Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Blair

I pulled my car into the parking lot of the hotel we will be staying at in Carmel around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Joe was the first to disembark the vehicle, looking in horror at the building in front of us.

" What is this place? " he turned to me.

" This is the hotel I told you about, don't be fooled by the first impression, it's great," I assured him, getting out of the car and joining him, who was still staring at the building in amazement.

" I thought flight attendants knew good hotels," he ignored me, turning toward his cousin who was removing his bags from the car.

" Please don't make me regret having won five hundred dollars, try not to act like an idiot," I rolled my eyes before walking over to Dimitri and picking up my suitcase.

At first, Mr. Turner's hotel did not seem so attractive to those who were used to luxury and sophistication. It was a long wooden building dating back to the last century, but as soon as we were ushered into the rooms that impression changed. Built on the steep slopes of the sea, the hotel had one of the best views of the West Coast, and the luxury of its suites left nothing to be desired.

" She's direct, cousin," the young man commented, still watching me, "but she didn't convince me.”

" Why don't you wait until you get to your room before giving any opinion? " I asked, heading toward the entrance.

As soon as we entered the main lobby, we went to the reception, finding Abby standing there next to Alisson and Claire who would accompany us these days.

The girl sighed with relief as soon as she saw us, coming towards us, being closely followed by the other two young women.

" Blair, finally you're here. I was beginning to worry," she declared excitedly.

I stepped forward, pulling the girls as far away from the boys as possible to explain the situation with Miller, but she wouldn't let me talk.

" You won't believe it, Uncle Frank has set aside the senator's cottage for you!”

" I really want to understand what is so special about this house," Alison commented.

The senator's house was a rustic stone cottage on the hotel grounds with two rooms and a view that would make anyone jealous.  When we were children and my parents came to town, we always stayed there, and I had wonderful memories. The clearest of these was envying the master bedroom with Abby, because of the skylight over the bed. We both loved to lie there when we were both away and watch the stars above.

" And the best part, the girls will share the second bedroom," Abby seemed to have the same memory as I did, from the excited tone of her voice, "so the master bedroom is for the two of you.”

That's when I understood the meaning of her sentence. For a moment I felt stupid for not foreseeing that, of course she would put us in the same room, for the way I talk about Dimitri, Abby deduced that we were a couple, and in a way, we are. But still, we have never been in this situation before and I expected something different.

" Why aren't you excited? " she frowned.

" No, I am," I shook my head, forcing a wan smile, lowering my tone to almost a whisper, "it's just that I thought Dimitri would have his own room.”

Abby was lost for a second, she didn't understand the reason for my slight discomfort, which was made a little worse by the other girls' looks at me.

" But Blair, you said you're together and he's your date, so... " Claire spoke up.

" It's just that we both haven't... you know. " I lowered my tone even further, giving her a meaningful look.

Abby's eyes widened in surprise as she understood what I meant. Well, not that this was a real problem, I was already planning to spend a lot of time in Dimitri's bed, but I was hoping for a little privacy as well.

" Really? You two keep seeing each other around the world, so I thought " she lowered her tone to match mine " I mean, look at him.”

We all turned toward the man who was standing next to his cousin watching us with a curious expression. That's when Abby seemed to notice our extra guest.

" I know, but we always meet with very little time," I whispered with a small smile at Dimitri's gaze, "I was thinking we could use our time until Sunday.”

" Well, you can enjoy it in an amazing room," she declared with a confused expression, "Is that other guy with you?”

" Sort of, it's a long story," I turned my back to them both, "his name is Joe Miller. He is Dimitri's cousin.”

" Dimitri's cousin…”

" Blair, why did his cousin come along? " Claire asked.

I should have arranged to talk to her beforehand. It was totally rude to show up with an extra person at such short notice!

" I'm sorry, Abby. I picked Dimitri up from his aunt and uncle's house, and you needed to see what a jerk the guy was," I grimaced.

" Him? " Alisson indicated Joe discreetly.

" No, his father," I clarified, "He offered me five hundred dollars to get his son out of there, because he was a big loser and would embarrass him.”

" Why?  " Abby frowned.

" He was having a Thanksgiving party and didn't want his friends to find out that his son is an artist," I shrugged.

The girls grimaced in disapproval, it was clear that they considered Dimitri's uncle's attitude despicable.

" Dimitri and I can stay at the hotel with him today," I warned, "Mr. Turner must have put some Thanksgiving menus in the restaurant.

" Of course not. You should come with us," Abby scolded me, "I'll explain the situation to my mother, she won't mind.”

I hugged her, kissing her cheek, which drew giggles from the girls.

" You're the best.”

" Can we go meet the two of them, or are we going to stay here and ignore the poor guys? " Alison reminded us of the men’s presence.

I let go of Abby, nodding for Dimitri to approach.

