I sat back down, glanced up at her to see she was still sound asleep, and then brought my hand down to the band of her panties.I carefully lowered them and bent down to get a look in the dimly lit room.
There on her hip in red was a heart, and inside that heart were the initials CF.I grabbed my phone, turning on the flashlight, and shone it on the tattoo and ran my fingers over her hip.When the hell had she gotten that?I was about to run my fingers over it again when she let out another moan and shifted on the bed.
Quickly, I shut the flashlight off and made my way around to the other side of the bed and pulled the covers down, then sat down on the edge of the bed.I plugged my phone in, then I lay down, adjusting the pillows behind my head, and stared up at the ceiling.I finally released the breath I was holding and was about to turn over when Emma let out a tiny moan and then another, almost like she was crying.
Instead of rolling over, I spun onto my side, facing her, and shuffled myself until I was in the middle of the bed where I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her back against me.The instant she was against my body, she let out one more tiny moan and fell into a deep sleep.
As I lay there holding her, my mind racing, the only question I had for her was about that tattoo, but I never got the chance because when I returned to the room the next morning, she was gone.
Chapter Fourteen
Emma
Panic wasthe only thing I could contribute to leaving the away games early.
I’d woken to an empty room and slipped from the bed to find myself in my tank top and panties and my boy shorts laying on top of the dresser.
I didn’t even remember coming back to the room.I certainly didn’t remember taking my clothes off.The last thing I remembered was talking to Colton in the restaurant, which could only mean one thing: he’d been the one to take my clothes off, and he’d put me to bed.
God, I wanted to die of embarrassment.I never allowed myself to get like that.Glad to be alone, I grabbed my clothes and made my way to the washroom where I quickly showered and dressed before returning to the room.I’d slipped my shorts and tank top in my top drawer and made my way over to my computer to go through the images and interview from yesterday when I saw a piece of folded paper on my laptop.
I picked up the paper, opened it, and almost immediately my hands began shaking and a wave of embarrassment flooded my body as I stared at the words he’d written.
I swallowed hard, my eyes fixed on his handwriting.
Can’t wait to hear all about that tattoo.
That was all that it said.
I could feel my heart rate speeding up as I continued to stare at the words he’d written.Then, without any thought, I crumpled up the paper, gripping it in my hand as my mind raced.
A knock on the door quickly pulled me from my racing thoughts, and I heard a woman yell, “Housekeeping.”
“Sorry, I’ll um, be out of your way in a few minutes!”I yelled out.
“No worries, take your time.I’m sure I can find another room to clean.”
I went over to my laptop, quickly emailed Pamela and Larson, letting them know I had an emergency that I needed to tend to, then I quickly packed and left the room.I called a cab and took it to the airport, where I booked my flight back to Vancouver.
I now stood in Colton’s living room, eating an apple while I waited for the rental furniture I’d ordered to arrive.I’d figured it would be best for them to drop everything off while we were gone.That way I could stage the house once we returned for theOff Ice Affairsinterview.
I walked into the kitchen and threw the apple core in the garbage when my phone vibrated.I quickly grabbed it, wondering if it was an update on the furniture, but saw an email from Kerry instead.Dread filled me as I saw the subject line.
There were so many things going on now, I seriously felt as if I were living someone else’s life, and to be honest, I wanted to face none of it.To top it all off, I felt like I was failing at the most important assignment of my career, which I’d like to say wasn’t my fault, but I couldn’t help but feel I was partially to blame.
I wasn’t focused; I hadn’t been focused since I walked into the room the morning I’d arrived in Vancouver and laid eyes on Colton.No matter how much I’d told myself the man meant nothing to me, every corner I turned said differently.I could tell myself that I was the one with all the control, I could even force myself to try to believe it, but the way the memory of that kiss we’d shared in that interview yesterday had scarred its way into my brain told me everything I needed to know.Or it should have.
I knew why she wanted to talk, so I dialed her number and waited for her to answer.I’d meant to send her an email explaining about the forty thousand I’d donated to the charity, but with everything else on my plate, I’d forgotten, and I knew that the check had probably already hit my account.Which meant that, more than likely, she needed to approve it before they’d clear it.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Kerry,” I said, taking a breath.
“Emma, finally, listen, we need to have a little chat,” Kerry said.
“I agree, and I meant to email you, but I forgot,” I replied, sitting back in the chair while taking a sip of water.“It’s been an interesting few days.”
“Sure has.It certainly was interesting to receive an email late Saturday night for an approval request for a forty thousand dollar check on your spending account without hearing a word from you about it.I tried calling you last night, but it kept just going straight to voicemail.”
