Chapter 2

"What? You ran into Ethan Quinn yesterday?"

I locked the door and made a sound of affirmation.

"How was it? How was it?"

I got into the elevator and pressed my floor, switching the phone to my other hand.

"How was what? He brought a beautiful woman to get a room. What else could there be?"

It's been four years. Even the sweetest memories fade with time.

Lucy was about to say something else when she was interrupted by a baby's cry.

"Oh, hold on, Bella woke up. I need to go comfort her."

I shook my head with a smile and hung up.

It only took 30 minutes to get from my place to the hotel, but it took all morning to mentally prepare myself for work.

After forcing smiles for several groups of guests, I found myself wanting to quit this front desk job for the umpteenth time.

Just as I was about to get a drink of water, the front desk phone rang.

I cursed under my breath as I picked up.

"Hello, thank you for calling the front desk. How may I assist you?"

There was no response on the other end, just the sound of breathing.

But somehow, I knew who it was.

After half a minute, the caller finally spoke: "It's me."

I inwardly scoffed but stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

Come on, what's your move, jerk?

Is it a wedding invitation or a kid's birthday party?

After two breaths of silence, the man spoke again, his tone slightly teasing.

"I have a question."

Oh?

"Don't you have any bigger beds at your hotel? The one last time was too narrow for me to... maneuver."

Hah.

I forced a professional smile, my voice sickeningly sweet.

"I'm sorry sir, but all our king rooms have standard-sized beds. However..."

He seemed very close to the phone, his breathing clearly audible.

"If you turn left when leaving our hotel and walk about 500 meters, there's a love hotel with very large beds. I've tried them myself. You can roll over three times while hugging someone."

His previously steady breathing hitched.

I maintained a benevolent expression and promptly hung up.

As expected, the phone rang again within seconds.

Seeing the familiar number, I didn't answer.

My coworker asked, "Jenna, why aren't you picking up the phone?"

I replied, "Ex."

She made an "oh" sound and gave me a knowing look.

When the phone started ringing for the third time, I finally answered leisurely.

"Hello?"

The man's low voice was laced with anger.

"Jenna Shaw."

What are you mad about? You can book rooms but I can't have fun?

"Oh, I forgot to mention. Mr. Quinn, I highly recommend the Sweet Ocean theme. The waterbed plus the mirrored ceiling..."

This time, he was the one who hung up.

I raised an eyebrow and put down the receiver, feeling like the day's fatigue had melted away.