It was amazing how calm her spirit was now that they were in the lobby of the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel. As Corinne thought about it, Xavier’s candor on the plane seemed to put her worries temporarily to rest, but she was still reeling from the ramifications of that kiss.

“Thank you,” Xavier said, taking the key to their rooms off the receptionist’s hands. He turned to Corinne and slipped his palm down her back, letting it rest in the curve of her spine. “Are you ready?” he asked.

Corinne nodded with a smile, and they both moved toward the elevators. With the press of a button, the doors dinged, and Xavier and Corinne strolled inside. Corinne turned toward the doors, and Xavier turned to her.

“For you,” he said, handing her a room key.

Corinne took the key out of his hand, perplexed.

“You’re room 223, I’m 225,” he said.

“Oh.”

Why did she feel slightly disappointed that they would be in separate quarters? Feeling indifferent and somewhat confused by her indecision, Corinne smiled curtly and responded, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The elevator reached its floor, and the doors opened.

“This is us,” Xavier said.

They exited and strolled side by side in silence down the hall. When they reached Corinne’s room, Xavier removed the key from her fingers and inserted it into the door. The green light illuminated, and he returned the key to her palm and opened it, holding it for her to enter.

“Since we only have a half a day with each other tomorrow, I was hoping you would have dinner with me tonight.”

Corinne tilted her head with a smirk. “Of course, Xavier. You came all this way just to keep me company on a layover. I think I can spend some time with you over food.” She grinned. “Besides, I’d love to.”

Xavier’s heart warmed, and he reached for her fingers and linked them with his. Drawing her to him, Xavier placed a tender kiss on one temple than the other. Then a soft kiss on the tip of her nose.

Corinne giggled. “Okay, that tickles.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah,” she said with her face turned up to him and her mouth holding a wide beam of a smile.

“What about this?” he said, sinking his mouth into hers. Corinne inhaled the breath he released. Her eyes closed, and a riveting bolt attacked her senses. She wanted to linger there and indulge in the pull of his lips and the exploration of his tongue, but just as quickly as the kiss began, Xavier ended it, withdrawing from her as if it was in his best interest to do so.

“Wait,” Corinne said. It was almost as if someone else had spoken it, making Corinne surprised by her own request. She reopened her eyes to find Xavier’s bristling gaze pinned on her. Corinne swallowed. “More,” she said. It came out like a faint whisper.

“Corinne…”

“I want more,” she said, rejecting his opposition.

The suitcase in his hand dropped and in synchronization they both went at each other. Corinne jumped into his arms, and Xavier lifted her with a handful of her ass. Her legs entwined around his waist, and their mouths crashed against one another in an urgent haste to transform into one. Heat ballooned from their toes and met up with another trail of fire that tracked from the crown of their heads. It gathered in the center of their joining, and a ragged moan slipped from Corinne at the feel of his extended erection prodding against the seat of her panties.

“Mmmm,” she moaned.

Xavier pulled his mouth from hers but only to travel down her chin and place deep saturating kisses underneath her neck in a stalk down her throat.

“Oh… Xavier, take me inside.”

In the frame of the doorway, their breathing labored, and Xavier’s kisses lightened, then he pulled his gaze to hers. He looked like a bull with his nostrils flaring and his teeth partially bared. There was an inner fight going on inside of him; Corinne could see it and wondered what it meant. Did he want her? Or was he worried about her only wanting sex. Corinne half-rolled her eyes at that last thought. Of course, he wasn’t worried about that. She was losing her mind. Without a word, Xavier moved inside her room with long strides to the king size bed. He paused again, his mind moving so fast Corinne could practically see his thoughts in a twirl.

“What is it?” She asked, curiously interested. With her arms around his neck, she tightened her thighs and lifted to rotate her pelvis against his. He needed to take advantage and stat while she still had the courage.

Xavier groaned like a wounded animal then bit down on his teeth, and Corinne leaned in to place heated kisses on the pillar of his throat. When he spoke, his voice was gruff and profound.

“We should wait,” he said.

Corinne paused and slowly she pulled back to stare at him. Xavier wanted her to trust him fully, and he knew that at that moment, she didn’t. As much as he would like to rip her clothes to shreds and bury himself in the deepest part of her, he also wanted more; that he was sure of. Corinne was interested in his intentions, and he planned to show her, even if his dick didn’t approve.

Corinne searched his face. “Um.”

“Listen,” he took his mouth to her nose and kissed it, “when you give yourself to me, I want you to be one hundred percent sure that you trust me to take care of you. I want you to know who I am and feel sure about the decision you’re making.”

