After they reached Casper, Alec drove the last leg of the trip while Max slept. Must have been a trying feat – passing one's former prison – because she slept for three hours and he had to repeat they had arrived a second time for her eyes to drift open in awareness.
"We're in Denver already? I was only asleep for…" Max trailed, trying to do the math according to the clock in the car. "It's twelve AM."
"Yeah it is."
"I slept for three hours?"
Alec laughed. "Yep. You were all tuckered out. So cute in your little cat nap." Alec motioned to the outside world. "We're here. You got those IDs handy?"
Max found the envelope between the seat and the door and fished out their new identification.
"Thomas?" Alec asked, eyeing his ID. "Seriously? I sound like such a douche."
Max laughed and looked at her own ID. "Katarina Crawford." She looked to Alec with a smile. "Got a nice ring to it."
Ring, Alec thought. "Wait, Crawford?" He showed her his ID.
"Oh, I'm gonna kill Logan."
Alec laughed.
"Oh, you think it's funny?"
He looked out the window and inhaled deeply. "Yeah. We're married and our names are Tom and Kat." He chuckled again.
"Why doesn't he just advertise our barcodes?" she said, obviously still pissed at the journalist.
"Come on, Mrs. Crawford," Alec said, getting out of the vehicle and leaving the door open for the valet. "Let's get checked in."
Max let herself out of the SUV and met Alec at the trunk, where the valet had just removed their baggage.
The place was beautiful inside. With well-kept plants and marbled flooring, the lobby emitted an attractive garden vibe, and when they saw the indoor waterfall, they looked to one another as if they had just hit the jackpot.
The two transgenics approached the concierge desk, behind which stood a short, dark-haired sniveling man who eyed them suspiciously.
"Be the part," Alec mumbled to Max.
Immediately, Max adopted a more rigid posture. They reached the desk.
"Checking in?" asked the sniveler. Alec scoped his nametag. 'Monte.' Of course.
"Mr. and Mrs. Crawford," Alec said, nodding to Max.
Monte smiled. "Of course, sir," he said, typing their alleged name into his registry system. His face fell slightly.
"Is there a problem?" Max asked, looping her arm through Alec's and curling her fingers around his bicep.
Alec tried to hide his surprise.
"It appears as though our system made an error. Is it right – were you registered for two rooms?" Monte asked, puzzled by what he was reading. "Staying for one week?"
Alec looked over to Max.
Oh, thank you Logan, Max thought, giving a mental sigh of relief.
"Well, I'm sorry," Monte continued, "but the Lux is hosting the Houseman-Chase wedding and the hotel is booked. Your reservation was made so late and you hadn't checked in by four PM, so our system assumed you were a no-show, and per hotel policy, offered up one of your rooms to some folks in the bridal party."
"Uh, you what?" Alec asked.
Monte stiffened, expecting hesitation and anger. "We still have one of your two reservations available."
"Let me get this straight," Max began, letting her character take over. "You don't have the two rooms we paid for?"
Monte looked around nervously. "Well, your rooms were prepaid – one standard and one upgraded. The standard room was reassigned to the bride's family members, but the other room is still available – the upgraded one."
Alec smirked as his 'wife' readjusted her stance.
"Well, the upgraded room is our Garden View Suite, which is a single step down from the Presidential Suite. It sits on a corner with a big balcony overlooking the city. It has a living and dining area, king-size bed, two flat screen TVs," to which Alec smiled appreciatively, "It has a double in-ground Jacuzzi bath, a double shower, and desk."
Monte looked to Max. She folded her arms impatiently. "And we'd like to offer you free room service for our error and for the inconvenience," he managed to grunt out.
Max inhaled sharply. "I suppose that'll be fine."
Alec smiled, slipping his hand through her folded arms and cupping his hand around hers. "We could really use the alone time," Alec said to Monte, staring lovingly at Max. "You know, the bubble bath I promised you…"
"Shall I have the bubbles sent up to your room, sir?" Monte asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes," Alec said as Max simultaneously said 'no.'
Monte gave another bewildered look. When Max turned to collect her luggage, Alec nodded 'yes' to Monte.
"You'll be in room 816." Monte slid a couple of room keys to Alec.
"Thanks," Alec said.
"Of course, sir. Please let us know if you need anything. We're always available if you call down."
"Actually, Monte, do you know of any good restaurants around here? The Missus and I are starving."
"Of course, sir, there are a couple of great Italian places nearby, but I'm afraid they're all closed for the night. Shall I send up the room service menu?"
"That'd be great."
Max and Alec passed a young boy on the way to the elevators. Max eyed his neck for a barcode but he didn't have one.
"So, Kat," Alec began, entering the elevator. "Interested in that bath?"
"Since when have you known a cat to be interested in water?"
Alec pondered her question, taking the time to form his response. "I've known you for well over a year, and I know you don't go a week without boiling twenty pots of water for a hot soak."
Max tried not to let him win the argument, deciding that changing her reasoning should correct his line of thought. "How can you be so cavalier about luxurious bathing when you know there's illegal and immoral activity going on right under your nose?"
But she did want the luxurious bubble bath.
The elevator chimed as they reached their floor and they exited the cab to head down the hall.
