┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

We stood in silence with the employee staring between us in confusion. "Sir? Ma'am?"

Poppy cleared her throat and turned to me. "Um, I... Maybe you should just uh, take a room with two beds. I'll split the bill with you and we'll make sure Lydia pays you back." She faced the employee while I watched her. "He'll take a separate room."

"No, I won't," I cut in, my brows furrowing in confusion as I stared at Poppy. "Lydia isn't going to pay me back. This is a five-star—"

"Seven-star, sir," the employee mumbled quietly, earning a glare from both of us.

"Seven-star," I spat out, correcting myself, "hotel. Lydia isn't spitting out any more money than she already did for this trip. And I'm not paying an unreasonable amount for a bed I won't even use." I turned to the woman behind the desk. "Do we get a refund if we cancel the bookings to one of our rooms and somebody shares a room with me instead?"

She shook her head. "No, sir, we're very sorry. But canceling the booking to a different room won't help at this point."

"Then what exactly do you suggest we do?" Poppy asked, forcing a polite smile.

"Well um, I suggest you two share a room if that's possible... We're certain that the room was booked for you both to stay in together intentionally. There's no record of any other room being booked under your name, Mr. Nilsen, and no employee answered a phone call to that request either."

Both Poppy and I huffed, leaving the counter and going to sit on the couches in the lobby. She stared at me, brows raised. "What are you going to do?"

I leaned back into the couch, resting my hand on the armrest. "I guess I could stay at a cheaper hotel nearby. That should be fine."

"Are you serious? You won't stay here?"

"I don't think so, it doesn't make sense."

She paused, fidgeting with her earring. "Maybe we should check with Lydia."

I paused. "About what?"

"Do you remember I told you I think she intentionally puts her employees in situations that force them to break the rules so that she has an excuse to fire them?"

"You think she wants to fire us?"

"One of us, maybe. It's probably not you," she snickered. "Are you really not going to stay?"

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "It doesn't sound like you want that," I mused.

"I don't," she said it like it was obvious. "You want me to tolerate Valerie all alone here? Impossible. I need you here with me. So..."

"So?" I lifted a brow.

"So share the room. With me. It can't be that bad," she sighed, "we did just fine last night. Let's share the room. But let's not tell Jamieson and Valerie. I don't think she's going to like that very much."

I thought about it before nodding slowly. She was dangerous for every little part of me but it was a risk I was willing to take if it meant spending a bit more time with her, just the two of us. "Okay."

"Yeah?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Great. Let's go then." So, we headed straight up to the room, knowing our luggage was already taken there. We got into the elevator which took us up to the sixth floor where we got out and walked to our room. Once we were there, she unlocked the door, placing the key card in the holder as we walked in. I followed her in, the door closing behind us.

As we walked further into the room, taking in the interior. The bed that sat in the very middle of the room was a large, king-sized bed. To the right of the bed was a clear glass window that showed right into the bathroom with blinds at the top that could be pulled down. Across the bed was the TV cabinet and TV, to the left of which was a pretty big oak desk with a chair tucked under it. To the left of the bed was a round, black marble coffee table with two lounge chairs on either side of it and behind that table was a glass door to a huge balcony with a view of the Mississippi River that we'd dine across tonight.

We both stood in front of the bed, looking around. She scratched her head, setting her purse on the bed slowly. "Is it just me or is the room awfully small for a seven-fucking-star hotel," she mumbled.

I laughed, "A bit. But it isn't a suit, so I suppose it should suffice. At least the bed isn't too small."

"Yeah," she cleared her throat. Our suitcases were sitting by the TV cabinet so I moved them to an empty spot so that we could open them if we needed anything. While I did that, Poppy stepped out onto the balcony. I watched her, lowering her suitcase to the floor.

She rested her arms on the railing and looked down before holding on and leaning back, tilting her head back. Her hair blew in the wind and she pulled it away, out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. Resting her chin on her palms that held on the railing, she watched the bright view ahead of her silently.

I stood up slowly, making my way over to her. Standing beside her, I rested my arms on the bar, glancing at the river and the few boats floating across the water before I turned to look at her.

She looked at me, feeling my gaze on her, and laughed softly before facing ahead again. "What are you looking at?"

"You," I answered.

"Oh, I had no idea," she smiled at me.

Fuck. She's so beautiful.

She took in a breath before letting go of the railing, turning her body to mine. "Are Jamie and Valerie coming to the aquarium?"

"I have no idea. I guess we're at that point on this trip where the photographers make it their own and we're on our own," I replied.

"I like that," she nodded.

I lifted a brow at her.

"Usually," she added cheekily. "I like traveling on my own. But traveling with you is surprisingly fun. Dare I say, I like it more."

"Oh, do you now?" I faced her, resting my elbow on the railing.

"Hmm," she nodded, grinning. We both paused for a minute, watching each other. "Am I the only one who feels like by the time we get back to New York... we'll be in trouble?" she asked, raising her brows at me.