Corinne understood, and she respected Xavier for that, but it didn’t make her want to cry any less. She was literally suspended on the ridge of his solid erection. Her mind agreed with Xavier, it was the right thing to do, but her body said something else entirely. Corinne tried to climb out of his arms, and his massive dick punctured her belly as she slid down his body on the way to her feet. The whimper that left her mouth was her body’s way of mourning the pleasure it was being denied, and Corinne made sure to coach herself into staying on track. Xavier helped her gain her balance. She didn’t even know what to say. Xavier had rendered her speechless.

“I’m going to freshen up and will return within the hour.” He held a long lingering eye on Corinne. She smiled up at him and nodded. “Are you okay?”

He wanted her to know she could trust him, but not at the expense of her thinking he didn’t want her.

“I’m fine. I need to freshen up, too.”

He ran a hand down her shoulder and nodded. “Be back in a minute.” He turned and strolled across the room, and Corinne decided not to watch him leave. When the door clicked, she let out a dragging exhale and fell back on the bed. Looking at the ceiling, Corinne remembered the conversation she and her best friend Camilla had when Camilla and her now fiancé had just spent a blissful night together.

Camilla was in a state of constant euphoria, and Corinne was bubbling beside her. Corinne remembered it so well because that’s how she felt now, except they hadn’t spent a night with each other, and she hoped she hadn’t made a complete fool of herself. One thing was for sure, Xavier was doing a good job showing his sincerity. Corinne didn’t know any man who could’ve turned down all that ass she’d just put on him. Corinne giggled and grabbed a pillow and covered her face. She needed to talk this out and that made her pull to a sit and reach for her tote.

Inside, she fished for her phone then found Camilla’s number and hit send. After two rings, Camilla answered the phone.

“Well hello, hello,” Camilla said.

“Hey, girl, are you busy?”

“Not at the moment. What’s up, where are you now?”

“Salt Lake City.”

“Poor thing, you must be bored out of your mind.”

“Actually, I’m not.”

Camilla became intrigued. “Do tell.”

“I’m on another twenty-four-hour layover and I’m not alone.”

“I’m listening.”

“Xavier,” Corinne said.

Corinne heard a shuffle through the phone then Camilla’s voice came back through a bit louder this time.

“Okay, give me all the juice,” she said.

Corinne laughed. “What were you doing before?”

“Wrapped up with Hunter, what do you think?”

Corinne laughed again. Since Camilla and Hunter had gotten engaged, they’d been nearly inseparable.

“Now, I don’t feel so bad about not being there with your pregnant ass,” Corinne said. “You’re never home anyway.”

“Hmmm, I can’t apologize, girl. Why be at home when I can be with my babe?”

Corinne smiled brightly.

“Anyway, I’m in the kitchen now going through the fridge so talk fast before I eat everything in here.”

Corinne laughed again. “Well you’re eating for two now, so you’re entitled to double stuff.”

“Girl, please, then I’ll have double the hips, and you know I can’t have that.”

“As if Hunter would mind.”

Camilla smirked. “He wouldn’t, but that is beside the point. Now, tell me what’s going on. How did you and Xavier end up in Salt Lake City together?”

Corinne sighed. “I was in Anguilla, and we were on the phone. He asked me to meet him halfway between where we both were, but I couldn’t. Long story short, I told him Salt Lake City was my next move, and he said he’d meet me there. But instead of him meeting me there, he met me at the connecting flight stop. I have no idea how he found out where the plane would be.”

“All it takes really is a simple search with the airlines. You could find out where each plane is stopping.”

“That’s not something you can just search,” Corinne said. “I mean it is, but it could take you forever to find the specific plane, where it is now, where it’s landing, connecting flights, all of that. For goodness’ sake I’m not a regular passenger you can search for. I’m an employee. So to find out which plane I was on had to have been a miracle. I mean who has time for that?”

“Apparently, he does. Have you put it on him yet? I know sometimes you can be a little scandalous,” she joked.

Aghast, Corinne planted her hand against her hip. “No, you didn’t,” she said, listening to Camilla teeter over in laughter. “For your information…” Corinne paused. “Hell yeah, I did,” she admitted.

This time it was Camilla who gasped so hard it almost knocked the wind out of her. “Are you serious!?”

Corinne laughed then snorted. “You sound so appalled,” she said, continuing her laugh.

“That’s because I was just joking!”

“Un huh, looks like I got the last laugh.”

“Corinne!”

Corinne fell over laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach.

“Corinne!” Camilla yelled again.

Catching her breath, Corinne propped herself up on an elbow, a smile still covering her face. “So, what if we had sex, why is that a bad thing?” Corinne said, keeping up her shenanigans.

“It’s not that it’s a bad thing,” Camilla said, unsure. “I just, well, I guess I didn’t expect to hear that you guys hopped in the sack so soon. I thought you were going for the long ride with him, not just the ol’ hop in the sack routine.”

“Were you not the one that just called me scandalous?”

“I was only kidding!”

