“I
don’t know how the guys manage to sleep in a different hotel almost every
night,” Laurie commented she checked in and received her room key. Michelle had called Chris to tell him that
they were on the way and to let Lonnie know.
“I
guess its better than sleeping on the bus,” she shrugged and they made their
way to the elevators. “What room are
you in?”
Laurie
looked at her key. “714.”
“Cool,
you’re right across the hall from Chris and I.” The doors opened and Lonnie was
standing directly in front of them. “Hi
Lonnie.”
“Hi…
its just you two in there? No one
else?”
“Yeah,
like I’d let that happen.”
“You
know I’ve got to check… your man know you’re here?”
“I
called him to tell him we were on our way, but he doesn’t know we’re actually
here yet.”
“All
right, he’s in his room.”
“Thanks
Lonnie.”
“So
what are your plans for tonight?” Laurie asked as she tucked a stray piece of
hair behind her ear.
“I’m
not sure. I don’t know if Chris has
anything planned, or if we’re just going to spend a quiet night watching
movies.”
“Sounds
relaxing. I’m still going to head down
to the pool and then I’ll probably hit the jacuzzi afterwards.”
“Now
that sounds relaxing.” Michelle
laughed and adjusted her overnight bag.
“Have fun.”
“I’m sure I will,” Laurie thought as she
unlocked her door and made her way inside.
She flicked the light on, although it wasn’t that dark in her room yet
and threw her own overnight bag onto the bed.
She
looked around appreciatively at the soft colors the decorator had chosen to
use. The carpet was light gray and the
walls were an eggshell white with a navy blue border and the bedspreads matched
the border. She sighed happily and
began to dig for her suit so she could go downstairs and swim a few laps in the
outdoor pool.
“Leaving
so soon?” Lonnie asked as Laurie approached the elevator.
“No,
I’m just going downstairs for a swim.” She paused. “I umm… don’t need to take one of you with me… do I?”
“No,
you should be all right by yourself… just be careful.”
“I
will,” Laurie winked and stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the
lobby.
**********
JC
wrapped a hotel towel around his slim waist as he stepped out of the shower and
towel dried his hair with another one.
He wiped the steam off the mirror and ran a comb through his damp hair
before he filled the sink so he could shave.
“I’m
actually kind of glad Lance told me Laurie was coming,” he said to his
reflection. “Even if he was an evil
brat about it.”
He
finished shaving, rinsed his face and splashed some cologne on before walking
into the main part of his room to find something to wear. He pulled on a pair of drawstring khaki
pants with a loose t-shirt and slipped his feet into a pair of sandals before
making his way out to the balcony.
JC
was fortunate to have a decent view of the pool from his balcony and he saw a
few people taking advantage of the warm weather and swimming with their
families. He did a double take when he
saw Laurie swimming laps and bolted out of his room, almost forgetting his key
card in the process.
“Where
are you going?” Tiny grabbed JC just as he ran by.
“Down
to the pool… why?”
“By
yourself?”
JC
sighed. “That’s what I was hoping for.”
“Got
your cell?”
“In
my pocket.”
“Fine…
call me if there’s any trouble.”
JC
breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks
Tiny.”
He
constantly switched his weight from one foot to the other while the elevator
descended to the lobby. When the doors
open, he practically flew down the hallway that led to the outdoor pool and
decided to slow down so that he didn’t seem overly eager. Laurie didn’t know that he knew she was
there.
He
leaned against the fence and watched as her slender body glided through the
water, oblivious to her surroundings.
He strolled over and picked up a towel from a nearby chair and then
walked to the shallow end of the pool.
JC rolled up his pant legs and sat on the edge, letting his feet dangle
in the cool water while he waited for her to finish the length she was currently
swimming.
Laurie
swam back to the shallow end doing the backstroke and gasped with surprise when
she saw two upside down sultry blue eyes staring at her. Her feet immediately touched the floor of
the pool and she righted herself.
“Hi,”
she breathed.
“Hi,”
he smiled down at her. “You didn’t tell
me you were coming.”
“I
wanted it to be a surprise,” she smiled back.
“Can you please move your sexy body so I can get out of the water?”
“Well…
since you said please.”
JC
stood up and moved to the side while Laurie pulled herself out of the
pool. She reached for the towel that he
held in his hands and he moved it so that it was out of her grasp.
“Josh,
come on, the air isn’t as warm as the water was.” She pleaded. An idea crossed her mind and she began
making her way toward him.
“Laurie…”
he warned.
“Aww…
you know you want a hug,” she grinned.
