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There’s no way in hell I’m leaving her alone with that predator, so I make another attempt to wake him. When words don’t work, I shake his shoulder. He swats my hand away, and I do it again.

“You need to go now, Orin.”

He mumbles something and sinks right back into a deep sleep. I grunt in frustration as I scan his giant body. Callie and Ibarely dragged him five feet from the couch. There’s no way I’m getting him to the door on my own.

With no other choice, I plop down at the end of Callie’s couch on the side closest to Orin. If he wakes up, he won’t be able to get near her without waking me. But I’ll do my best not to fall asleep. I’m not taking any chances.

I reach for the remote and let the marathon begin.

Light streamsin from the floor-length windows. Disoriented, I squint into the glare for a clue about my surroundings. I’m… somewhere. On a couch.

In Luke’s hotel room.

I drop my head back to the armrest. Something soft tickles my skin, and I glance down to see the world’s fuzziest blanket tucked around me. It still smells like Callie’s citrus body wash, or whatever it is she uses.

Man, that’s a dream to wake up to.

I don’t move for a second, enjoying the thought of her transferring the blanket to me. Then I remember the reason I gave myself a neck cramp on the couch instead of taking the huge guest bed.

The blanket dislodges from my chest when I push up to check the other couch. Thank god it’s empty. Orin must have taken off sometime during the night. Good riddance. I still don’t understand why Luke would invite that pig.

Oh wait. He didn’t. Hisconciergedid.

Yeah, we’re going to be discussing that one later.

I order my aching body to stand. As feared, every muscle feels like it’s been beaten with a hammer. If I never have to drag another body across a room, I’ll be grateful. Guess that means serial killing is out.

Callie is nowhere to be seen, and a wave of panic runsthrough me when I squint toward the door and find her bag missing. What if everything that happened last night freaked her out? Luke’s illness. My flirting. Did I come on too strong? I barely came on at all by my normal standards, but she’s not the kind of woman I’m used to.

Oh god. What if Luke still doesn’t have her number and I’ll never see her again?

Shit.Luke.

I move toward the hall to check on my friend and freeze when I hear water running behind the guest room door.

Relief floods through me. That’s either Orin or Callie, and there’s no way Orin would stoop so low as to use a spare bedroom shower.

It’s frightening how happy I am to hear running water, so I force myself to continue down the hall before this gets any weirder. When I reach Luke’s door, I brace for the worst.

The shades are drawn, but there’s still enough light for me to make out the lump on the bed. When it rolls toward me, I let my hand drop from the door.

“Hey,” the lump croaks. “I’m good.”

I swallow a rush of sickening nostalgia at the familiar scene. “Five or six?”

“Five.”

Five out of ten on a scale of “passed out by a gravestone” and “rocking a stadium.” Not bad for the mess he was last night. He’s never above a six. Anything below a five would have been a “not good.”

I stare at the floor, not sure what to do next. I don’t know this script anymore.

“Okay. Well, let me know if you need anything. I’ll order coffee and food. Also, I’m going to steal some of these complimentary toiletries, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. You can also charge whatever you need to my room.”

“Thanks.”

I start toward the bathroom.