Designed for Love (2 page)

He followed her inside to the reception
desk. She walked up to one clerk, and he went to the other. "I reserved a
room for the night. Johnson, Bill Johnson."

"Oh, yes, Mr. Johnson." The
clerk took his credit card and processed it.

He glanced at the girl while he waited.
She sure was standoffish. Too bad, he really would like to have a drink with
her. She stared at him for a moment, and he looked into the greenest eyes he'd
ever seen. Green eyes and gorgeous red hair. Sexy as hell and a volatile
combination. But still something about her. He turned his attention back to the
clerk, signed the register and put his credit card in his wallet.

* * *

I couldn't help but look at Bill. He
really was good looking. Maybe in another time, another place, I might have
agreed to have a drink with him. There were just too many coincidences to suit
me. Really, what were the odds of bumping into a stranger, having him on the same
flight, in the next seat, and now at the same hotel? Just too much of a fluke,
if you asked me. Some might call it a twist of fate, but I didn't believe in
those things.

"Okay, Miss Seidel, you're all set.
Here's your key. Room 324. Enjoy your stay."

I took the key card and started for my
room and glanced back at Bill. Maybe I would have that drink. What did I have
to lose? It didn't have to go any further– in fact it wouldn't. It never did.
Besides, it beat sitting in an empty hotel room. I waited at the elevator until
he headed toward me.

"Bill, I was thinking, and uh...if
you still want to have that drink, give me a few minutes to freshen up, and
I'll meet you in the bar."

"I don't know about you, but I could
go for a bite to eat too. I haven't had dinner yet."

What the heck, why not? Besides, I was
hungry. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? "Sure, sounds good."

The elevator door opened, and we stepped
in. I pushed three. "What floor?"

"Three. Looks like we're
neighbors."

This was too eerie. Hopefully, he wasn't
right next door. That was just too close for comfort.

The elevator doors opened, and I stepped
into the hall and turned to the left. Bill followed behind. Wonderful, his room
was in the same corridor as mine. Stopping in front of room 324, I smiled.
"I'll see you downstairs in..." I looked at my watch. "Say
fifteen minutes."

Bill looked at me, a silly grin on his
face. "You aren't going to believe this."

"What?"

He held out his key envelope. Room 324
practically jumped off it.

"No way!" This absolutely
couldn't be happening. "There has to be some mistake." I blocked the
doorway. "Look, I don't know how this happened, but no way am I sharing a
room with you. I suggest you go back to the desk and sort it out."

Bill leaned against the door frame and
smiled. "I'm afraid you have no choice. According to the clerk, this was
the last room." He straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest.
"And I'm not sleeping in the lobby." He reached around me, inserted
his key card, pushed the door open, and went inside.

He walked toward the farthest bed and
threw his duffel bag on the chair. "I'll take this one." He fell on
the bed and leaned back, hands behind his head.

I stood at the door. "Oh, no you
don't. Damn it! I AM NOT sharing a room with you." I dropped my bag near
the doorway and hurried into the room, picked up his duffel bag, walked to the
door and set it out in the hall. "Sorry, Mr. Johnson, but this is my
room."

Chapter Three

Bill sat up. Spunky little thing, he'd
give her that. Kind of cute when she's mad too. He liked the way her cheeks
turned red, and her eyes sparkled. Although most people probably wouldn't call
them sparkly. More like fiery. Definite anger in them. Sure has a quick temper.
He slid off the bed and looked at her.

She stood at the door, arms crossed,
tapping her foot. As if that was going to make him leave. He almost laughed at
the irony of it. "Look, I'm sure we can work this out. Freshen up and
we'll get that drink and talk about it."

"There's really nothing to talk about.
I'm not staying in the same room with you, and that's that."

"Look, honey. I'm not going to
attack you. You're not even my type." The hell she wasn't, but somehow he
had to convince her he was harmless. The thought of sleeping in the lobby
didn't do much for him. If they'd even let him. Although they made the mistake
and double booked the room. He actually found the situation kind of humorous.

He didn't think it was possible, but her
face turned even redder. Now what did he say that ticked her off?

"I don't much care if I'm your type
or not, and I told you before, DON'T
call me honey!"

Obviously, she wasn't too happy with him
right now. The whole situation almost made him laugh again, but he thought
better of it. 

"No disrespect intended. But like I
said before, I don't know your name."

"My sister couldn't have written a
more amusing scene in her romance novels," she said. "Not that I find
the situation romantic. Far from it. Annoying describes it better."
Suddenly, she burst out laughing.

"Okay, Mr. Johnson, here's the deal.
You stay on your side of the room. I'll stay on mine. No funny business."

He liked her laugh. It had a tingly,
musical sound to it. Liked her sudden change of heart too. "Scout's
honor." He crossed his heart. "I don't know about you but I'm
starved. How about some dinner?"

"After we stop at the front desk and
straighten out this room situation."

Bill looked at her. "Didn't we just
straighten that out?"

She laughed again. "We both paid for
the room. I don't know about you, but a hundred and fifty for the room was more
than I wanted to pay to begin with. I think three hundred is way overdoing
it."

"You paid a hundred and fifty?"

"Yeah, didn't you?"

Bill shook his head. "Only one
twenty-five."

She waved her hands in the air.
"Sometimes it doesn't pay to be a woman. I swear we get cheated over
everything."

"Did you always have such a quick
temper?" He swore he'd never met a woman like her before. She should laugh
more often. It suited her. Her eyes really sparkled when she laughed. In fact
her whole face lit up.

