by Claire Adams
Chapter 18
Easton
I was quite disappointed in Vivian running from me the night before, but I understood it all too well. She was working hard to keep her heart separated from her body. I was doing the same, but not nearly as successfully as she was. Her refusal to let me come hang out with her was a slap to the face that I quickly dismissed. I didn't want the heavy emotion sitting on me all throughout the night.
My phone buzzed frantically the next morning, constantly rattling until I crawled out of the warmth of my bed and answered it.
"What?" I barked, not wanting to be an ass, but far too tired to hold back.
"Easton, it's Vivian. Casey didn't come back to the hotel last night and she's still not answering my text. I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm scared." Her voice was strained and laced with exhaustion.
"Have you been up all night?" I ran my hand over my face and tried to work on pulling on a pair of jeans and slipping my feet into the closest shoes to me.
"Yes. I kept thinking she would come back or text." Vivian let out a shaky breath. "I think I need to go file a report and maybe check around the club area or something."
"I'm coming down. Text me your room number and I'll be right there. It's going to be okay. We'll figure it out."
"I hope so," her voice was nothing more than a whisper.
I tucked the phone into my back pocket and rushed around the room, putting myself together as quickly as I was able in the midst of my haze. I took the stairs, trying to save some time and working hard to catch my breath as I approached her door and knocked.
She pulled it open after my first knock and walked out into the hall with me, looking a bit unruly and intensely hot. Her cotton shorts were more for sleeping in than prancing around the city, her t-shirt soft looking, and her hair in a cute little messy bun.
"Hey." I moved up beside her as she stormed toward the elevator. "We're going to find her, okay?"
"Don't be nice to me, please. I'm barely holding it together. She's been my best friend since I could walk." Vivian pressed several buttons accidentally, her hands shaking hard.
I pulled her back and reached around her to press the button for the lobby. Tears welled in her beautiful, albeit tired, eyes, and I pulled her against me, wrapping her in a tight hug and kissing the top of her head. "It's okay, Viv. We're going to find her. We'll take a cab to the station, okay?"
"I hope so," she mumbled as she pulled back from me and pressed her palms to her eyes. "I told her that this was a mistake. This trip was damned from the get-go. We should have just stayed home and planned out graduation or hit our favorite places in New York."
I grabbed her hand as we walked from the elevator and moved toward the front door. "It's going to turn out just fine. Casey seems like a wild child. I bet she went home with some good-looking guy last night and just forgot to call thanks to one too many drinks."
"She could have been taken advantage of. What the fuck was she thinking?" Viv pinned me with an angry stare as if I'd been any part of it.
I stopped by the valet. "We need a cab to the police station please."
"Sure, Mr. Parks. We'll have a driver take you. One minute." He moved away from us, but not before turning back to let his eyes run across Vivian. The girl was oblivious to the multitudes of looks she received, but now wasn't the time to mention it.
"Come here." I pulled her against me again and squeezed her tightly. "Hold it together for a little while longer. We'll find Casey, get something to eat and take a nap, okay?"
"Alright. I guess you're right." She rested against me and released a deep breath.
I brushed her hair back from her face rhythmically and kissed the top of her head again. I was starting to think of her as mine, which wasn't good for either of us, but it wasn't something I could stop doing. She fit too well against me, caused too many foreign emotions inside of me, moaned my name almost too well.
"Here we go, Sir." The valet held the door open to the Lincoln Continental and nodded toward us. "I hope everything is okay."
"It will be. Thank you." I pulled my wallet out of my jeans and handed him a tip before getting into the backseat and reaching for Vivian's hand. "She didn't call or text at all last night? The last time you saw her was at the club?"
"Yeah. I need to call Jackson to see if maybe he saw her after we left. Remember she texted that she left before we did? Maybe calling him is a waste of time." She picked up her phone as I pressed my hand to the front of it.
"You do whatever you want, but I'm pretty sure Jackson left right after we did." I removed my hand from her phone and shrugged. "Totally up to you of course."
"Maybe you're right. Let's talk to the cops and then we'll go from there." She intertwined her fingers with mine and glanced over at me. "Thank you for coming with me. I'm sure you have a million meetings and such that you need to be at."
"They can come later. I'm good being with you." I leaned over and brushed a kiss by her cheek. "I'm a little upset with you not letting me come down last night."
"I know, but you know why I couldn't." She turned to face the front, her expression locking into unbendable resolve.
"I get it, but you should have called. You pacing the floor all night alone sounds heinous."
"I've been through worse." She shrugged and tugged her hand from mine as her phone buzzed. She let out a sigh and dropped it in the seat next to her. "Just my mother."
