Liz let out a soft chuckle. "Then make sure you don''t do anythingcking in self- respect tonight, or you''ll be pping your own face."


    Before stepping into the room and closing the door, she gave Ste a sweet smile. "I''m sleeping with my own boyfriend. I''ll sleep with him however I want. Got it?"


    She rolled her eyes, shut the door, and locked it loudly to make her point.


    Standing in the hallway, Ste frowned deeply. With Liz around, finding an opportunity was going to be incredibly difficult.


    Separated by just a wooden door, Liz had barely finished locking up when a familiar, amused male voice sounded right beside her.


    "Baby, how exactly do you n to sleep with me tonight?"


    Liz jumped in fright. Clutching her chest, she turned to see Remington leaning casually against the adjacent wall. He hadn''t gone far at all. Clearly, he had heard every word she had just said to Ste.


    Her ears burned. She shot him a reproachful re. "I''m going to take a shower."


    She couldn''t be bothered to entertain his teasing. Little Ron was sleeping right there —what kind of dirty thoughts were running through his head?


    But as she tried to walk past him, Remington grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his embrace. Looking down at her, he murmured, "Are you sure you don''t want to reconsider? Weren''t you trying to make her mad? We''d need to make some noise to really sell it."


    On his usually ascetic, handsome face, there was an unmistakable trace of desire, practically spelling out the words "I am very easy to bed."


    Liz, however, had no interest in giving anyone an auditory show. She red at him in flustered annoyance. "Boyfriend, if you push your luck, I''m sending you to the cold pce."


    Remington clicked his tongue yfully, leaned down to press a kiss against her lips, and finally let her go.


    Liz headed into the bathroom. Remington''s clothes were still half-wet, so he stepped out of the master bedroom and walked toward the adjacent guest bedroom to shower.


    Just as he opened the door, the door directly opposite swung open, and Ste stumbled out, her face etched with panic. Pointing to the room behind her, she cried out,


    ePn


    "Remington is there some mistake? This isnt a guest room! It''s impossible to sleep in there!"


    When she had walked in and turned on the lights, theyout of the room had given her a terrifying shock. The furniture and the bed were draped inrge white cloths. At first nce, it looked incredibly eerie and devoid of life. She had pulled back one of the cloths to check, only to uncover a wooden rocking horse with a lifelike baby doll sitting on it. The


    movement made the horse rock, and the doll tumbled down. Its head snapped off and rolled right to Ste''s feet, nearly scaring the soul out of her body.


    Ste''s face was still pale. Seeing Remingtone out of the master bedroom this quickly confirmed her suspicion. he and Liz couldn''t possibly be as intimately reconciled as they pretended to be As long as there were still cracks between them, she still had a chance.


    Remington nced past her into the room, his eyes dark and unfathomable. "Oakridge Heights does not entertain outsiders. We don''t have guest rooms. The room across the hall was prepared for Joy. It''s empty now, so you will sleep there tonight."


    Ste had already formed a dark suspicion when she saw the things hidden beneath the white cloths. To realize it was actually the room meant for the dead baby made her skin crawl even more.