arrived in the UK. The flight had taken hours, switching between time zones a few times, and I had no idea what hour it was.

Mona had fallen asleep on the plane, hand dangling over the edge of her seat as her breathing slowed and steadied. I watched her for a little while until I realized what I was doing and forced myself to look away. I didn’t want to be creepy.

When we arrived, Mona’s head snapped up and she looked around blearily.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Local time, or our time?” I replied and gestured out the window. It was dark, and there was a light drizzle of rain.

“We should get to the hotel,” she yawned. “How far away is it?”

“I don’t know, but they’ll have sent a car for us.”

I stretched and got to my feet. I had spent the flight going over the details of the contract I was hoping to enter into with them, and I was way too excited to get any rest.

“Thank goodness.”

She brushed some sleep from her eyes and stood up, pressing her face to the window and cupping her hands around her eyes so she could get a better look out the glass. “I can’t believe we’re actually here.”

“We sure are,” I assured her, and the door to the cabin opened. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I need to get to the hotel and email Neil.”

We went outside and stepped into the car that was waiting for us. I held the door for Mona, but she was so tired, I wasn’t sure she even noticed.

She slumped into the back seat, her bag clutched on her lap, and her head hanging as we pulled away and made our way through the warm promise of the London night.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been to London. I’d come years ago when we first started making real money at the company, and I was determined to make the most of it while I still could. That was years ago, though, and the city had changed a lot since then. Even what little I could see out the dark windows, had changed big time, and I couldn’t wait for the meeting to be over with so I could enjoy myself a little and get a better look around.

I’d only have a day or two in town before I had to fly back out, but I intended to make the most of it, all the same.

We arrived at the hotel, and I reached over to wake Mona. She lifted her head, opened her eyes, and frowned at me, as though pissed she’d been dragged from her peaceful slumber.

“We’re here.” I nodded up at the hotel, and she peered out the window, raising her eyebrows.

“Holy cow, is this actually where we’re staying?”

She looked over at me as we climbed out of the vehicle. I nodded and shrugged.

“It’s pretty nice,” I agreed and it was an understatement.

The building towered over us, a twenties-style façade on the outside and an enormous entryway covered by a gold and red canopy that glowed in the light of the street.

Mona hooked her bag over her shoulder and we went inside.

“Good evening,” I said as I arrived at reception, which was manned by an immaculately well put together woman around the same age as me.

From the looks of this hotel, it was the kind of place that hired people when they were eighteen and trained them until they were experts at their jobs.

She offered me a tight smile in greeting as I leaned up on the counter.

“Paulson and Richards? We should have rooms booked with the Masterson account,” I explained as Mona yawned widely beside me, trying to cover her mouth with her hand.

“I have a room under Paulson here,” the woman replied. “But nothing under Richards.”

“What?”

“It’s a double room.”

She glanced over at Mona and caught a glimpse of the ring she’d jokingly moved to her wedding finger on the flight.

“For you and your wife?”

“No, we’re not-”

I shook my head, and looked over at Mona.

“Two beds?” Mona asked the receptionist, and she glanced down at the screen.

“Just one,” she replied.

Mona looked up at me.

“I need to get some sleep,” she murmured, her eyes bleary. “I don’t mind if you don’t.”

“Fine,” I replied, maybe a little too quickly. “Can we book in?”

“Of course.”

We quickly got our keys and climbed into the elevator to head up to our room. Mona swayed on her feet, obviously exhausted, and as soon as we got into the room, she dumped her bag, kicked off her shoes, and crawled into the enormous bed at the center. Then, she turned over and looked around the room.

“Holy hell, look at this place,” she said, pushing herself up on to her forearms to look around.

I had to admit, the place was stunning – luxurious in that understated way the British did so well. Lots of polished wood, heavy curtains, thick carpets, the kind of place that a couple might splurge on for a romantic weekend.

“I should have a shower,” she mumbled as she got to her feet, heading to the bathroom and grabbing her bag as she did so.

“I think I’m going to get some room service. You want something?” I asked.

I knew it was late and that I would have likely been better off just getting some sleep, but with the meeting late into the morning tomorrow, I knew I could take some time to relax and de-stress before I went to bed.

“Yes, I’d love that,” she called through. “Just get me something light.”

“Will do,” I replied, and grabbed my laptop out of my bag as she pulled the door shut behind her.

I reached for a room service menu as my computer booted up and called reception to order some salad and something sweet to celebrate the fact we were finally here.

I turned to work on my computer, to let Neil know we were here safely and ready to move forward. Before I knew it, there was a knock on the door to let me know my room service had arrived.

I got to my feet, made my way over to the door, and glanced over in the direction of the bathroom – freezing on the spot.

The door had swung open, and Mona hadn’t bothered to pull across the shower curtain. She had her back to me, but I could see more than I ever should have seen. She was washing her hair, arms up over her head, water cascading over her sexy, naked body as she absently hummed to herself.

My eyes widened, and I knew I should have looked away, but it was as if my eyes were pinned to her. And then, of course, she turned around.

“Shit,” I mumbled, slamming the door shut.

She caught me. There was no damn way she hadn’t seen me looking at her. I opened the room door, grabbed the food from the guy, and turned back into the room to dump it all on the bed.

My appetite had vanished. All I could think of was her in that shower, her looking back at me, her eyes wide and her mouth parted as the cool water teased her nipples to attention.

This was going to be a challenge.