Fated Hearts

by Elliott, Kelly

  I felt my face heat up, and it wasn’t from the warm water in the shower. “Let’s go get some food. I’m starving.”

  His eyes lit up. “So am I! Hopefully, the hotel doesn’t run out of supplies with this snowpocalypse.”

  I laughed and stepped out of the shower while Roger turned it off. Grabbing a towel, I said, “To be honest, I’ve been scared we might lose power.”

  “Don’t jinx us,” he stated as he stepped out and stood there, water rolling down his perfectly chiseled body. I opened my mouth to say something and found I couldn’t even form words. No man should look this beautiful.

  “You must work out a lot…you’re…so built,” I stammered.

  The moment the words came out, I wanted to hide my face. I was clearly staring at him, but my goodness, a girl couldn’t ignore a body as fine as his.

  Roger laughed again. “I do work out. I love my Peloton, and I do weights. Run occasionally but not far, obviously.”

  I let my gaze roam freely over him. I wanted to soak up as much as I could. “Well, it pays off.”

  He winked. “I’m glad to know.”

  Grabbing a towel, he quickly started to dry off alongside me.

  The fact that this was going to end soon hung in the air like a heavy weight. I wasn’t sure if he noticed it as well. If he did, he played it off well. An unbelievable rush of sadness came over me as I wrapped the towel around me and walked out of the bathroom. I needed to get my emotions under control, and I needed to do it fast.

  Roger

  SOMETHING HAD SHIFTED.

  I felt it surround me the moment her eyes skimmed up my body and met mine. Her expression changed from lust to something that looked like sadness. She forced a smile, wrapped a towel around her body, and walked out of the bathroom.

  I took the few seconds of alone time to gather my thoughts. Annalise had blown my damn mind with that blowjob. The way she’d looked up at me, trusting me enough to try something for the first time…a part of me found it hard to believe that was her first freaking time. She put her finger in my ass, for fuck’s sake.

  With an internal groan, I pushed the thought away before I got hard again. That had been one of the most amazing sexual moments of my entire life. I’d never felt this before with anyone, not even—

  Before I could conjure her name in my mind, I wrapped the towel around me and walked out of the bathroom.

  Clearing my throat, I said, “I got a text from the airline. No flights out today either.”

  “I’m not surprised. It’s still snowing.” She pulled the drapes back from the window and looked out.

  “Anna, you’re in a towel. Maybe you shouldn’t stand in front of the window like that.”

  With a quick peek over her shoulder, she gave me a saucy grin. “Are we not into voyeurism?”

  I clenched my fists at the idea of anyone else seeing her naked. With a quick shake of my head, I reached down and grabbed jeans and a sweater from my bag. “No, are you?” I asked, slightly dreading her answer but suspecting she’d say no.

  She laughed. “Hardly.”

  I watched her walk to the dresser and open it. She had unpacked her clothes and put them away, which was clearly a woman thing since my clothes were still in my carry-on.

  “I know we said we wouldn’t ask personal questions, but you know that I have a brother, so it’s only fair you give me something,” I said.

  Her eyes met mine. “Are you asking me if I have siblings?”

  I nodded and slipped on my jeans. Annalise pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she watched me. “Are you not going to put on any underwear?”

  Glancing down, I shook my head. “No.”

  “You’re going commando?”

  I laughed slightly. “I often do. Plus, I’m running out of them.”

  She shook her head and went back to searching for clothes. How she’d been able to pack so much in her carry-on was beyond me.

  “So, do you? Have any siblings?” I pressed.

  “Yes. I have a sister and an older brother. My brother is married with two kids I have yet to meet since he lives in Ireland.”

  “Ireland? What’s he doing there?”

  “He works for Intel. He met his wife, my sister-in-law, Kate, over there. They got married and had twins last year.”

  I pulled a sweater over my head and sat down on the bed to put on my socks and sneakers. “Wow. Twins, huh? Identical or fraternal?”

