“I can call ‘round and ask, but I doubt it,” the hostess replied, biting her lip.
“It’s fine, Meg. I can take the couch,” Jeremy offered. “As long as you don’t mind sharing the room.”
“It’s quite a short sofa,” the young woman added, eyeing Jeremy’s height.
“I’ll make do,” Jeremy replied.
I pointed one finger in the air to indicate to the hostess that we needed a moment to discuss our options, then I discreetly pulled him over to a nearby wall.
“Jeremy,” I whispered. “You’ve been extremely magnanimous this entire time. In fact, I’ve never seen a more happy-go-lucky traveler, but you should not be forced to share a room.”
“But there aren’t any more rooms in this hotel,” he pointed out. The man was obviously far more reasonable than I was after twelve hours of travel.
I knew he was right, but I was still hanging onto the last shred of hope. How awkward would it be to share a room with Hottie McFox for four nights? He would learn that I wore a green facemask at night, and he’d probably see my bare feet. “We might be able to find one somewhere else.”
Jeremy shifted his weight to his other foot. “Didn’t you say this is the best place in town and the hub of all the festival activities?”
“Yes, but we need two rooms.” I hoped my voice wasn’t sounding whiny. Besides, all of this would be a moot point if the hostess couldn’t find us another room. Where was Patsy, the hotel manager, when you needed her? I’d met her on my previous stay.
“Okay, we can have her check, but I’m fine with sharing and taking the couch if you are,” Jeremy finished.
The hostess, who had been frantically making phone calls since we moved to the wall, cleared her throat. “Doctor, I called the three other places I know of and they’re all full too.”
“Of course they are.” I sighed.
“Looks like we’re rooming together.” Jeremy said with another bright smile. Did nothing ruffle this man? He strolled back over to the desk. “We’ll take the room.”
If flying across the ocean with a hottie was awkward, sharing a hotel room—a small cozy, old, English hotel room—with one was like the Awkward Olympics. The room ensuite consisted of a narrow hallway with a lavatory on one side. It contained a tub with a shower inside, a small toilet, and the tiniest sink I’d ever seen. Past the bathroom was the bedroom that housed a queen-sized bed, two nightstands, a couch that could easily pass for a wide chair, and a small wooden table and desk chair. In the first five minutes in the room, Jeremy and I bumped into each other at least three times and then did an unwieldy, shuffle-dance sort of thing to move out of each other’s way. I finally left my suitcases in the short corridor near the door and made my way over to the window that overlooked the wide lawn on the crescent. The sun was beginning to set, but many of the festival-goers were there, milling about on the lawn. Most of them were dressed in period attire.
Jeremy came to stand behind me. He looked over my shoulder. “I thought you said it doesn’t begin until tomorrow.”
“It doesn’t. Some of these people are a little overly enthusiastic,” I said with a laugh. Actually, he had no idea. Some of these people would behave all weekend as if they were living during the actual Regency. They wouldn’t break character. It was both strange and interesting. Harrison liked to quiz them on historical facts and see how they held up. Amusement for nerds like us. I doubted Jeremy would appreciate that particular pastime.
Harrison. Where was he? The tickets we’d had before would put him here even earlier than Jeremy and I had arrived. Wishing they’d somehow missed their flights and wouldn’t make it was probably too hopeful. Were he and Lacey already posted up in their comfortable individual rooms? Had they already unpacked? I scoured the lawn for any sign of the two of them but didn’t see them. Lacey’s height and tendency to wear a giant hat to hide from paparazzi would normally make her stand out in a crowd, but in a sea of bonnets I didn’t recognize her. No doubt she was hiding in her room to avoid the press.
Jeremy turned in a wide circle and assessed the sofa. He was staring down at it as if he hoped it would somehow expand in size.
“Look,” I said, “if that thing pulls out, it’s barely gonna fit me, let alone you. I’ll take it.”
“No way,” Jeremy replied. “I’m the hired help here, remember?”
“Then I don’t want you filing a workman’s comp claim against me,” I said, still smiling. “Please let me take it. It only makes sense with the laws of physics and all.”
“We can discuss it later,” he finally said. “What’ll we do first?”
I scratched my head. “Uh, I was sort hoping for a nap. I’m exhausted.”
He shook his head at me. “If you nap now, you’ll never get on the right sleep schedule.”
“I know, but if I don’t, I’ll fall over. Just about an hour or so.” I scrunched up my nose and shrugged.
“Okay, I’ll go downstairs and assess the competition. Any message for Harrison if I see him?”
My last conversation with Harrison played through my mind like a bad movie stuck on repeat. I’d called him Harry. He’d told me to ‘be smart’. “Nah,” I said. “No message. Other than good luck.”
“Yeah, well, he’ll need it. He’ll be lucky if I don’t punch him,” Jeremy said with a wink before he opened the door to the hallway and left the room.
I woke up to the sound of loud laughter outside my door. I was alone in the room. I’d taken the couch. It pulled out into a tiny bed that was just big enough for little ol’ me. I figured if I’d already slept in it, Jeremy couldn’t argue with me later. Besides, he had to be reasonable. There was no way his tall frame was going to make it into that tiny pull-out. It would be laughable. Half his legs would hang over the edge.
The only other alternative was for us to share the queen, and while I was willing to share, that would be a little too intimate. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at the thought of me snuggled up to Jeremy’s side, spooning him accidentally. The man would accuse me of sexual harassment before this job was over, I was sure of it. If my outlandish ogling of him with Mitchell hadn’t done it, my spooning him in bed would be certain to. Yes, it was much better that I stay on the tiny couch.
I’d hoisted my giant suitcase filled with all my costumes into the corner between the couch and the window. I’d rolled Jeremy’s much less huge, but similarly-filled-with-costumes suitcase over between the wall and the queen-sized bed to make it clear that he would be staying there. I rumpled the sheets on the pull-out and tossed the pillows around more to make it obvious that I’d staked my claim. Jeremy was going to have to fight me for it.
I glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine p.m. England-time. Of course, in England, they called that twenty-one hundred. I knew it made more sense that way, but it always just seemed like a math equation to me. I stretched and looked around. I was refreshed from the sleep, but really hungry. I took a quick, hot shower, hoping Jeremy wouldn’t come back to the room while I was naked. There wasn’t much space to dress in the tiny bathroom. Thankfully, I was able to shower in privacy.