Free Goodbye Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A 'HOT' Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Book 5) by Elena Aitken

mouth. “He did not.”
    Carmen nodded.
    “Like a prostitute?”
    “Oh my God, Morgan. No!” She took a quick look around to see if anyone had overheard. She lowered her voice and added, “It’s not like that at all. Trent just asked me to take him out. Show him around the Lodge a little.”
    Morgan gave her a sidelong glance and took another sip of her coffee. “I honestly can’t believe you agreed to that.”
    “I know.” Carmen dropped her head into her hands and rubbed at her temple. “But honestly, he didn’t give me much of a choice and I guess I didn’t see what the harm was.”
    “But now?”
    “Now I think I might like Dylan,” she mumbled.
    “And you don’t want him to find out and think it was all fake,” Morgan guessed.
    Carmen looked up into her friend’s eyes and nodded.
    “So tell him,” Morgan said. “If you want to see where things could go with him, be honest. Nothing good can come from keeping secrets if you want to be together. But I don’t get it, Carmen. Didn’t you just say you were too busy for a relationship? Not that I don’t think it’s awesome you’re interested in someone, but if it’s not going to be serious, does it really matter?”
    Carmen shrugged and fiddled with the handle on her mug. “So honesty,” she said. “Or say nothing?”
    “I think it depends on what you want. There’s probably no harm in it if you never plan on seeing him again.”
    “Awesome.” Carmen rolled her eyes.
    “Sorry I can’t be more help,” Morgan said. “But for the record, I’m all for a relationship.” She smiled and Carmen recognized the glow in her friend’s face. It’d been there since she and Bo finally made their own relationship official and moved in together. She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. It might be nice to have that, too.
    A commotion at the front door caught her eye and she sighed. “You’re not the only ones who’d be happy with me in a relationship.” She nodded towards the entrance where her mom and dad were busy turning down the efforts of the bellboy while simultaneously arguing with each other as they dragged their suitcases into the lobby. “Here comes the heads of the ‘marry Carmen off’ committee now.”
    Morgan laughed. “I’m sure they’re not that bad.”
    Carmen raised her eyebrows, causing Morgan to laugh harder.
    “Maybe you should introduce them to Dylan,” Morgan suggested between giggles. “At least that way they’d think you were settling down.”
    “Right.” Carmen stood and straightened her blouse. “And they’d be planning the wedding before they even left. No thanks.” She turned to Morgan and gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for the chat. Now, wish me luck.”
    “You got it.”
    Carmen loved her parents; she really did. And she reminded herself of that fact as she crossed the lobby towards them. She’d hoped to head them off before they got to the check-in desk, but her mother had beaten her to it.
    “We have a very important reservation,” her mother was saying to Joe, the customer service clerk on duty. “If you look it up, it should be under Carmen Kincaid. That’s K-I-N-“
    “I got it, Mom.” Carmen flashed an apologetic smile to Joe, who grinned back and turned to the next guest.
    “Carmen.” Her mother turned to her and frowned. “We expected you to meet us.”
    “I am meeting you, Mom. I’m here, in the lobby.”
    “Well, you could have—“
    “You look good, kid,” her dad said. Carmen turned and let her dad hug her. It didn’t matter how old she got, or how long it’d been, nothing felt better than a hug from her dad.
    “She looks too thin,” her mother said.
    “Thanks, Mom.” Carmen stepped out of her dad’s arms and grabbed an envelope she’d slid into a drawer behind the desk earlier. “I already checked you in. Come on, I’ll take you up to your room so you can get settled.”
    “Did you get us the suite?” her mom asked. “I was really hoping we could stay in