  “Fraternal.”

  “Is that on your side of the family or Kate’s?”

  Annalise shrugged. “I think on my dad’s side.”

  “What do you mean, you think?”

  She turned and faced me. “My biological parents died in a car accident when I was six months old. My older sister Meg was two, and Jax was four. We were adopted by a family who was only looking for a baby, but then they saw the three of us and took us all in. My parents are amazing. They raised us like we were their own. They told us what they knew about our folks whenever we asked, but we try not to ask too many questions now. I would never want them to think we didn’t love them.”

  I frowned. “I’m sure they wouldn’t be upset if you wanted to find out about your roots.”

  With a warm smile, she nodded. “No, of course not. It’s just, I never knew them, and Jax and Meg don’t really remember them. So, we don’t ask a lot of questions. Twins aren’t in Kate’s family, so we assume they’re on our side.”

  All I could do was nod. “I get that.”

  She tilted her head. “What about you, Roger? Just the one brother?”

  I paused for a moment, trying to decide how much I wanted to share with her. Did she need to know my father had a bastard son? That my mother and father hadn’t loved each other when they’d first gotten married? That my mother had spent more time away from us than she had with us? Of course, now their marriage was strong and solid, but that was a lot to throw at a person. I decided less was best.

  “No, I actually have two brothers. Never knew about one until recently.”

  Her brows rose. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I said. With a sigh, I stood up. “It’s a boring story.”

  She nodded, taking the hint that the conversation was over. “I’m ready if you are.”

  I motioned for her to go first, then followed her out of our hotel room and to the elevator. When the doors opened, Mary and Dylan were standing in front of us.

  “Fancy meeting you guys here. Going down for breakfast?” Mary asked with a grin.

  “We are,” Annalise replied. “How was the club last night?”

  “We didn’t stay long. Pretty sure Monty and Lynn stayed until it closed down,” Dylan answered.

  Mary looked between the two of us. “Did you two enjoy your evening?”

  “Yes, we did,” I answered as Annalise’s cheeks turned red. “Very enjoyable evening.”

  Dylan gave me a knowing smile while Mary and Annalise locked eyes. Something seemed to pass between them.

  The doors opened to the hotel lobby, and the four of us made our way toward the restaurant that served breakfast. Mary spun around and faced us before we could walk inside. “Oh, if you want them to service your room, you need to tell them. They’re short-staffed and don’t have a full cleaning crew. The girl at the front desk told me this morning.”

  “We don’t need the room cleaned, but we could use more towels. I’ll go ask,” Annalise said.

  I gently took her arm to stop her. “No, I’ll do it. You go on in, and if you get seated, can you order me a coffee, no cream or sugar?”

  She flashed me that brilliant smile of hers. “Of course.”

  I watched as the three of them headed off in the opposite direction of the front desk. I made my way over and stood behind another couple. Once it was my turn, I stepped up and gave the young guy behind the desk our room number and asked for more towels and an extra pillow. My pillow was so damn flat, it didn’t even feel like I was sleeping on one. As I turned to walk awa
y, a thought hit me, and I stopped.

  “I believe we have a note attached to our room to give us a call if you have any other available rooms. We no longer need it, so I wanted to go ahead and remove it.”

  It was a ballsy move on my part, but I was pretty sure Annalise wouldn’t want to change rooms either at this point.

  He smiled as he typed something in, read for a few seconds, and then looked up at me. “That note has already been removed.”

  Frowning, I asked, “What do you mean?”

  He looked back at the computer and said, “It looks like we had an available room come up this morning, and they called and spoke with…um…Ms. Michaels? She stated there was no longer a need for another room.”

  I felt my brows shoot up, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face.

  “Is that correct, sir?” he asked with a concerned expression.

  “Yes,” I quickly replied. “Yes, that’s fine. Be sure to use my card to charge the room and not the other one that’s in Ms. Michaels’s name.”

