She blinks at me. “Oh, I see.” A thoughtful frown. “I do not know.”
“You feel comfortable sharing a bed with me?”
She swallows audibly. “No.” It’s immediate.
I glance at the clerk, a young, pretty Hispanic woman. “Double queen.”
Anjalee grabs my arm. “Wait, please.”
The clerk stops, looks from me to Anjalee.
“Darlin’, you said you ain’t comfortable sharin’. I’m a hundred percent fine with that.” I brush her cheekbone with my thumb. “No worries. It’s good.”
Anjalee looks at the clerk, at me. “Everything with you is new, and different. I am on an adventure. You cannot stay in your zone of comfort on an adventure, I think, no?” She leans into me, making my heart thump, or try to. “The room with only one bed, please.”
“Anjalee, babe.” I gaze down at her, but I see the determination in her features. “All right. Whatever you want.”
The smile she gives me lights me up, but in the sense of hitting a target with a guiding laser for an incoming air strike.
“You are not supposed to give me everything I want, Kane. You are supposed to show me the things I do not know about.”
I laugh. “You’re fuckin’ weird, babe.”
“Is this another teasing?” she asks, looking up at me with genuine confusion. “I do not believe I am so weird.”
“Yeah, I’m teasing, and yeah, you kinda are. Not a bad thing. It’s cute.”
She frowns. “Sometimes, your teasing makes me feel uncomfortable.” Somehow, she makesuncomfortablesound like way more syllables than it is. “I know you mean to be playful, but I have never been teased before. It is a very unusual feeling.”
The clerk is doing whatever endless room-assignment typing is necessary, swiping the card, writing on a little envelope.
“Just keep in mind that I’m never saying anything with the intention of making fun, mocking, or being mean. I say somethin’ that really bugs you, tell me.” I smile at her. “The other part of teasin’ you gotta learn is how to give it back to me.”
“I do not know how to do this. I will feel as if I am being mean to you.”
I laugh. “My skin’s a mile thick, honey. Not much you can say’s gonna trigger me. Fact, there’s probably two, maybe three topics on the planet you could hit me with that’d actually upset me, and you don’t have a chance in hell of hittin’ on ‘em accidentally.” I tap her nose with my index finger. “I’m military, babe. Told you, teasin’s an art form, and when you’re fifty miles behind enemy lines with six of your closest buddies and there ain’t shit to do but talk, you make fun of each other. And let me tell you, spec ops boys play dirty.”
She wrinkles her nose. “I will attempt to tease you. I feel I have much to learn, however.”
The clerk chimes in, at this point. “Now I just need a card for incidentals.”
“No card,” I say. “Payin’ cash.”
The clerk frowns at me. “I’m sorry, sir, but I need—”
I pull a roll from my pocket and peel off enough cash to cover double the cost of the room, slap it on the counter. “Cash deposit. I know how this shit works.”
“I’ll have to get a manager’s approval,” she murmurs, and scurries off.
A bit of business with the manager, and then we get our keycards and directions to our room.
As we’re on the elevator to our second-floor room, she looks at me. “Who is Rick Sutherland?”
It’s the name I checked us in under.
The doors open and I guide her toward our room. “Me.”
“But your name is Kane.”
