Listed: Volume II by Noelle Adams

had a marble walk-in shower and a huge
claw-foot soaking tub.
    Paul
returned to the sitting area, where the concierge was waiting patiently for
Paul’s approval.
    But
Paul didn’t approve. There were no more doors off the sitting area.
    This
suite only had one bedroom. Only one bed.
    “Paul,
come look!” Emily called out. “It’s amazing!”
    “Just
a minute.”
    He
walked over to the concierge. “This isn’t the suite I’d originally requested,
is it?”
    The
concierge’s brows drew together in concern. “No, Mr. Marino. This is the
honeymoon suite. When you had to reschedule your reservations, the suite you’d
requested was no longer available. But I told your assistant that this suite
was equally spacious and had an even better view, and she said since you and
your wife are newly married it should work perfectly. Is it not to your liking,
sir?”
    Paul
felt tense and wasn’t sure what to say. He murmured to the concierge that he
needed to speak with his wife for a moment, and then he went to join Emily on
the balcony.
    “Isn’t
it perfect?” Emily gushed, turning to look at Paul. “I can’t believe I’m really
here. And we get to look at this for three days!” She stretched out her arms
toward the lush view as if she wanted to embrace it.
    Paul’s
heart was beating faster with pressing tension. Emily had suffered so much in
the last few months. She'd suffered so much two days ago. And this suite, this
view, was making her happy.
    He
hated to disappoint her, but something would have to be done.
    “I’m
sorry, Emily,” he said in a low voice, so the concierge inside wouldn’t
overhear. “We may need to change rooms.”
    “No!”
Emily cried, her face twisting in disappointment. “Why? This is perfect. This
is the suite I want.”
    “I
know. I know you like it. But you need to know something.” He cleared his
throat. “There was a mix-up when our reservations were changed, and they gave
us a suite with only one bedroom.”
    Emily
blinked, taking a minute to process what he said. “Oh.”
    “So,
you see, we might need to move. We can stay here if you want, but we’ll have to
somehow make do with one room.”
    “Oh.”
    Paul
waited.
    Emily
looked back at the pink, orange, and violet sunset behind the peaks of the
Pyramids. “Will the new suite have this same view?”
    “No.
I’m sorry. We may, in fact, have to have two separate rooms.” He didn’t like
that idea at all. He didn’t like not being around if Emily needed him, but she
had to choose what would make her most comfortable. “So, we can stay here with
only one bedroom, or we could move to different rooms.”
    “Let’s
just stay,” she concluded. She’d been staring out at the view, but now she
slanted him an ironic look. “We’re married, after all. I’m sure we can manage.
I just couldn’t bear to give this up.”
    Paul
murmured an acknowledgement of her decision. Noticed she had a little smile on
her face and assumed she was taking pleasure in the view again. Then went to
tip the relieved concierge and tell him the suite was excellent.
    As
the bellhops carried their luggage into the bedroom, Paul stood watching.
    It
would probably be all right. He and Emily got along fine, even in close
quarters. The bed was huge. And fortunately all of those inappropriate thoughts
he’d been entertaining had been snuffed out by the sight of Emily’s helpless
suffering.
    Sharing
the room would be no problem.
    The
bedroom looked like it belonged in a honeymoon suite. It wasn’t tasteless or
crass, of course. Like the rest of the suite, it was lovely and elegant, but
the bedding was lush and sensual. There was a huge vase of red roses and
orchids on the table and a silver bucket holding chilled champagne and two
crystal flutes beside the flowers.
    Quite
against his will, Paul’s mind flashed to the image of Emily—looking like a wet
dream in that new dress that left nothing to the imagination, with tousled
hair, sophisticated