  He nodded. “Yes, sir. It also looks like the last of the snow is moving through. We’ve just received word that they’ll most likely be re-opening the airport tomorrow afternoon unless they can get the runways cleared off faster. If so, then flights will start going out tomorrow morning.”

  A strange pang hit me in the middle of my chest, but I forced a smile. “That’s great news. Thank you.”

  “Yes, sir. Enjoy your morning.”

  “You, as well,” I said before I turned and headed away from the front desk.

  So, Annalise didn’t want this to end either. I knew I had a smug smile on my face. Shit, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was going to miss her. But fate worked in weird ways, and we clearly were meant to have this time together. If all we had left was today, I intended to enjoy it as much as I could. And even though I wanted to drag her back to the room and fuck her until neither one of us could move, I had other plans in mind, starting with breakfast.

  When I walked up to the table, I immediately noticed the glow on Annalise’s face. Had she always had that, or was it because of the amazing last few hours we’d spent together? I was going with the latter.

  “Everything set?” Annalise asked. “We getting more towels?”

  “Yes. Also, the front desk clerk told me the airport is opening again tomorrow. Some morning flights going out possibly, but it’ll most likely be in the afternoon.”

  Annalise jerked her head back up to look at me. “Tomorrow morning?”

  I didn’t miss the disappointment in her voice. “Maybe, if they get the runways clear.”

  Mary glanced at Dylan. “I just got an email from United Airlines with my new booking information. Looks like I’m flying out tomorrow at two.”

  “Wow, that’s great news,” Annalise said as she stared at me. Her voice sounded happy, but those blue eyes of hers said something entirely different. “You’ll finally be rid of your unwanted roommate.”

  “I wouldn’t use the word ‘unwanted,’” I said with a wink.

  She blinked a few times, and something moved across her face that I couldn’t read. Truth be told, I hadn’t ever gone out of my way to read a woman’s expressions before. Not that I didn’t care about their feelings—of course, I did. I made sure, though, that I never took a woman to bed whom I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk away from afterward, and who wouldn’t be able to walk away from me.

  Until I met the woman staring at me, that is. With Annalise, everything felt so damn different. A part of me knew it would be hard to walk away from her tomorrow, but I would do it. There was no way I could ever allow myself to open up my heart again. I’d hang on to every single moment in my memories, and I knew I would never forget her. If I were a better man, I’d beg her to come to Texas with me. To let me wake her up every morning with a kiss on the lips before I made love to her.

  I shook the crazy thoughts away.

  No. I don’t make love. I fuck. That’s all I know how to do.

  “Are you okay, Roger?” Annalise asked, her hand moving to mine.

  I drew it away as if I’d been burned, and instantly regretted it when I saw the hurt look on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. I was caught up in a moment, and you startled me.”

  She nodded and gave me a soft smile that didn’t reach her eyes. I knew it was forced because I’d spent the last few hours seeing a real smile on that beautiful face of hers. It made her blue eyes shine like the first rays of the morning sun. Her real smile made her cheeks blush slightly and the corners of her eyes crinkle in the cutest way. She looked away from me now, pretending to read over the menu.

  It made my heart feel something I knew I couldn’t allow it to feel, let alone let myself even think about.

  Before I could say anything else, the waitress walked up and started to take everyone’s orders. My appetite had left me the moment I realized I’d hurt Annalise’s feelings, but I ordered a breakfast sandwich anyway, and hoped I’d be able to eat it by the time it came out. Annalise ordered avocado toast with a bowl of fruit and a tea.

  “So, what are you two doing today?” Annalise asked Mary and Dylan.

  “Probably going back to the room to have a movie marathon. What about you guys?”

  Annalise shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “There’s a snowman-making contest going on later. I saw the sign for it at the front desk. If you’ve got warm-enough clothes, we could enter,” I said to her before taking a sip of my coffee.

  The brightness in her eyes came back. “Really? You’d do that?”

