Page 87 of Everything She Wanted

“It was sweet.”

I see Nick’s shoulders relax. “Thanks for telling me.” He looks over at me with an easy smile.

“Anything else you want to know?” I smile back as I say the words, even though he can’t see me.

“About you? Everything.”

My heart thaws, and a warm glow surrounds me. With Nick, I feel like I can just be me. Imperfect, anxious at times, and even completely messed up. We could be just friends—but knowing how my body reacts to his makes that feel impossible—or we could be whatever this is. Somehow, this will have to be enough.

It’s nearly 10 p.m. when we stride into the hotel lobby.

I’m exhausted. The events of the weekend and everything that happened today have left me depleted, and I’m fading fast.

Nick takes one look at me as we approach the check-in desk and says, “You go first.”

“Thanks.” Gratitude seeps into my bones as I give him a tired smile.

I walk forward as the receptionist greets me.

“Welcome to the Lotte Hotel. What name is your reservation under for this evening?”

“Nisha Dhaliwal.”

Her fingers move quickly on the keyboard, and a flash of confusion passes along her face. “I don’t see a Nisha here. Is there another name?”

“Maybe, Nick Tremblay?”

“There’s nothing under that, either.”

“Give me one second.” I pull out my phone and look through my emails to find the one from Amy that has the name and details of the hotel. She booked the hotel for next Monday evening.

“Shit,” I mutter. “Sorry, it looks like our reservations were booked for next Monday. Do you have any rooms available tonight?”

“The hotel is almost fully booked, as there are so many events downtown this week. Let me see what we can do.”

Nick comes up behind me. “Everything okay?”

“Amy booked our reservations for next Monday, and they might not have any availability for tonight.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he says reassuringly as I hide my panic. I need to have things mapped out. Anything else makes me anxious.

She keeps tapping away. “We have one room left. It’s a high-floor two-bedroom suite with a balcony. Would that work for you?”

I hesitate, and Nick catches it. “You stay here. I’ll find somewhere else.”

The receptionist looks over at him. “The other hotels are likely full or close to fully booked as well,” she says matter-of-factly.

“We’ll take it,” I say before I can think better of it.

“Are you sure?” asks Nick.

“Yes.”

I don’t want Nick wandering downtown Seattle all night before our big pitch. I wouldn’t want any colleague doing that, that’s all. I try to convince myself there isn’t anything more to it.

“I’ll just need a credit card for incidentals.”

Nick hands her his card and takes care of the rest of the check-in. He turns back to me with the hotel keys in hand.