"Excuse me. Are you saying I don't
have the right to be angry?" She glared at him.

"I didn't say that. Sure you do. But
come on, it was probably an honest mistake that they double booked the
room."

"That's not why I'm angry. They
charged you twenty-five dollars less– that makes me angry. Men get charged less
for everything." She hung up her coat while she talked.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not kidding. Take the dry
cleaner for example. It's been proven that men get charged less than
women."

"Come on, where'd you hear
that?"

"It was on the news not long ago.
They proved it. A woman's blouse cost three times the amount to clean than a
man's shirt. Same fabric, nothing frilly, same basic style as the man's shirt.
Women still don't earn as much as men for the same job either."

"Okay, you have a point. You
shouldn't have been charged more for the room. Let's go straighten that out and
grab a bite to eat. Assuming of course, the restaurant is still open."

She grabbed her purse and motioned for
him to go.

Chapter Four

When we got off the elevator, I saw only
one clerk at the front desk, the girl who had taken care of me. Poor thing
looked bored out of her mind. A magazine sat in front of her, but she didn't
look like she was concentrating on it.

This ought to be good. Women were worse
than men when it came to dealing with men. Especially good-looking, sexy men
like Bill.

Now what made me think that? He wasn't at
all my type. Too outdoorsy looking. I preferred intellectuals. Conservative,
professionals. Someone who could carry on a conversation about topics other
than football. Not that I minded talking about football, it was my favorite
sport. But some men couldn't talk about anything else. Bill struck me as that
type. Probably loved to go hiking and skiing too. Not my cup of tea.

I stood off to the side while the girl
openly flirted with Bill. "I can't believe we did that. Of course I'll
credit your account, Mr. Johnson." She batted her big baby blues at him. I
almost gagged.

"Well, actually, Miss..."

"Olivia." The girl interrupted.

"Yes, of course, Olivia. Actually
you're going to have to credit Miss uh...um..." Bill looked at me.
"What is your name anyway?"

I felt the color rise to my face.
"Seidel, Wendy Seidel." God, I felt like such a fool. What must
Olivia think of me? Spending the night with a man who didn't even know my name.
Not that he needed to. This wasn't what it looked like. "If you hadn't
double booked us, we wouldn't have to spend the night in the same room. Are you
sure you don't have a cancellation?

Olivia shook her head. "Sorry, Miss
Seidel, we're full up. I really am sorry for this confusion. I don't know how
it happened."

"No problem, just credit our cards,
and we'll be out of your way," I said.

"Of course," Olivia said. She
punched some keys on the keyboard, waited for something to be printed out and
handed it to me. "There you are, Miss Seidel. One hundred and fifty
dollars credited to your account."

I ignored the printout. "That's not
correct, Olivia, half of the credit goes to Mr. Johnson's credit card."

Bill shook his head. "No, I insist
on paying for the room. After all I did put you out."

Oh, no, he didn't. Uh, uh, no way. What
would he expect from me for paying for the room? "No, I'll pay my fair
share."

Olivia looked between us. "I can
credit half to each account."

"Okay, how about this?" Bill
raised his hand to stop Olivia. "How about if you pay me for half the
room?"

"I don't have that much cash on
me." I didn't like this at all. Why couldn't the girl get it right to
begin with?

"Fine, so send me a check
later." He pulled out his wallet and handed me a business card.
"Here's my address. I trust you."

I took the card and slid it into my purse
without looking at it. I still didn't like this, but I didn't want to stand
here making a spectacle of myself. "Fine, let's get something to eat. The
restaurant is still open isn't it?" I asked Olivia.

"As far as I know it is."
Olivia sighed and looked relieved.

Bill took my arm and led me toward the
restaurant.

I tried to pull away, but he held my arm
firmly. Not harsh or abusive, but firm enough. Shivers ran down my spine at the
warmth of his hand, even through my sleeve. This wasn't good. What was the
matter with me? I didn't react like this to men. Especially this type of man.
Probably just tired, not to mention the stress of the situation.

The restaurant looked full, but the
hostess led us to a table in the far corner of the room. Any other time I might
have thought it romantic. Another good scene for my sister's novels. I almost
laughed aloud at the situation. Here I was snowbound with a hunk of a man, who
was not at all my type, in a romantic corner of the restaurant. Candlelight
glowed from the tables. I only hoped they didn't lose power.

Again, as if by some magical power from
my thoughts, the lights went out. What else could happen?

A few seconds later they came back on
from the hotel's generator. Thank God. I didn't relish the thought of spending
a long evening alone in a dark room with Bill. At least I could linger over
dinner and call it a night when we returned to the room.

Bill's hand on my arm brought me out of
my thoughts. "I asked what kind of work you do?"

"Oh, sorry, was thinking about
something."

"Do you always blush that
easily?"

I fanned my face and glared at him. Was
bad enough I blushed, did he have to bring it to my attention? "I'm an
interior designer." I ignored his question about blushing.
"You?"

"Architect. I specialize in old
buildings and homes that people want to knock walls out of– structural
stuff."

"I see. Sounds fascinating." It
really did. Maybe I had misjudged him. "So, are you going to Florida for work or
play?"

"A little of both I hope. I have to
meet with a client, but I won't spend all my time working."

I smiled. "Can't say you're a dull
boy, can you?"

"Nope. So how long are you planning
on staying in Florida?"

Bill's smile showed dimples on both
cheeks and reached his eyes. A sincere smile, not fake like so many men I met.
Men who pretended they were interested and couldn't care less. Only one thing
on their minds.