Room 1208 by Sophia Renny Read Free Book Online

than a bottle of JD and a bong being involved. How about you, Maggie?”
    Maggie kept her eyes on her notepad. “I was out
of town. My thirtieth birthday was the week before I started working here.”
    “Oh, yeah?” Samantha pried. “Did you go somewhere
fun?”
    “Chicago.”
    “She’s blushing again,” Dan stage-whispered.
“Come on, Mags, fess up. You got laid on your birthday, didn’t you.”
    Oh, lord in heaven . Leave it to Dan to get
it right in one. “No, not that it’s any of your business. One of my friends is
an event manager. She asked me to come with her at the last minute to help with
a conference. We were both going to stay an extra night at the hotel and go
celebrate, but her boyfriend showed up to surprise her and I was stuck on my own.”
This was mostly true. The rest of the story would stay buried deep in her
heart.
    “Huh, some friend.” Samantha sneered in sisterly
commiseration.
    “So, you went and painted the town red anyway, I
hope?” Dan chortled. “You did, didn’t you? Look at her face, Sam.”
    Maggie narrowed her eyes at him. “You know that
saying ‘what goes on the road, stays on the road,’ Danny boy? Now seriously,
guys. We only have an hour before the call. Get those pencils moving.”
    Dan gave one final snicker that turned into a
yelp when Samantha kicked him under the table.
    Maggie took a deep breath, struggling to calm her
thoughts. As her eyes refocused on the note pad she realized what she’d written
at the bottom of the column, written and traced over repeatedly, underlined and
encircled:
    ROOM 1208.
     
    That evening found Maggie
sitting on her plush sofa in her living room, a glass of red wine in one hand
and her notepad resting on her knee. The video conference call had gone well.
Sean Bannister, a seemingly affable teddy bear kind of man in his fifties, had
clearly expressed which direction he wanted the Jagz Vodka brand to take, and
his goals almost perfectly aligned with the ideas that had been churning in
Maggie’s head since the internal team meeting.
    Classy, Playful, Intriguing, Polished, Exclusive,
Tasteful, Sexy, Discreet. Disparate words that could blend together in a unique
way, yet she found herself unable to concentrate on exactly how. Her eyes kept
going back to the letters and numbers she’d circled over and over until she’d
torn a hole in the page. Room 1208. Heaving a sigh, she tossed the notepad on
the coffee table and gulped down the rest of the wine before lying down and
closing her eyes.
    Rachel .
    He’d said nothing more, just that name, before
sliding off of her and sinking into a deep, sated sleep.
    She’d lain there, numb with shock and
devastation—a devastation that, upon later reflection, had been staggering in
its power and finality. Because in those brief moments between their last
coupling and his speaking that name she’d decided to tell him everything. All
of her instincts had convinced her that those few glorious hours they’d shared
had been magical and unique. There’d been more between them than just the lust
and mystery and heat of a one night stand, something more than two strangers
simply using each other to get off.
    He’d wanted to know her name. He’d insinuated
that he wanted to see her again, regardless of where they both lived. When she
closed her eyes she still saw the intensity of his gaze, felt the possessive
strength of his arms around her, his gentle, tender caresses that were all the
more sweetly profound given that strength.
    Rachel . One word, one name, had shattered
her blossoming dream. He’d said he wasn’t married, that he wasn’t seeing
anyone. And she’d believed him. Yet there was no wedding ring on his finger, no
differentiation of color or imprint on the skin to indicate he wore one. Fresh
doubt had assailed her as she’d watched him sleep.
    Whoever Rachel was, he loved her. There’d been no
mistaking the depth of emotion in his voice, the veneration, the…guilt.