"We're supposed to meet Biggs tomorrow afternoon at one of these local Italian eateries," Alec said. "No harm in having an exciting double bubble bath."
Was he not going to let this go?
"Or a calming one," he added nonchalantly.
They reached the door to room 816 and Alec leaned against it on one shoulder, raising the two room keys between them. "What do you think? Me, you, candles and bubbles?"
Something about the way his eyes shined in the dimly-lit hallway excited Max's blood. He was almost unnaturally quiet. It seemed as if they could get away with anything while they were here – and for a moment, she entertained the idea.
Max stepped toward him, placing a hand on his forearm and dragging her fingers down toward his hand. She slipped one of the keys out of his hand and slid the key into the card reader, all without looking away from him. The card reader flashed green and unlocked the door.
"Let's just get unpacked and get some rest," she said breathily and with a hint of a smile. She pushed open one of the heavy doors.
The suite was fairly dark, except for one soft lamp in the living room area. Alec watched her figure as she slinked further into the darkness. A moment later, the light flicked on in the bedroom and Max opened up her luggage, which she had set on what appeared to be the softest bedspread he'd ever seen.
Manticore's got nothin' on this place, he thought. Alec set his bag down in the bedroom and circled around the center office area. He felt along the wall on the other side of the bedroom and pressed a switch. Immediately, a fire started in the double-sided fireplace between the bedroom and the bathroom.
The in-ground double bathtub came into view and Alec's mouth fell open in minor surprise. It had started as a kind of joke, but he was starting to think that maybe this double bath was fate. He turned back to Max, leaving the fire lit.
"Wow, how did Logan get this place?" Max asked, dropping a couple pairs of pants into the drawer part of the closet.
Alec considered her words with an expression suggesting the bitterness of a fine dinner that had just one grain of salt too many. "He got one palace suite and one economy suite. I wonder who that was for." He slipped off his jacket and laid it on one of the corner chairs.
A knock came at the door, followed by a muffled voice. "Room service!"
Alec crossed the suite and opened one of the double doors to reveal a young boy – different than the one they'd seen in the hallway.
"Sir, you requested a room service menu, and these?" the young boy asked, holding out the menu and the bottle which read 'Jasmine Bath Bubbles'.
Alec appraised the young boy – he definitely was not Manticore. With his naturally-relaxed stance and dirty hair, this boy couldn't have been a soldier.
"Who is it?" came Max's voice from the bedroom. Alec turned his body to look back to her, which provided the young boy a direct line of sight to Max, who had just picked up a bra and matching underwear. Max eyed the boy and set her undergarments down.
"Just Room Service, honey," Alec said. "They brought the menu." Alec turned back to the boy and smiled, taking the menu and the bottle of bubbles. "Thanks, uh," Alec stuttered, looking for the boy's nametag. "Patrick."
"You're welcome, sir. If there's anything else you need, please be sure to let the front desk know."
With no further prompting, the boy left and Alec closed the door. He set the menu and the bubbles down at the desk and walked into the bedroom again. He began to unbuckle his belt, nearly sending Max into a full flashback of the day she met him.
"Um, what are you doing?" Max asked, eyeing him warily.
Alec pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it to one of the chairs in the room. "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm getting ready for bed." He removed his belt and sat down on the bed with his back to Max.
Max watched the muscles in his back move as he bent down to untie his shoes and slip them off.
"Oh, we're not sleeping in the same bed," Max said, moving her luggage to the chest at the end of the bed.
Alec turned to face her and she noticed the top button of his jeans had been unbuttoned. She pried her eyes away from his form as he said, "Go ahead if you want to sleep on the couch."
Max stilled and folded her arms. "I'm not sleeping on the couch," she said.
Alec stood up and pushed his jeans down. It left him in a pair of boxers and socks. "Then get in. I won't tell."
Max again eyed him suspiciously. "Don't try anything," Max said, toeing off her shoes.
Alec smiled, trying to anticipate what she would take off next. Max slipped her hands up the back of her shirt and fumbled around at her bra line. A second later, she pulled the strap of one side through her sleeve, then shoved her hand up her other sleeve and pulled the bra out of it completely. Alec laughed.
"What?" Max asked, tossing her bra to the floor.
"That's like magic or something," he offered, pulling the bedspread and sheet down before slipping into bed.
Max walked across the room and turned off the lights. Since the curtains were open, she could see out of the six doors that led to the balcony. She closed four of the curtains, then padded back to the bed.
In the meantime, Alec had watched the way the moonlight played off of her skin, totally engrossed in the beauty of it. He would have to be careful not to touch or think about her tonight.
Max climbed into the bed and pulled the blanket up to her chest. She smiled contently.
"What?" Alec asked, resting his arms outside the blanket.
"Good night, Alec," she said, turning to face the doors.
Something about that moonlight calmed her. She felt Alec's eyes seeping into her back, maybe her neck, and felt the warmth from the fire heating her skin. She imagined Alec pulling her hair away from her neck and closed her eyes.
"Night, Maxie." Alec faced the doors, too, and watched as feather-light snowflakes drifted outside in the otherwise still night, catching the moonlight in motion, and dancing playfully on Max's skin.