Читать книгу The Daddy Wish - Brenda Harlen, Brenda Harlen - Страница 11

Chapter Four

It took nearly twenty-five minutes to travel the six miles between the store and the hotel.

And for every single one of those minutes, Allison was grateful that Nate was behind the wheel. She considered herself a good driver, but she had little experience driving on snow-covered roads and absolutely no experience navigating unfamiliar streets in whiteout conditions.

As Nathan eased to a stop at a red light, he glanced over at her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Why?”

“You’re clutching your bag so tight your knuckles are white and you haven’t said a word since we pulled out of the parking lot.”

“I wanted you to be able to focus on the roads.”

“I’ve driven in worse,” he assured her.

“Really?”

“I went to New York University,” he said.

“You have to be crazy to drive in New York City on a good day.”

“A little bit,” he agreed, easing into the intersection when the light turned green.

“There’s the hotel,” Allison said, recognizing the distinctly scripted C that was the Courtland trademark.

He pulled into the underground parking garage and found a vacant spot. “At least we won’t have to brush snow off in the morning.”

“I’m hoping it will all be melted by the morning.”

“That’s definitely wishful thinking,” he told her. “But as long as the storm has passed, we’ll get home tomorrow.”

She nodded and followed him to the elevator.

“Ever checked into a hotel without a suitcase before?” he asked her.

“No,” she said, just a little primly.

He waggled his eyebrows. “Does it make you feel like you’re on your way to an illicit rendezvous?”

“No,” she said again, because that was something she definitely did not want to be thinking about. “I don’t do things like that.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

He flashed that tingle-inducing smile. “Too bad.”

When the elevator opened up on the main level of the hotel, he went directly to the check-in desk and spoke to the woman behind the counter. The name on her tag was Sheila, and she smiled warmly at Nate.

Part of the customer service or proof of the effect that he had on all females? And why should she care? He could flirt with the desk clerk and every other female in a ten-block radius, if he wanted—and he probably did. She just wanted to get to her room to make a phone call.