“I’m sorry, Lucas,” Peyton said sweetly as she stepped up to the desk. “We’ve had a rough morning. Our plane almost crashed on our way to Denver and we’re kind of stuck here in town for the night.”
The kid–Lucas–who had to be about eighteen, leaned forward and looked like he was about to take Peyton’s hand in his. “Oh, man, that sounds scary! What are you going to do? How are you getting to Denver?”
“We’re not sure yet,” she replied. “All I know is that my nerves are a little frazzled and I’d love to get settled in our room.”
Lucas turned and grabbed a key–an actual key–from a peg on the wall behind him and handed it to Peyton. “It’s room 110. You step out the door and go to your right and it’s all the way at the end.”
“You are a lifesaver, Lucas.” Taking the key from him, she smiled. “Oh, one more thing. I’m starving. Is the diner the only place close by to eat or is there maybe someplace that delivers…?”
“The diner is your best bet. Their burgers are legendary! Jimmy’s Pizza will deliver but they don’t open until five so…”
“Got it. The diner for lunch and maybe pizza for dinner. Thanks, Lucas.” Turning toward him, Peyton smiled. “You want to put this on your card or mine?”
What he wanted was to find somewhere else to stay, but clearly that wasn’t happening, so he paid for the room and followed Peyton out the door.
Neither spoke as they walked down the sidewalk to the end of the building. In his mind, Ryder tried to imagine what a small town in the middle of nowhere considered renovated. He pictured perhaps fresh paint on the walls and maybe new bedding, but for everything else to remain woefully outdated. Standing behind Peyton as she opened the door, he braced himself for disappointment.
“Oh my God,” Peyton murmured, and Ryder knew this was possibly the final straw for them today. “This is amazing!”
Wait…what?
Following her into the room, he had to admit he was…pleasantly surprised.
There was a king-sized bed with floating night stands on either side and the wall behind it was covered in a bold geometric wallpaper in blue and gold. The furnishings were mid-century modern and the room had an overall vintage vibe.
It wasn’t nearly as offensive as he would have imagined.
The room still smelled like paint, drywall, and cleaning products, and it instantly had him relaxing. The carpet was new and as he walked around the room, he spotted the smart TV and minibar. Seriously, he couldn’t find a thing wrong with it.
“This is very retro-chic,” Peyton said as she put her purse down. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but this is seriously the highlight of the day!” Looking over at him, she laughed. “The way things were going, I was expecting to walk into a room that hadn’t been touched since the seventies, but this is amazing!”
Then she sat on the edge of the bed and bounced, and Ryder had to force himself to look away.
“Memory foam!” she said happily. “Oh my goodness! It’s so comfortable!”
“Um…” Rather than focus on her sprawled out on the bed, he set their luggage down in the corner of the room. “So, uh…are you hungry? Want to go across to the diner?”
She fell back on the bed and Ryder stifled a groan. “I know I’ll feel better once I eat something, but I feel like my limbs are made of lead right now.” Turning her head, she looked over at him. “Any chance you’d be willing to go over and bring some food back here?”
After what he’d put her through today, he’d go out and hunt for food if she wanted him to.
“Of course,” he told her. “I’m not sure what they have, but…”
“Bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke, please,” she said, kicking off her ankle boots. “Thank you!”
Ryder envied how relaxed she looked and wished he could feel the same, but he knew this tension was going to be with him for a while.
Walking across to the diner, he was again surprised by how neat and tidy and retro it all looked. He was greeted by three different waitresses and when he glanced at the menu, he saw plenty of items that appealed to him–far too many for just lunch and considered talking Peyton out of pizza delivery for dinner and simply coming back here.
“What can I get for you?”
Looking up, he noticed her nametag said Janet and smiled. “Hey, Janet. Can I please get two bacon cheeseburger deluxe platters to go with two Cokes, a slice of apple pie, and one of those giant chocolate chip cookies?”
“You got it!” she said, smiling warmly at him.
While he waited for their food, his mind raced with the events of the day.
Reckless. Egotistical. Stupid. Yeah, that pretty much summed up his thoughts about himself. It had been a long time since he did something like this, something to impress a woman that went so horribly wrong. Not only could he have killed them both, but he was never going to forget the look of sheer panic on Peyton’s face even before they stepped foot on the plane. Looking back, he knew he should have changed plans right then and there. At the very least, he should have called his pilot and had him come and take over just to put Peyton’s mind at ease. Instead, he’d charged forward because he believed he was in the right.
And he’d never been so wrong.
Groaning softly, he sat at the counter and tried to think of how he was going to get them to Denver with the least amount of trauma. Driving was the obvious answer, but it truly was a long drive and he was not a road trip kind of guy. However, if that was what it took, then he was going to have to do it. They were still going to miss the first day of the show no matter what, so he supposed it was the way it was going to go. Deep down, Ryder knew he could get on a commercial flight–or even on a larger chartered plane–and be okay, but he didn’t think the same could be said for Peyton.
And then they were still going to have to figure out how to get back to Magnolia Sound when the show was over. There was no way he was going to waste two or three extra days driving, so…they were going to have to figure something out.
But as he went to open their motel room door fifteen minutes later, he still had no idea about any of it.
“Here, let me help you,” Peyton said when she spotted him. She had changed into an outfit similar to the one she’d worn at her home that night–yoga pants and a tank top with tiny straps.
It’s like she’s trying to torture me…
“This little table and chair set might make a tight fit for all this food, but the thought of eating on the bed just seemed wrong.” She went about setting up their food, completely oblivious to the fact that he was uncomfortable. Then she smiled up at him. “I think you can lose the jacket and tie, don’t you?”
“Um…sure,” he muttered, slipping his jacket off as he walked over to the closet to hang it up. His tie followed before he unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. It didn’t do much to help him relax, but it definitely would have looked ridiculous for him to stay so formally dressed.
Peyton was already seated and munching on a fry when he sat down. “So?” she asked. “How was it? Did you hate it? Should I be leery of the food? Although…I have to admit, it smells so damn good that maybe I don’t want to know.”