I think about arguing some more, but for once, I don’t. One of the things that I love most about my relationship with Jasper is that it feels even. I don’t feel as though I need to prove myself to him. He’s never made me feel as though I owe him anything and it’s the first time in maybe forever that I feel safe enough to simply say thank you.

So I do.

“Thank you.”

And then I get the encouragement to do it for the rest of my life when the lines around his eyes soften a millisecond before his lips touch mine.

He doesn’t pull away before whispering against my mouth, “No thanks necessary.”

“Here’s your key,” the woman I loved before this very moment interrupts. “You’re in Room 203. Go up these stairs here and to the right.”

I grit my teeth, forcing a smile as Jasper takes the key and thanks her.

Even though the walk to our room is short, it’s still long enough for me to think of every reason sharing a room with Jasper could be horrible. What if I snore? What if he snores? What will I do in the morning when my breath is awful and my hair is worse? What if I talk in my sleep and mumble how much I like him?

By the time Jasper slides the key into the door, I’ve worked myself into a full-blown tizzy. I’m about to apologize for all the things I might do to embarrass myself while I’m sleeping when he pushes open the door and flips on the light.

And light speed fast, all my worries about snoring disappear.

In the book Jasper has me reading, the characters manage to get stuck in some crazy snowstorm. They find shelter in an abandoned cabin, but there’s only one bed. I remember laughing at how ridiculous it all was. But as I look at the one and only queen-sized bed in the middle of the room, I stop thinking about how implausible it seemed and remember what came next.

All of a sudden my doubts and criticisms about books being unrealistic fade to oblivion and I hope beyond hope that I get a happy ending of my very own tonight.

CHAPTER 18

The room is very nice.

The stuck-in-the-past look ends with the lobby. The room is comfortable and equipped with all the modern touches one could hope for. A flat-screen is mounted to the wall between what look to be original light sconces. A large rug protects the thin wooden-plank floors. There’s a giant painting by the door, but unlike in most hotels, it doesn’t look like a mass print made just for temporary spaces. Instead it feels just as unique as the space it’s filling.

However, I can’t focus on any of this.