  With a laugh, I asked, “Why do you sound so disbelieving?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I can’t really picture you making a snowman.”

  “I’m wounded, princess. Truly wounded.”

  Annalise rolled her eyes, but I saw the corners of her mouth twitch with a hidden smile.

  A part of me wanted to tell her everything about me. Give her my phone number, tell her to call me whenever she wanted. Hell, I’d even fly out to see her every now and then.

  No.

  No, that wasn’t going to happen.

  That wasn’t what we had agreed on. No strings attached.

  The pang from earlier came back, but this time it felt stronger and more familiar. I had vowed a long time ago that I would never allow myself to feel it again.

  Not since her.

  Not since Kerri.

  I closed my eyes and saw her face staring up at me, covered in blood.

  “Don’t you dare leave me, Kerri! Do you hear me? Don’t you dare leave me!”

  The corner of her mouth lifted slightly into a smile as she whispered, “I love you, Roger.”

  “Are you not hungry?”

  Mary’s voice pulled me from the memory, and I stared down at the breakfast sandwich the waitress had brought. “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

  “Seem to be doing that a lot this morning,” Dylan stated with a laugh.

  I nodded and chanced a look over at Annalise. She was cutting her toast in half and seemed to be somewhere else herself.

  After we ate breakfast and talked for a bit more, we all stood to leave.

  “We should head on back to the room and grab our coats,” I said. “The contest starts in thirty minutes.”

  Annalise nodded, then focused on Mary and Dylan. “We’ll see you both before we all leave, right?”

  “Of course!” Mary said. “How about we do dinner tonight?” She looked at Dylan. “Is that okay?”

  Dylan nodded. “Dinner sounds good to me.”

  Everyone swung their heads to look at me. “Dinner sounds great,” I said.

  Annalise clapped. “Great! Then how about we plan on meeting in the lobby, say, around six?”

  “That works,” Mary and Dylan said at the same time.

  Dylan slid his arm around Mary’s waist and guided her out of the restaurant. I placed my hand on Annalise’s back as we followed our
new friends toward the elevators. A part of me wanted to ask her about the room she turned down this morning, but I didn’t want to ruin any part of today. She clearly felt the same way I did. Neither one of us wanted this to end, yet the end was only hours away.

  The elevator stopped on Mary and Dylan’s floor. They said their goodbyes as they headed down the hall.

  “They’re totally not watching movies,” Annalise stated, and I laughed.

  “I’m sure the TV will be on.”

  She peeked up at me and grinned. “As much as sex with you right now sounds heavenly, you mentioned a snowman contest, and I have my heart set on winning.”

  My head fell back as I laughed again. “I think I may have met the one person on this Earth who’s just as competitive as I am.”

  She shrugged. “I like to win. I won’t lie.”

  The elevator opened, and we quickly went back to our room. After bundling up as best we could, we soon found our way outside and to the area where the snowman-making contest was about to begin.

  “I think we got a good spot here,” Annalise said, her game face clearly on. “Lots of loose snow. Look at that family over there, thinking they’re so smart. Let’s see how smart they are when they realize they don’t have enough snow to build a snowbaby.”

  The hotel had used spray paint to mark circles around their large outdoor area. Everyone got to pick a spot, and the rule was you could only use the snow in your circle to make your snowman.

  “I’m going to guess they’re doing it just for fun,” I said.

  She huffed. “Fun. There is no fun in this. It’s a competition!”

  I raised my brows. “I was sorta thinking we might have some fun.”

  Annalise stared at me. “Don’t you want to win?”

  “Um,” I said as I looked over at the family again. “I think it might be nice to let the kids win. Don’t you?”

  Her eyes narrowed some before she focused back on the family. They had three kids, and I honestly couldn’t imagine being stuck in a hotel room with three young children—those parents deserved a win.

  Annalise sighed. “They do look excited. I guess they should win.”

  I nodded. “Should we give them our circle?”