Law #2: Don't Play with a Player: A Sweet Office Romance Story (Laws of Love) by Agnes Canestri (web ebook reader .txt) 📕

and take off my black jacket. I drop it on the large queen bed and throw myself down beside it.

I stare at the white ceiling and listen to the water gurgling in the pipes within the walls. Even this banal noise is music to my ears, due to the caffeine-like, happy buzz coursing through me.

This night couldn’t have been any better if I’d prayed for it to happen. I not only managed to confess to Laia that I can’t consider her a mere employee anymore, but learned that my gut wasn’t deluding me. My hunch about her interest in me was spot on.

Accompanying Laia to her room and leaving her there without asking to be invited in was harder than I would’ve thought. Probably because she got naughty and probed my resolution to be a gentleman with more than one toe-curling kiss.

Elation suffuses my chest as I ponder our time in the ballroom.

If tonight is a preview of how Laia and I could be as a couple, we’re truly meant to be together.

We had so much fun dancing, talking, and just being in each other’s company that the four-hour-long reception flew by in an instant.

I smile as I realize tomorrow I’ll be able to reveal my surprise to Laia. I might’ve worried how she’d feel about spending two days alone with me in Tucson, but after tonight I’m confident that the quietness of the hotel will be to her liking.

I sit up and unbutton my shirt. I take it off and let it fall on top of my jacket.

I’ll get my clothes sorted out later. First, I want to check what kind of soft drinks I have in the minibar. I could really use a ginger ale or a tonic water.

Just as the suction of the fridge gives in to the pressure of my grip, there’s a knock on my door.

Maybe Laia wants to give me a last good night kiss?

My heart skitters with sweet anticipation.

In my most husky Chris Hemsworth imitation, which Ellie and her roomies claim could make reading out of a telephone directory sound sexy, I say, “Just a sec, I’ll be right there.”

I grab my shirt to slip it on again, but then I decide against it.

Two can play the cheeky tempting game.

I know Laia’s self-restraint is probably stronger than mine, but I can still try and tease her a bit, no?

Chapter 44

(Laia)

The door of the room beside Devon’s opens.

I spot a room service cart containing someone’s untouched midnight snack. It’s been conveniently placed to my right side and is large enough to hide me. I quickly crouch down behind it on the floor. If I’m lucky, Devon’s neighbor will walk the other way and won’t spot me.

Otherwise, I’ll have to pretend I just stepped out of a nearby room to collect my dish, instead of dawdling about in my nightwear. I peek out from behind the white tablecloth to check whether the air is clear.

But to my surprise, it isn’t.

A slender blonde stands in the corridor with her back to me.

First, I think she’s still wearing her evening attire. At a closer look, I realize she’s dressed in a super sexy, probably costly, kimono—the kind Chelsea orders from Agent Provocateur whenever her father gives her a fat birthday envelope.

Underneath the kimono, the woman has a long, silk nightie so fitted it would rip on my hips if I ever dared to try it.

Huh, and I was afraid to look inappropriate in my top and pants! 

Just as the thought pops into my mind, the blonde turns, and I see her face.

I freeze.

Morgan is the guest who took my room? Why is she out here in her show-more-than-hide lingerie?

Morgan’s next move answers both questions.

She knocks on Devon’s door with a breezy movement, then pulls back her hand to her hip, shifting her lean legs into a flattering pose.

Devon appears in the doorway.

From the shadow cast by Morgan and the door, I can’t see his face, but I get a good glimpse at his bare torso and those muscles that made me speechless. My stomach shrinks to the size of an M&M.

Do these two have a late-night date?

It seems so because Morgan sashays forward and Devon moves back to leave her space to enter. The door slams shut behind her.

I wait for a second in my hideout, then straighten with trembling legs. I press my back to the beige wallpaper, but I struggle to keep my posture on my wobbly knees, even with the support.

That’s why he didn’t get upset with me for not sleeping with him…

Devon wasn’t putting my needs in front of his own when he didn’t insist. He simply had another plan in mind for tonight.

With his ex. The woman who betrayed him and whom he said he didn’t care for anymore.

Didn’t care, my eye!

I sprint back to the staircase, forcing my brain into an artificial numbness until I reach the safe harbor of my room. Once inside, I dash to the bed and lift the treacherous adviser that made me assume Devon’s behavior was a sign that he loved me. “Stupid, stupid book,” I exclaim and throw it against the door with all my force.

It tumbles to the floor with a loud thud.

I stare at its crumpled pages, then stagger over and place it on the table beside the door. As much as I want to blame a lifeless object for what happened, I know the fault lies with me. And me alone.

How could I hope a player like Devon could change for me? Want me and nobody else?

I shuffle back to the bed and slump down. I slide my hands up and down on the crisp, lavender-smelling sheets as a suspicious thought occurs to me.

Maybe it was Devon who made the reception switch my room? It can’t be a coincidence that Morgan ended up sleeping beside him.

Well, technically with him.

The cynical voice makes me almost choke.

I swallow and keep the wheels of my mind turning, though I know they’ll lead me down a painful path.

If Devon upgraded