"Do you need to get it?" I asked in earnest curiosity. I rarely ignored a call from my mom, but then again, she rarely bothered me.
"I'll call her later. She'll know something is wrong if I answer the phone right now. That'll just lead to questions that I don't feel like answering." She shrugged and sunk back into the seat next to me, closing her eyes and relaxing a little.
I studied her beautiful face, unable to help myself. The dark circles under her eyes were concerning, but a good meal and a great night of sleep would take care of that. It was the first I'd seen her looking so ragged since meeting her. Some part of me liked it because it acknowledged the fact that she could use a man like me to take care of her, to protect and comfort her.
"We're here," the driver called back to us.
"Come on. Let's see if they can help us." I opened my door and helped her out before taking her hand and walking into the busy police station. Someone gave us a number at the front, and we made our way to the large waiting room where only two seats remained open. I asked an elderly couple to scoot down so that I could sit by Viv, and they were more than willing to accommodate us.
I sat down and reached for her, pulling her down beside me and cuddling her against my chest as she curled up and closed her eyes again. Within seconds, she was sound asleep.
I watched from above her, memorizing the perfect slope of her eyebrows, her long eyelashes, and regal nose. But it was her lips that captivated me, and I couldn't help but think back on our night together, her body a playground of delights that I wanted to experience over and over again. It would be better to just help her with Casey and disappear. That's what Vivian would want to happen, but I knew I wasn't capable of being so callous.
Our run-in was to be blamed on fate perhaps. But everything after that was all by choice. She might not appreciate it much, but I chose to stay beside her for the rest of the week. The thought of contacting her in New York rolled around in my mind as I pressed my lips to the side of her head. She groaned and lifted her face a little, pressing her nose to my neck and whimpering sensually.
I had to focus on the thugs around us not to get completely turned on by her simple nearness.
"Vivian Hall?" A large Hispanic cop called from the other side of the room while staring down at a clipboard. "Vivian Hall?"
"Viv. Is your last name Hall, baby?" I shook her a little as she came to and sat up.
"Huh?"
"Is your last name Hall?" I stood and pulled her up with me.
"Yeah. Is it our turn?" She got up and looked around in confusion.
<
br /> "Yes." I moved toward the cop and held on tightly to Viv's hand. I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone, no matter how worried she might feel.
"I'm Vivian Hall." She walked up to the cop and squeezed my hand. "I need to report a missing person. My best friend disappeared from a night club last night, and I haven't seen her or heard from her since."
I released her hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she got a little choked up.
"Has it been twenty-four hours?" The cop pulled out a pen and flipped through several pages.
"No, only twelve, I guess." Vivian glanced over at me.
"Then I can take down the information, but you have to wait until your friend has been missing for twenty-four hours to file a report. Lots of people appear to be missing, but have simply gotten drunk and gone home with a lover for the night." She glanced at us. "Give me the info and if she's not back by late tonight, come back up here and ask for me. I'm Officer Milly. Okay?"
"Alright." Vivian let out a soft sigh and gave the officer the information.
After they wrapped up their conversation, we got back into the car and drove back to the hotel. Vivian was a bit shaky, her legs not seeming to want to hold her up any longer. I helped her sit down in the lobby and walked to the front desk.
"Hi. I'm Easton Parks. I wanted to see if the penthouse was open for tonight. I know I stayed in there Sunday night, but I'd like to revisit a few things if it's available." I hardly ever twisted the truth, but I wanted something nice to treat Vivian with as she waited to hear back from Casey. It was about all I had to offer.
"It's available until Sunday. We'll move you in there now, Mr. Parks. Would you like your things delivered from your previous room?" The woman gave me a caring smile.
"Yes. Thanks for your help. It's appreciated." I took the key she offered me, turned and walked toward Vivian.
She glanced up and reached for me, standing with my help as she let out a long, tired groan. "I feel like I've been beaten with a baseball bat."
"You're just tired, Viv. Come on. Let's go up to my room and rest. We can take a nap and get back some of your energy. I bet that we'll hear from Casey soon and can put this madness to bed."
"Okay. I guess I'm out of options anyway." She wrapped her arm around my lower back and moved with me toward the elevator. "I don't know what I'm going to do if something has happened to her."
"Nothing has happened. Stop thinking like that." We got into the elevator and I pressed the button for the top. "I'm back in the penthouse, so we can raid the mini-bar or order something if you're hungry. They have a special menu up there with extra goodies on it. A foodie like you will be in hog heaven."
