Chapter 260: alone in a suite I
The suite was quiet after they settled in.
Vivienne looked around once more.
It was certainly not the sort of hotel she would have chosen herself, but it was clean, spacious, and comfortable enough.
She dropped her bag beside the sofa.
"Well."
Damian glanced at her.
"Well?"
"It’ll do."
His expression tightened slightly.
Vivienne caught it immediately.
She laughed.
"You really don’t like it."
"I didn’t say that."
"You made a face."
"I did not."
"You did."
Damian gave her a tight smile.
"It’s an emergency."
"Fine."
She smiled.
"I’ll allow it."
She walked toward one of the bedrooms and opened the door.
The room was simple but comfortable.
A large bed.
A wardrobe.
A small desk.
A private bathroom.
Vivienne looked back at him.
"This one is mine."
Damian nodded.
"Fine."
She smiled.
"You’re not going to argue?"
"Why would I?"
"Very gentlemanly."
He said nothing.
Vivienne laughed softly.
She liked this.
There was something strangely entertaining about seeing Damian trying so hard to behave normally.
Especially after everything that had happened earlier.
She had only meant to tease him when she suggested sharing the suite.
She hadn’t actually expected him to agree so quickly.
But now that he had—
Well.
She wasn’t exactly complaining.
She glanced toward him.
He was standing in the sitting room, looking around with an expression that suggested he was still trying to convince himself this was perfectly ordinary.
Vivienne smiled.
Poor Damian.
He really was easy to tease.
--
"I’m hungry."
Damian looked at her.
"You’re hungry again?"
"Yes."
"You ate earlier."
"That was hours ago."
"It wasn’t."
Vivienne frowned.
"It feels like hours."
He sighed.
She smiled.
"Can we order something?"
Damian picked up the room phone.
"I’ll order."
Vivienne dropped onto the sofa.
She watched him speak to room service.
He didn’t ask what she wanted.
He simply ordered.
Something warm.
Something substantial.
And, naturally, something sweet.
Vivienne smiled.
He really did pay attention.
--
Dinner arrived a little later.
They ate at the small dining table in the sitting room.
𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
For a while, everything felt surprisingly normal.
They talked about the Foundation work.
The last business.
The delayed collection.
The truck.
The storm.
Vivienne laughed when she remembered one of the business owners insisting that their storage records were perfectly organized when the labels had clearly been mixed up.
Damian smiled.
"He was trying."
"I know."
She took another bite.
"He was very sincere about it."
"He was."
She laughed again.
The conversation eventually faded.
Neither of them seemed particularly interested in forcing it.
Outside, the rain continued.
It was strangely peaceful.
When they finished, Damian called downstairs to have the dishes collected.
Vivienne leaned back.
"I’m taking a shower."
"All right."
She stood.
Then paused.
"Don’t disappear."
Damian looked at her.
"I won’t."
She smiled.
"Good."
She disappeared into her room.
Damian watched the door close.
Then looked away.
--
Vivienne stood beneath the warm water and let herself finally relax.
The day had been exhausting.
But somehow, she wasn’t unhappy about being stranded.
In fact, she was beginning to find the whole thing amusing.
She had Damian all to herself.
No Claire.
No Amelia.
No Foundation staff.
No campus.
And, more importantly—
No reason to stop teasing him.
She smiled to herself.
He had been so funny today.
Every time she got a little closer, he became more awkward.
The way he’d reacted to the cake.
The way he’d looked at her in the car.
Vivienne shook her head.
She wasn’t trying to make him think anything serious.
She simply enjoyed the attention.
She enjoyed knowing that he liked looking at her.
She enjoyed seeing how easily she could make him nervous.
And, if she was being honest, Damian was very handsome.
There was no harm in appreciating that.
She finished her shower and changed into the hotel robe.
When she returned to the sitting room, Damian wasn’t there.
She assumed he was showering too.
Vivienne turned on the television.
The rain was still falling heavily outside.
She curled up on the sofa and began flipping through the channels.
A few minutes later, the bedroom door opened.
Vivienne looked up.
And stopped.
Damian stepped into the sitting room.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt.
His hair was damp from the shower, and he was wearing a lounge pants she could only assume was provided by the hotel.
Vivienne’s eyes moved over him before she could stop herself.
She had seen him at the pool.
She had seen him in swimwear.
So there was nothing particularly shocking about it.
Still—
It was different here.
There was no crowd.
No pool.
No other people.
Just the two of them.
Her eyes returned to his face.
Damian had caught her looking.
Vivienne smiled.
"You really didn’t bring a spare shirt."
"No."
"That’s unfortunate."
He looked slightly embarrassed.
"I didn’t expect to stay overnight."
"I know."
She looked him over once more.
"It’s fine."
He raised an eyebrow.
"What is?"
"You look fine."
His ears immediately turned slightly red.
Vivienne smiled.
There it was.
She turned back toward the television.
"Come sit."
--
Damian sat down at the opposite end of the sofa.
He kept a deliberate amount of space between them.
Vivienne noticed.
She glanced sideways.
He was sitting strangely straight.
His shoulders were tense.
His hands rested on his thighs.
She frowned slightly.
Why was he acting like that?
She wasn’t going to bite him.
At least, not literally.
The thought made her smile.
Damian looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She turned back toward the television.
For a few minutes, neither spoke.
The room was warm.
The rain tapped steadily against the windows.
Vivienne was comfortable.
Damian was not.
She could tell.
She glanced at him again.
He was staring at the television without actually watching it.
His expression was serious.
Too serious.
Vivienne smiled.
"Damian."
He turned.
"Hm?"
She tilted her head.
"Why are you so stiff?"
Damian’s expression changed.
For one brief second, his imagination got the better of him.
He could picture Vivienne still sitting there, but she was leaning back, throwing him a coy, heavy-lidded smirk that was pure trouble.
"Why are you so stiff?"
In that fleeting mental slip, the tension in his shoulders turned into pure bravado. Damian imagined himself crossing the room in three lazy strides, leaning in until he was entirely too close, and whispering with a low, wicked smirk:
"Do you want me to show you why?"
Blink.
The daydream popped like a soap bubble.
--
Tbc