For the Love of Ethan

Chapter 15 - Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire!

It was mid-morning before Dane awakened.  He sat on the side of the bed and stretched his arms out to his sides.  He looked back over his shoulder at Berkley.  She was still sleeping heavily.  He pulled his pants on and slid the sheet up over her, kissed her forehead then tiptoed down the stairs.

He called for the family driver and asked him to pick them up around eleven at the delivery entrance on the back side of the hotel.  He didn't care what his parents thought or any of George's fans.  But Berkley wanted to keep this a secret so he would honor her wishes the best he could starting with the fact that he had to reserve the suite in his legit name.  He tried using Trent for an alias but once they swiped his card it was useless.  The only benefit to using Trent's name was getting Berkley inside before George could catch up to them.  Getting her out would be a whole new story.

He slid his pants on and searched for his shirt.  He remembered taking it off downstairs so it had to be here somewhere.  He yawned and sauntered still feeling exhausted out to the pool where he found his shirt lying beneath an overturned bottle of Vodka.  He stood the bottle upright and lifted his shirt dusting off the specs of debris and giving it a good shake thankful that it was already dry.

Once dressed and ready to go he made his way back up stairs and woke Berkley.  He helped her with her dress and she frowned as she looked at herself in the full length mirror.  The dress was still beautiful but her hair was anything but and her eyes looked tired.  Dane offered to put the diamonds back around her neck but she laughed.  "Not a chance.  It's back to pumpkins today."  She said sliding into her shoes.

Dane explained.  "I tried to use Trent's name but the room is in mine which means, there is a good chance that George could be camped out front.   Since you want to keep this a secret, I've arranged for us to be picked up around back.  But only because you want it that way understand?"

"I got it."

They left the room with diamonds in hand.  Once in the lobby, she realized just how ridiculous she looked this morning.  Her dress was wrinkled.  Her face was bare and her hair, well it spoke for itself.  Dane looked great with the exception of his shirt.  It had more wrinkles than a roll of crepe paper.  He mentioned to the receptionist that he would be using the back entrance and she pointed the way.  He pulled Berkley down a long hallway and then with a few turns here and there, they found themselves in the employ parking area.  He checked his watch.  "He should have been here by now."  Dane frowned.  The longer they waited the greater chance they had of being discovered.   Berkley surprised him by pulling him close and giving him a hug.

"What was that for?"  He said staring down at her.

"I just wanted to remind you how wonderful you have been, before the driver gets here.  You know the rules.  The driver can't know either."

"Berkley, he is on the payroll.  Discretion is part of his job.  Besides, we're a mess this morning and we're in last nights clothes."  He said rubbing the wrinkles out of his shirt before pretending to groom her unkempt hair with a boyish smile on his face.

"Just humor me, Dane.  He is the family driver which means he works for your parents too."

"Then let me kiss you now while I have the chance."  He teased pulling her to meet his lips.  "You know keeping you a secret might be hard to do."

"You're an intelligent man, I'm sure you can find a solution to your problem."

"You're quite a handful and I get the feeling, I may get more than I bargained for.  You were great last night by the way."

Berkley blushed.

"I love that you let me do that."

"Do what?"  She didn't understand.