Page 4 of The Bear, the Eagle, and their Wombat Omega (Omegas of Animals: SD #14)

Bruno

I’d put my professionalism on the line when I invited Arkyn to come with me.

Our relationship was entirely appropriate, and whatever feelings I’d had were perfectly suppressed.

The drive down to San Diego gave us time to go over the business aspects of our trip and also to talk about what Arkyn would like to do with all that downtime I’d mentioned.

He was so excited, I regretted not inviting him sooner.

There was no reason I hadn’t ever brought him on one of my trips.

As my assistant, he didn’t have much to do when I was gone, and he would no doubt be helpful in meetings.

Plus, I really hated eating alone and having nobody to talk to almost the whole time I was away.

Riding along, our conversation went from one topic to another.

Everything and anything. One of the things I liked best about Arkyn was how easy it was between us.

And normally we were so busy, we didn’t have time to talk about a lot of other things.

He shared about growing up in town, the same place I had, but we’d never encountered one another until he came to work at our company.

“We didn’t have any bears in our school,” he said. “It was mostly birds and a few humans. They were always trying to find out if we could teach them to fly.”

“People can be weird.” I flipped on the turn signal. “That’s the hotel up ahead.”

“Wow. It’s fancy,” he said. “Does the company always put you up in places like this?”

“It’s not as fancy as all that. Mostly just the facade. Watch. When we get in, you’ll see it’s just another business hotel, catering to people like me.” I grinned at him. “And now like you.”

“Do they have one of those breakfasts with the waffle maker?” he asked.

“I generally grab a coffee and a roll or something, so I have never noticed. Do you like waffles?”

“I do, but I don’t have a machine, so I’ve never made them. Other than the frozen kind, of course.”

I wanted to leave the hotel parking lot and buy him a waffle iron immediately, but I didn’t think that would be professional.

It would make a great Christmas present, though.

I stored the idea away in my mind for then.

“We’ll check it out in the morning. I’ve never made a waffle either. And I think I might like to try.”

Parking in the lot, we climbed out of the car and got our bags from the rear. “I’m glad we’re here,” I told him. “It’s been a long day.”

“You often leave at the end of the working day for your trips, don’t you?” he asked, stepping ahead of me to grab the door and hold it open. “When you’re already tired.”

“I often do.” Rolling my case into the lobby, I adjusted the strap of my backpack over my shoulder. The check-in desk was right ahead of us. It would be nice to lie down and put my feet up. I handed my ID to the clerk.

“Why do you do that? Leave at night, I mean?”

“Because I like to be fresh and well rested for my meetings. And it would be difficult to schedule them in the mornings if I had to drive first. I do it to be efficient and not end up losing a whole day for travel.”

“You work too hard, Boss.” He also handed over his ID before continuing. “Your travel time is also on the company, or it should be.”

“Here are your keys to the suite.” The clerk interrupted our conversation. “You’re on the top floor, one of our nicest.”

We trundled our bags to the elevator, yawning.

“See?” Arkyn pushed the button. “You’re tired. And usually you don’t even have me there to keep you awake with conversation.”

“Maybe I should bring you every time”—I elbowed him—“in the interest of roadway safety.”

“Let’s see if they have waffles here before we decide. Priorities, Boss.”

“Of course, I don’t always come here, so even if they have it, we won’t know if the hotels where I stay in the other cities have waffle irons.”

“Only one way to find out.” As the doors slid open, I moved out into the hallway. “I’ve never stayed on this floor before, but their rooms are generally nice. They must have put us here because I asked for two beds.”

But when we entered the suite, we found out that we were not on this floor because I’d requested two beds. The room we entered had one. And this was a problem. I might be able to hide my feelings in the same room, but the same bed?

I didn’t think so.

“Umm…” Arkyn’s face paled a little. “What are we going to do?”

“First, I’m going to call down to the desk and find out what happened. The suite is nice, but we need two beds.”

Arkyn pulled the cord and opened the blinds. “There’s a balcony out there.” He slid the door open and stepped outside. “I can see all the way to the ocean.”

“Mm-hmm.” I waited while the person at the front desk tried to straighten out the mistake that had been made. I should have confirmed that there were two beds before we came up here.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we have no other available suites and the other rooms that are open also only have one bed. We can refund you if you would rather go elsewhere.”

Arkyn had finished exploring the balcony and was in the bathroom admiring the shower.

“Aren’t all the suites at least set up for two sleeping spots?”

“Yes. You have the sofa.”

“Does it pull out?”

“No, but we hear it’s quite comfortable.”

I huffed out a breath in frustration. “Let me get back to you.”

I hung up and watched my assistant playing with the giant tub jets. “Arkyn? We can’t get another room. I can book us two singles, or I can sleep on the couch.”

“Or I can sleep on the couch. I don’t want you to pay more for another room if the company only authorized one.”

“It probably won’t be a big difference.”

“Will it have all the amenities of this one?” He waved his arm, obviously delighted with what this top-floor suite offered.

“Gonna say no.”

“Then, if you’re still cool with sharing a room, I’ll take the couch.” He plopped down on it and gave a bounce. “This will be fine.”

“I’ll switch with you tomorrow, and for now, I’ll call downstairs for more bedding.”