Corinne chuckled. “I was, too,” she admitted.

“What?” Camilla said, now leaning a hand into her hip.

“Xavier and I have not slept together. Yet,” she added.

Camilla let out a staunch breath and hustled across the kitchen to the basket of fruit. There, she grabbed a banana, peeled it quickly, then took a big bite of the sweet treat.

“Girl,” Camilla said with a mouth full of banana, “you’ve made me hungry with this nonsense.”

Corinne’s laughter picked back up; she could tell by the muffled tone of Camilla’s voice that she was stuffing her face. Just then Corinne’s line beeped and she pulled the device from her ear to glance at the screen. Unknown number. Corinne rolled her eyes. She never understood why someone would seek another person out but restrict access to their digits. If you didn’t want the receiver to know it was you, just don’t call was her motto.

“Is that why you called me, to get me all riled up late at night?”

“Late? It’s ten-thirty.”

“That’s the normal time most families get in the bed. Anyway, I take that as a yes since you didn’t answer my question.”

“No, you’re wrong. I called you because I needed to get this off my chest.” Corinne pulled herself to a sit and folded her legs underneath each other. “I like him.”

Camilla waited for her to go on, but Corinne didn’t.

“Is that all, I think we both already knew this.”

“No, you don’t understand. I like him a lot. It’s unnatural, like some sort of weird sorcery.”

Now Camilla was laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Do you remember when you said having a conversation with an intelligent brother will make you come in seconds without even being touched?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it sounds like you’re getting a taste of what I’ve been experiencing this entire time.” Camilla lowered her tone so that she wasn’t whispering, but her vocals transformed into a deep sultry purr. “You’re dating a Valentine. I have no doubt that Xavier is just as charming as Hunter.” Camilla paused. “Well, almost,” she decided.

“I have a confession.”

“I’m listening.”

“I almost jumped his bones. No, no, I did jump his bones. He was the one that stopped us. I’ve got to admit, I don’t feel bad about it.”

“Yeah, I won’t shame you. I fed Hunter breakfast with my fingers when we first met.”

Corinne’s mouth dropped, and by her silence, Camilla knew Corinne’s mouth was stuck.

“Sure did. We had known each other,” Camilla shrugged. “Thirty minutes perhaps.” She sighed. “Best damn breakfast I ever had.”

Corinne fell over again in a howl. “Why am I just now hearing about this?!”

“Girl, because I couldn’t get the man off my mind. You’re right, it’s sorcery.”

The two friends laughed harder and agreed on one thing: getting mixed up with a Valentine was like being under a captivating spell.

“This can’t be healthy,” Corinne said.

“Honey, speak for yourself. There isn’t a thing anyone could do or say that would make me think twice.”

Corinne was nodding. “We’re getting ready to have dinner, and yes, I know it’s late, but we’ve just been able to get settled. Honestly, I think he’s offering for my benefit. The man is not human the way he goes, goes, goes.”

“That’s the drive in him. Don’t worry, if you guys are hitting it off the way I think you might, you will come second to nothing.”

Corinne absorbed her friend’s assessment and at the same time wrestled with nervousness.

“Anyway, you should get ready for your late-night dinner, and I’m going back to bed.”

“Bye, honey, talk to you sometime soon.”

“Um, tomorrow, I want the deets.”

Corinne chuckled. “Okay.”

“Good night.”

They disconnected the line, and Corinne removed herself from the bed. She grabbed her tote and shuffled around inside, grabbing her oils and perfumes and a comfortable summer dress. With her other hand, she reached in and removed her charger port then found a socket on the wall. As she plugged her smartphone up, Corinne noted the time. Xavier said he would be back within the hour. Even though she probably didn’t have time, Corinne’s freshening up consisted of a ten-minute shower that would help her wash off the day.

It turned out to be fifteen minutes, but that was fine since Xavier had yet to knock on her door. Corinne drifted from the bathroom to the bedroom while she blot-dried her skin with a towel. She headed to her bag and pulled lotions and mixed them with her oil essentials then proceeded to apply a perfect shine to her skin. Corinne was lost in thought when she heard a familiar voice that seemed oddly close to her. She paused the stroke against her legs and listened.

“Draft up the official email.” His voice was muffled. Corinne abandoned what she was doing to follow the voice. “You don’t need me for this. If they come back with a counteroffer, recounter with the same number.”

Corinne paused when she came to a wooden door, and there she could hear Xavier’s voice clearly. “Adjoining rooms?” she said to herself. A curve took shape at the corner of her lips, and she traveled back across the room to what she was doing. Quickly dressing, that small feeling of rejection she felt earlier was gone now. If Xavier had gotten adjoining rooms, it must’ve been because he wanted to be close to her. Corinne swept her shoulder length hair to the side.

She wouldn’t wait for him to come for her; this time, she was going to him.