Graham hugged her closer to his side. “They’ll be fine. Don’t worry about them. They have my cell phone number and yours as well. I just hope they don’t deck anyone, especially Rita, for making a wisecrack about their size.”

Just thinking about that made Mitzi tense up. “If anyone does that, they can call me, and I’ll come back here and do more than that. And I’ll enjoy it, darlin’.”

“Kind of protective there, are you?” Graham teased as they left the building. “Want to tell me what went on in the bathroom?”

“Ain’t no ‘kind of’ to it. I fall in the whole serious business-of-protection category,” Mitzi said. “I’ll just say that Rita and I came to an understanding and leave it at that.”

He stopped at the Escalade he’d brought home from the shop to use over the weekend. With a hand on each side of her body, he caged her against the door and kissed her—long and passionately.

Her knees wobbled when he stepped back, but her eyesight remained very good. There was no mistaking Rita with a cigarette in her hand, coming outside for a smoke. She propped a hip on the arm of a bench situated beside the door and glared at Mitzi.

“So where to first?” Graham asked.

“Do they have room service at that hotel?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” He opened the door for her and then leaned in to fasten her seat belt. On the way back out, he kissed her again.

“I’ve dreamed of spending a whole day with you since I was fifteen years old. A day when I don’t have to share you with anyone, so let’s make my dreams come true,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.” His grin got wider. “Your wish and all that.”

He was telling the truth when he said the hotel was nearby. Two blocks away, as a matter of fact. He tossed the keys to a valet and shoved the ticket into his shirt pocket. Then, with his hand on the small of her back, he guided her to the registration desk through the fanciest lobby she’d ever been in. Once he had a room card in his hand, he laced his fingers in hers and led her straight to the elevator.

“You’ve been here before,” she said.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside. “This is where we hold the Cadillac conference every year. I’ve never brought a woman here. Just want you to know that.” He slipped his arms around her waist and drew her close to his chest. “You should always wear pale blue. That shirt brings out your eyes.”

“Thank you.” She barely got the words out before his lips were on hers again. If she’d had any doubts about what she was about to do, they disappeared in that moment.