Free One Summer Night At the Ritz by Jenny Oliver

absolutely no idea what constituted flirting or hints at attraction any longer. She knew they’d been getting on, but she also knew she was as far from Will’s type as she could possibly be and the way he said it seemed more just like it’d be a kinda fun thing to do, like swimming in the lake.
    ‘Well at least we could get dry that way,’ she said.
    ‘Exactly,’ he agreed, and then he slung his arm over her shoulder as if they were in cahoots over a plan.
    And as they walked, she realised how dangerously addictive such closeness could be.

Chapter Fourteen
    Jane could feel her damp sandals squelching as she walked through the lobby of The Ritz. She watched the doorman and the concierge staff give her wet hair and now see-through white top a subtle once-over. Trevor on the door had tipped his hat at her and she felt like she’d seen a twitch on his lips at the sight of Will following her inside. When they passed the door of The Rivoli Bar, the barman who had served them all night was just crossing the corridor to get something from Reception. He grinned when he saw them and Jane could almost see a silent high-five pass between him and Will. She looked at the floor, she looked up at the chandelier and the fancy pelmet on the curtains, anywhere but a mirror to see her burning red cheeks or the eyes of one of the all-seeing staff.
    In the lift they stood side by side, their reflections staring back at them. Both wet, both almost smiling, both thinking their separate but possibly the same thoughts.
    As the doors pinged open, she suddenly felt completely aware of her every movement – the length of her strides, the swing of her hands, the depth of her breathing, the closeness of his arm against hers as they walked.
    ‘OK, so this is my room,’ she said, fumbling with her key.
    ‘A suite, very impressive,’ he said as she pushed open the door. ‘Blimey, I haven’t been in one of these for a while,’ he added as he walked in. ‘It’s exactly the same, nothing’s changed. Wow.’ He picked up one of the blue and white china urns on the mantlepiece and turned it over to look at the base. ‘It’s unbelievable. I don’t know how they get away with it. Like the rules of the world don’t count here.’ He swept an arm around the sitting room of the suite. ‘Would you decorate your house like this?’
    She laughed. ‘No.’
    ‘There you go. If I did my hotels like this, I’d be laughed out of the industry, but The Ritz. They can get away with it. You’re buying into this. This…’ He looked around with a frown.
    ‘Dream?’ she added.
    ‘Fantasy. You’re basically being given what you think they have in Buckingham Palace. You’re royalty for the bargain price of— How much did you pay?’ he asked, looking back over his shoulder at her as he picked up the bottle of champagne in the silver bucket and inspected the label.
    ‘I’m not telling you,’ she said, starting to dry her hair with one of the towels from the bathroom. ‘And can you stop picking apart my hotel room. It might be work for you, but for me this is a dream.’
    Will put the champagne back in the bucket. ‘Sorry,’ he said, seeming to catch himself. ‘Sorry, I didn’t think. So what does the queen want to eat?’ he asked, handing her the room service menu and pinching her towel.
    ‘I’d rather be Kate Middleton actually.’
    ‘Really? God, who does that make me? Harry?’ he laughed.
    ‘You can be the butler,’ she said, giving him a quick glance from behind the menu.
    ‘At your service,’ he said with a raise of his brow before rubbing his hair dry.
    She watched him for a second with the pretence of looking at what to order. He’d unbuttoned his shirt and was drying off his body. She wondered if he was doing it on purpose so she would look. Then she made herself remember that he was wet and needed to dry off. He looked like he went to the gym a lot but didn’t spend much time out in the sun. She wondered what her body