“Not
when you’re dripping wet, my love,” he said and backed up even more.
“But
if you give me my towel, then I wouldn’t be so wet.” Laurie smiled always the
voice of reason.
“Well,
you do have a point.” JC said and handed her the towel.
“Thank
you.”
As
JC advanced toward her so he could greet her properly, and she held out an arm,
momentarily confusing him. A slight
from Laurie and JC landed in the water, fully dressed. Laurie grabbed her keycard and t-shirt from
her lounge chair before he had time to react and bolted into the hotel.
The
elevator doors had just started to close when JC’s hand shot out to stop them
from closing. He was sopping wet and
Laurie’s eyes went wide and he backed her into one of the corners. She again held an arm out to stop him, but
he grabbed it gently and moved it to the side, not letting go. He pressed his body up against hers and wrapped
the arm he was still holding around his waist.
“N-Now
Josh,” she stuttered.
JC
simply grinned. “You really shouldn’t
have done that, Laur.”
He
lowered his head to kiss her, but the doors opened onto their floor before he
got a chance to. He picked her up,
threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the elevator. Lonnie opened his mouth to make a comment
and JC shook his head. He made it to
his room and reached into his pocket for his keycard and realized the water had
ruined it.
“Shit,”
he muttered. “Hey Lonnie! Let me into my room!”
“You
mean you don’t want to stay in the hall with a half naked chick over your
shoulder?” Lonnie looked them up and down.
“And last time I checked, people don’t usually go swimming full
clothed.”
JC
glared at him and Lonnie laughed before getting up and walking down the hall
with an extra keycard in hand. Lance
peeked out of his room when he heard JC yell and shook his head when he saw the
sight before him. He had a feeling
their secret would be out by tomorrow and made a mental note to talk to them
later.
Once
JC and Laurie were inside his room, he threw her onto the bed and climbed on to
join her.
“I
missed you,” he whispered and kissed her cheek.
“I
missed you too,” she replied and wrapped her arms around his neck. “We’re getting the bedspread wet.”
“Wanna
dry off and go back to your room?”
“Yeah,”
she breathed.
“Ok…
just let me grab a change of clothes.”
**********
Michelle
opened the door to the room that she was sharing with Chris to find him and
Justin playing a violent game on the playstation. She bent over and gave Chris a quick kiss before sitting on the
bed.
“Hi
Justin.”
“Hey
Shelle,” he replied without taking his eyes from the TV.
“Yuck,”
she said as she watched them play.
“What the hell are you playing?”
“I
don’t remember, but Justin is kicking my ass.”
“That’s
because you suck,” Justin taunted.
“Are
you going to be much longer?” Michelle
asked and looked at her watch.
“I
don’t know, do you have plans?”
“No,
but I didn’t fly two thousand miles to sit here and watch you play games
either.”
“Do
you want me to turn it off?”
“No,
you can play for a while longer, I’m going to have a shower.” She kissed the
top of his head and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Michelle
adjusted the water, stripped out of her clothes and climbed underneath the warm
spray, allowing the water to wash the days travel off of her body. After twenty minutes, she felt sufficiently
refreshed and got out, wrapping a towel around her hair. She took special pains with her make-up in
case they did decide to go somewhere that night. She redressed and left the bathroom with the towel still wrapped
around her head. Justin looked at her
briefly.
“That’s
a good look for you,” he laughed.
“Oh
shut up.” She looked at the
screen. “Did you guys start a new
game?”
“Yeah,
sorry hun, we didn’t know how long you were going to be.” Chris apologized.
“Fine,
I have to email Dave about the fall line anyway.”
“Why?”
Chris took his attention away from the game for a minute.
“Because,”
Michelle sighed. “I got five separate
phone calls today from the companies we distribute to, wondering when we were
going to ship the fall line.”
“And?”
“And
Dave told me it was going to ship early September and I told him that’s when we
should be starting to ship the winter line.
So now I need to find out what’s going on, because the fall line should
be shipping now.”
Chris
groaned and turned his attention back to the game.
**********
An
hour and a half later, Chris and Justin were just as involved with the game as
they were when Michelle arrived. She
had done everything from clear out her inbox to tidy up the room and read a few
chapters of the book she had brought with her.
She sighed loudly.
“What’s
the matter baby?” Chris asked with
concern.
“I’m
bored Chris. And I would really like to spend some time
with you.”
“But
we just started a new game,” he whined.
“Fine,”
she huffed. “I’m going to Laurie’s
room. Call my cell when you’re finished
and I might come back.”