Hannah

63

Holland and Hannah weren't staying at the perfectly acceptable hotel that was practically attached to the airport like Hannah had thought they would. It was one she was very familiar with and wouldn't have minded staying there tonight to make catching their early flight easier. It would have been the logical, practical choice.

That wasn't what tonight was going to be about. Instead Holland drove them towards the rebuilt tourist trap downtown area of the city. With historical looking buildings, flower gardens and trees that showed the true age of the engineered down town. To it's credit, there were lots of little restaurants, boutiques and shops. The few older oak and elm trees had little strings of lights twisted through the branches. Other light was provided by the iron shepherd's crook style street lamps to add lights and sparkles. Trying to give visitors a fantasy of old fashioned small town American life.

The quaint aesthetic was working overtime. Doing everything to pretend and distract people from remembering that small town America had a bad reputation for not welcoming people who don't want to blend in and swim along in the same stream as everyone else. In the tourist trap version, rainbow flags flew on bakeries that made hot crossed buns all year long. Hannah didn't love this part of town. It felt fake and manufactured to her, it was a fake place that had never been real. She did have to admit, that it was where the most concentrated nightlife and restaurants were.

Holland pulled the SUV into a small hyper modern motel drive, heading straight to a parking garage door. This building wasn't blending in. It was fighting against the old fashioned aesthetic and doing something else entirely. It had some wood panelling, along with the synthetic fascia. The small garden hugging the sidewalk was very nice at least, one of the best on this block. Locals had protested the building going up. Saying it didn't fit the nieghborhood. Protests didn't matter, somehow it still made it through all the red tape required to be built.

It was audacious and expensive, hated by the crowd that tried to control the entire district. "I like the hotel choice." Hannah finally spoke after being quiet in the car. She smiled; just a little bit at Holland. This building was honest about what it was. Modern, built efficiently and cheaply to look expensive and new. It had everything a tourist would want, sound proof rooms, modern luxury washrooms, modern heat and AC for all seasons in each room. Several floors of underground parking to make sure guests could easily park in an area that was notorious for insufficient parking for the number of businesses.

Holland smiled. He had spent a little too much time trying to pick the perfect spot for them to spend the night together. He had splurged on the presidential suite. Caspian wasn't going to be around tonight to out spoil Hannah. Holland was going to do everything he could to make sure his baby girl felt loved, and taken care of tonight as she said goodbye to the area she grew up in.

The tight curling parking garage was almost offensive in how modern it was, almost another world once you rolled past the low curling upward mechanical door. Holland expertly reversed the SUV into a small parking space, getting Hannah's and his own overnight bags from the back, before meeting Hannah at the front of the vehicle, to hold her hand as they went to the central elevator column up to the hilariously modern hotel lobby. White marble, a square fountain, artfully shaped teal loungers with black tables. Everything bright and clean, crisp lines and modern details everywhere. Not a single vintage or hint of heritage anywhere. As if the hotel was doing everything it could to contrast the curated neighbourhood around it.

Holland took them to the front desk, checked them in and Mr and Mrs Chisholm, with a wink to Hannah who was still letting small smiles form on her lips just for Holland to enjoy. Every single one was like wind in his sails. If she was smiling then maybe she wasn't mad at him inside that tangled mess that was her emotions today. Every time he felt like he might have untangled one feeling another one twisted up to replace it.

Holland longed for quieter days together. All their family relaxed in their home, no troubles on their minds. It was the dream he wanted to make real that kept him going. Checked in, key cards in hand they made their way to the elevator, the one that went up to the three floors of guest rooms. This elevator smelled like chlorine from the pool underneath the lobby, reminding both Hannah and Holland of the gym where he had claimed her. Hannah looked up at Holland through her long, curling, dark lashes. That seductive smile on her face that could only spell trouble. "Do we have dinner reservations," Hannah paused to bat her lashes, intentionally before licking her lips, "Daddy." Smiling like the good Daddy's girl she was.

"Of course baby girl." Holland cooed, "Daddy planned to take good care of you tonight." Holland was rewarded as he smelled Hannah get turned on. Finally able to clearly tell at least that much through their bond.

Just as suddenly as the flirtatious moment had come up, Holland felt it sizzle out of Hannah. "We should call Max and see how today was back home." Hannah said. Exiting the elevator and checking the plate on the wall to see which direction their room was in.

"We should baby girl, you are right." Was Holland's easy reply. He also wanted to check in with the rest of Hannah's mates. Texting back and forth was a poor substitute for real conversation in Holland's eye.

Tapping the card pass over the scanner on the door, Holland let them into their private bedroom for the evening. A chance to do over how they met, how he claimed her. Tonight Hannah knew who Holland was, knew he was her mate. Holland was going to take care of his baby girl like he should have right from the first moment. He made himself a promise that he would make sure Max got a night away with just Hannah soon. Regular date nights would have to be worked into some kind of schedule for everyone.