12 Days to Find a Husband

Chapter 13 - Do Not Disturb!

It didn't take Anna-lea long to get to John's hotel. She decided to splurge and used the valet parking. Tiredness and hunger were quickly overtaking her and she couldn't wait to enjoy the picnic with John, followed by a nap. She pictured herself resting her head in John's lap and curling up for a sleep, his hand stroking her hair whilst she rested. In her mind the image of John quickly turned to that of an image of Greg. Anna-lea shook her head to rid herself of the picture. She couldn't understand herself. Here was John; a man who came across as lovely, handsome and successful, and even better, who'd said he'd fallen in love with her and wanted to marry her. On the other hand, there was his brother, Greg. He was also handsome and successful but he was guarded and could flip-flop back and forth between being kind and being rude; and he was obviously still not ready to move on from his late wife. And then there was Cody. How wrong she'd been about him. But would he forgive her for hanging up on him and give her another chance? Even if he did and they did get on well, would he be crazy enough to want to marry her within nine days? In the span of almost three days, she'd met three very different men, all who could potentially be her future husband.

Anna-lea was confused. Should she accept John's proposal and secure hers, Hetties' and the cats' future or should she pursue Cody? Or Greg? Was Greg even in the picture any longer? Was that his true colours he'd shown this afternoon or not? Did one bad comment rule him out altogether? After all, he had come to her rescue when she was so drunk she didn't know what she was doing. He hadn't even known her then and yet, went out of his way to make sure she was safe.

No! Anna-lea chided herself. Her goal was to get married within 12 days of being made aware of Hilda's will. Miraculously she had managed to get a proposal within three days! John was handsome, successful and generous. He was a very good lover and he seemed to have genuinely fallen for her. What else did she need? Even if she didn't love John now, couldn't that be something that grew as their relationship went on? Something still niggled at Anna-lea. No, that's it, she thought to herself. I'm going to accept John's proposal.

With picnic basket and cake in hand she headed into the lift and pressed the button for the 13th floor, surprised they had one. A lot of hotels didn't. She hoped it wouldn't be an omen for their marriage and quickly shrugged off the thought. She wasn't that superstitious.

Anna-lea stepped out of the lift and headed in the direction the sign on the wall told her she would find room 1313. Just as she arrived at the room, housekeeping was arriving there too. The 'do not disturb' sign was on the door. She didn't want to knock, just in case John was sleeping. After all, they hadn't really got a lot of sleep last night. Instead of knocking Anna-lea explained to the maid that she was John's fiancé and that she wanted to surprise him with a picnic lunch but didn't want to wake him if he was asleep. It took a lot of whispered convincing but the maid finally relinquished and used her entry card to let Anna-lea into the suite.

"Thank you," Anna-lea whispered as she quietly slipped through the doorway.

It was a large suite and Anna-lea found herself in a hallway. It looked like there was a loungeroom straight ahead and a kitchen off to the right but she wasn't sure where the bedroom was. Making her way quietly down the hallway and into the kitchen area, she placed the picnic basket and the cake on the kitchen bench. She ventured into the loungeroom to look around and found herself at the bottom of a staircase. Looking up, Anna-lea saw a loft style bedroom. Slowly she tip-toed up the stairs, making sure to be quiet, just in case John was asleep. She stopped at the top of the stairs, able to see the king size bed from there. John was sound asleep. He was sleeping naked and was sprawled across the bed, stomach down. He looked so sexy and peaceful, his tanned muscular body fully relaxed. Not wanting to wake him, Anna-lea turned slowly and crept back down the stairs.