Page 47 of Elling & Jackie

When Terri walked in, Jackie rushed through her instructions to the night-clerk and escaped upstairs. She could hide in her room, knowing she was no longer needed. If Mr. Garrison found something concerning, he could leave a message with Terri or send her an email.

The second she stood outside her door, panic filled her. She scrambled to get inside, aware that Elling sat inside his room with the door slightly open.

Nobody could see that he was there, and it wasn't until she thought back to her time with him that he watched the hallway during his stay and that was why his door was open the night she'd knocked.

Whether he watched her or he was keeping an eye on the Federal Agent staying on the same floor, she couldn't be sure. The way he acted confused her.

She took off her blouse and stopped undressing. Even though there was a door between her and Elling, being naked left her vulnerable. It reminded her of having his mouth on her, his hands, his body.

"Oh, my God. Why? Why am I doing this to myself?" She shook her head and walked into the bedroom.

The more distance away from Elling she created, the better. She finished undressing in the bathroom and hopped in the shower. After washing her hair and body, she pulled on a pair of joggers, and an old tank with Guns & Roses printed across the front. She'd bought the shirt at the concert. Everything about that night with a handful of Brikken women made her happy.

They'd danced. They'd sung. They'd rode home half looped, and joined the party going on at the clubhouse.

She'd made out with Win. And, because she was feeling her drinks, his struggle to keep her from having sex with him entertained her. He'd been so scared of getting caught by her dad or brothers.

But he'd been a boy compared to Elling.

Elling never let the fact that she belonged to Brikken stop him. He wasn't even afraid of having a pistol pointed at him. Her entire life, she'd been the aggressor, knowing how the Brikken boys and men felt about her being Chief's daughter.

Admittedly, she understood their fear of her dad. Going against him and the rules he'd set up around his family was suicide.

She had always believed it would be her place to push the boundaries in a relationship. She never imagined how wonderful it made her feel for a man to become the dominating one, taking power out of her hands, and shouldering the responsibility of being with her onto himself.

Squeezing the drips out of her hair with the towel, she walked into the other room and sat down on the couch. But her fantasy of a man riding in to make her fall in love with him was just that...a fantasy.

Elling had split the minute after having sex like an asshole player.

Nowhere in her daydreams of being swept off her feet by the perfect man had she included being dumped after fantastic sex. That wasn't an option.

She scrolled through her text messages. Stassi sent a thumb up and informed her she was coming this weekend and Olin would be dropping her off at the hotel on Saturday morning, but she was only staying the day.

Her mood lightened. Without telling her straight out, Stassi had let her know that lockdown back home was over. Though she wondered why her sister wasn't coming for two days like normal. The last she'd heard; Stassi had finished grafting the trees at work. She should have time to stay for the whole weekend.

Shooting off a quick text in reply, she checked her emails again in case Mr. Garrison found more problems at the hotel tonight than she was prepared for, then she decided a half a glass of wine would relax her.

With the glass in her hand, she looked out her window at the city lights. She'd had a more hectic and stimulating lifestyle in the past than what she was going through at the moment, but something about Elling made her obsessed with him.

A soft knock interrupted her downtime. She cocked her head, listening, and wondering which door was getting a visitor. It was almost midnight.

Surely, Mr. Garrison would leave without seeking her out after hours.

The knock came again. She walked toward the door, her heart racing. It sounded as if it came from outside her room.

She peered through the peephole. Her wine sloshed out of the glass, and a drop hit her bare foot. She jerked back from the door, rubbing one foot over the other, drying up the spill.

Elling stood on the other side.

She unlocked her room and swung the door open. Fisting his vest, she pulled with all her strength and brought him into the room. Sticking her head into the hallway, she looked from one side to the other, looking for Mr. Garrison.

Shutting Elling in the room to keep him from being seen by anyone walking by, she gawked at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I planned on talking to you." He walked deeper into her room and turned. "What's wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me?" She set the wine glass down on the counter and stepped into the living room area. "You keep coming here. That's what's wrong."

"Who's that guy that made you nervous downstairs?"