"No," I answered honestly, "you're not the only one."

Her eyes narrowed at me. "You're very tempting, Mr. Nilsen. But I can't decide if you're worth the risk. Should I be breaking any rules for you?"

"Would you like to, Ms. Valentine?"

She nodded confidently. "I thought you'd know that. Considering I asked you to kiss me last night," she mumbled.

"You were drunk," I reminded her.

"I knew what I was talking about, Josh."

"But you were drunk, that was the bottom line for me," I told her.

She watched me silently. "So you'd do it if I asked you now? Since I'm sober?"

"Maybe. Are you asking me to kiss you, Poppy?"

"Maybe," she mumbled.

I held her gaze, both of us taking a small step back simultaneously. "But maybe we should think this through before we do anything," I sighed.

She nodded. "Yeah, you're right." She cleared her throat, glancing ahead one more time. "Let's leave for the aquarium then. We can stop at a café to grab a bite on our way there."

So, that's what we did. We left the hotel, walked to a café nearby, both of us grabbing a sandwich and iced tea each, and then we had that on our way to the aquarium.

"Should we get a cab? It's not that close," she suggested, throwing the empty sandwich wrapped in the trash while biting down on the straw.

"It's not that far either," I replied. "I'm sure we can tolerate each other until we get there."

She watched me in amusement before laughing softly, nodding. "All right then. I'll hold you to that."

Once we got there, I fished out my phone which had the tickets on it that let us into the institute. We threw our cups away and were still taking a look around the main entrance, trying to decide where to go first. I scanned the place quickly, spotting the showcase sign. "The planetarium is open too. How does that sound?"

She nodded, "Sounds good. Let's go in order then. Aquarium, zoo, then the planetarium. Hmm?"

"As you wish," I replied.

She led the way and I trailed a step behind her as we entered the aquarium. As we moved from tank to tank, from one display to another, Poppy took hundreds of pictures on her phone. "How good is your ocean knowledge?" she asked, glancing at me over her shoulder as we walked past a tank of blue fish that looked exactly like Dory. Next to that was another tank full of clownfish.

"I know that's Dory and that's Nemo," I pointed.

She laughed, "Dory is a Blue Surgeonfish."

"Oh. And does Ms. Valentine know a lot about oceans too then?"

She nodded, humming. "My parents used to take Jack and me to aquariums a lot when we were younger. My Mom really liked the ocean and everything about it."

"And you do too?"

"I'm kind of terrified of it," she snickered, "but that doesn't make it any less beautiful." She stopped in front of a tank with a sign that read Moon Jellies. "They're pretty, aren't they?" she asked.

I stopped beside her, pocketing my hands. "Yeah, they are. And... huge."

"They don't normally sting humans, you know. And they really do glow like that. It's not just because it's dark here and there's a black light in the walls. They really glow." As we moved further, we walked past a showcase of sea otters and she said, "You know, if I had to be a sea animal, I'd want to be an otter. You?"

I blinked in confusion. "I... wouldn't want to be a sea animal."

"But what if you had to?"

"Why?"

"Just because."

I laughed, "I don't know."

"They sleep holding hands so they don't float off somewhere. And they're adorable. I'd want to be one," she mumbled.

"You kind of look like one," I remarked.

She gave me a push and then scoffed, walking ahead. I caught up to her as we stopped in front of a piranha tank. She folded her arms across her chest, cringing a bit.

"You know, they're not like they've shown in the movies," I snickered. "They hardly attack humans because they're actually scared of them. And even if they do, you're not going to die. They can't eat you up in seconds."

"Still," she sighed and moved ahead.

I watched her in amusement as we reached the dome. It was the most crowded area of the aquarium and there were so many species swimming around everywhere. Stingrays, all kinds of fish, even sharks.

She glanced up as a stingray floated above us. "Stingrays are cute," she giggled.

"Until one stings you," I replied.

"You've been stung by a stingray?"

I nodded. "I was... ten years old, I think. And that's a lot of pain for a ten-year-old. Not worth the snorkeling."

I shook my head. She took out her phone, tapping it against her hand. "Do you want to take a picture?"

"Of you? Sure."

"No, with me." She lifted her brows at me. She's so blunt when she acted like this and I fucking loved it. She didn't beat around the bush, she said whatever she felt whenever she felt it. I admire that about her.

I nodded softly. "Sure."

She asked a couple passing by to take a picture of us before we stood against the glass.

"You can stand a bit closer," the girl holding the phone chuckled. We both took a small step closer. Our temporary photographer stopped. "Closer, come on!"

Poppy chuckled awkwardly before I grabbed her waist, pulling her into me. She turned to look at me and I lifted my brows before we faced ahead. "Thank you," she grinned, taking her phone back before the couple left. We stood there as she pocketed her phone, holding my gaze.

"What?" I asked.

"You are worth it. You're worth the risk, Josh," she nodded.

.

.

.

.

.