" His cousin is very handsome," Claire commented.

" And he's single," I teased her.

I didn't know if he was actually single, I just assumed from the fact that he flirted with anything that moved and had a vagina.

" I didn't…”

" Commander, you already know my friends," I interrupted Claire, approaching Dimitri.

" Joe Miller," Dimitri's cousin introduced himself to the girls, "I'm sorry for sneaking in, but I've been banned from my house.  Which one of you is getting married?”

" Me," Abby raised her hand with the ring, "Blair explained to me what happened, don't worry, you'll be better off with us.”

" That I don't doubt for a second," he winked at Abby before moving closer to the other girls, "you know I love these small towns”.

" Is everything okay? " Dimitri caught my attention.

" Yes, this cottage Abby mentioned is amazing. You're going to love it. But we'll share a room, do you mind?”

For a moment I noticed a certain hesitation in Dimitri's face.

" You want me to get a room? " he questioned uncertainty.

" I don't mind sharing, if you don't mind," I tried to look disinterested, although I knew the implied meaning of that decision.

" Let's share a room then," he winked at me, making my heart skip a few beats.

He gave a small smile before turning his attention to Abby who seemed to be explaining something to the girls that I totally missed.

" Blair can drive you to my parents' house, we're meeting in two hours," she warned, leading us out of the hotel.

" You're leaving already?”

" Yes, I have to get ready and I left Noah alone with my parents," she explained.

" And his parents? " I questioned.

" They're coming tomorrow, but they'll only attend the dinner. And I really have to go, so I'll see you later?”

We watched Abgail leave before deciding what to do next.

" All right, the Goldberg house is about a 15-minute drive from here, I figure we'll have an hour and a half to get ready and then meet up so we can go, right? " I took the lead on the situation.

Everyone nodded in understanding, and soon a small problem came over me.

" The senator's house has only one bathroom and we are short of time.”

" I don't mind sharing the bathroom suite I've reserved with any of you girls," Joe looked up at us with a smile before his gaze met his cousin's, "except you, Blair.”

I took a deep breath for a moment to consider his proposal. I had obviously understood the real meaning of his invitation, but still, an extra bathroom would help us a lot over time. But before I could answer, Dimitri interrupted us.

" I will use your bathroom and the girls can make themselves comfortable in the cottage," he decided, much to the boy's disappointment.

He tried to argue, but the pilot dragged him away without giving him a chance to protest.

" Follow the signs and meet us at the cottage when you are ready " I ordered before leaving with the girls.

Once we were settled, we began to decide who would be the first to take a shower. Clearly sharing a bathroom would be one of the low points of this trip.

" I think Blair should go last," Claire suggested.

" Why? That's unfair," I declared uncomfortably.

" Probably because you're trained to get ready in no time," Alison snapped, "I've seen you shower, put on makeup, and get dressed in twenty minutes.”

That may be true, but I still wish I had more time. In the end, the girls managed to get ready quickly and sooner than I expected, I was finishing getting dressed in the bedroom, after getting out of the shower and taking care of my makeup.

I was wearing only black high-waisted pants and was getting ready to put on the sand colored, long sleeved blouse that would stick out part of my abdomen, when a knock sounded on the door.

" It's open," I shouted with my back to the door, picking up my blouse from the bed.

" Sorry, I..." I looked over my shoulder, still holding the blouse in my hands to see that Dimitri was standing by the door, with his bag on his shoulders and staring at me with a surprised expression.

That's when I noticed that he wasn't even wearing a bra and we had never seen each other in such a situation.

" You may come in, commander," I smiled.

This was bullshit, I shouldn't feel intimidated, this was something I expected to happen sooner or later, right?

I tried to act natural, turning around on my back and slipping into my blouse as fast as I could, fumbling to adjust it to my body. The fabric bunched up in the back, and before I could fix it, I felt Dimitri's presence behind me.

" Want some help? " he asked, sending shivers down my spine as his breath hit the skin of my neck.

His fingers brushed against the sides of my ribcage as he smoothed the fabric against my skin. I turned my face gently in his direction, trying to normalize my breathing.

" You look very nice," he offered with a half smile, "you're almost making me reconsider your marriage proposal.”

I turned toward him, wrapping my arms around his neck and bringing my lips to his, being forced to stand on my tiptoes in the process. The kiss didn't last long, and I quickly pulled away, looking into his eyes.

" Nice try, Commander. But I don't want to marry you," I smiled, "I just need to put on the necklace and I'll be ready.”

" You say that in a moment and then call me wearing a wedding dress," he teased, crossing the room and looking through the glass door that led to a staircase to the cottage's private patio.

" I already explained to you what happened that day. What do you think of it?

" It's charming," he assured me, deciding to drop the subject, "what's outside?”

I remembered the stunning view of the ocean from the private patio, held his hand, and opened the door, leading him out.