"I'm starving, but I feel like an ass for eating when Casey could be lying dead somewhere." She shuttered, and I pressed my hand to her lower back, urging her to get off as the elevator opened.
"Let's check out the dessert bar they advertise all the time. It's the only thing I don't think I've tried. Sound good?" I typed in the code and inserted my key, pushing the door open and ushering in the beautiful girl beside me. Just having her close to me left my heart beating a little harder than seemed necessary, but I was falling hard. I prayed I wasn't the only one.
Her phone buzzed and she yanked it from her back pocket, lifting it to her ear as her eyes filled with tears again. She turned her back to me as her shoulders curled in tightly.
"Where the fuck have you been?" Her voice was tense and filled with hard emotion.
I moved to the phone in the living room and ordered a few dishes as well as the dessert sampler bar. She needed a few minutes of privacy with Casey, and I didn't want her holding back. It was a shitty move on Casey's part, though something told me that the girl would never willingly hurt Viv. It had to be a potent combination of liquor and sexual attraction to the right guy.
I glanced up as Vivian walked into the living room, her cheeks stained with tears, but an air of resolve to her. "She's okay. She got toasted and went home with some guy. She's headed back to the hotel now. I told her I would find her later this afternoon. She needs a shower and a nap."
"And a good ass whooping from what it sounds like?" I smiled. "You can go if you need to. I don't want you to feel any pressure from me."
"I don't want to, unless you need to be somewhere." She stopped in front of me and pressed her hands to my chest, sliding them up to cup my neck. "If you have meetings that you need to attend to, then go. I know I used up your whole damn morning. I'm sorry."
"I want you right here with me. I ordered us a bunch of goodies. How about a long meal and a nap?" I pressed against her hold and gripped her hips tightly as I bent down to consume her mouth. She didn't need to forget for one second how much passion lay between us. I couldn't seem to shake it, so it only seemed fair to make sure she couldn't either.
Chapter 19
Vivian
His kiss was deliciously overwhelming and only helped to make the struggle within me rage harder. Fear over having lost Casey in Miami to some drug lord or sex trafficking unit left me weary and almost unable to hold my head up. The right thing to do would have been to get back to my hotel room, but everything was fine, and being with Easton was a diminishing commodity. I'd be lying to myself if I didn't say I wanted to spend most every day getting to know him better.
"Food sounds good, though I can't promise that I'll be great company. I'm so tired all of a sudden." I pressed my cheek to his chest and scraped my nails down the back of his thighs over his jeans. He smelled divine and felt even better.
"I'm sure you are. It's been a long-ass night. Let's eat and then you, Missy, are due for a nap." He kissed the top of my head and moved back.
I walked to the over-sized white leather couch and sunk down into the comfort it offered.
"So before you doze off, tell me about your dreams and aspirations of being a food critic. What are you planning to do when you graduate to ensure you get a job in the right area?" He glanced over at me as he draped a blanket over my legs.
I curled up and studied him, his dark features combined with his perfect balance of muscle and smooth skin left me not wanting to talk at all.
"I figured I would have to get a regular job working at a hotel or corporate restaurant chain while I continued to work on submitting my articles." I shrugged. "Casey is the go-getter who has the next ten years planned. I care about the future, of course, but it doesn't consume my thoughts like it does hers."
A yawn left me, and I was grateful for the knock at the door. Sleep was pulling at me hard, and I had a few more minutes of watching the dreamy guy in front of me before I willingly succumbed to sleep.
"There's breakfast or lunch?" He smiled, and I forced myself to sit up as he spoke with the hotel attendant. Three large trays were delivered into the room.
I got up from my comfy position and moved to take the tops off as the smell of cinnamon, sugar, and cheese brushed by my senses. Picking up a blackberry, I popped it in my mouth and turned in time to watch Easton close the door and move toward me.
"It's far too much food, but there’s a full kitchen in here. We'll pack up the leftovers and heat them back up for Casey when she's up and moving." He stopped beside me and slid his hand along the small of my back. "Let's have a little bit of fun with this, if you're up for it."
"What kind of fun?" I wanted to sound more energetic, to show him how grateful I was that he'd been the kind of guy to get up far too early to help a frantic stranger, but I couldn't muster much more than a monotone response. I couldn't remember the last time I'd stayed up all night, but it had been a while. It would seem my 'up all night' days were dwindling fast, if not completely over.
"Go sit on the couch, and I'll bring over a dish for us to try together." He smiled warmly at me and nodded for me to follow his lead.
"Okay." I turned and walked back to the couch, grabbing the blanket and cuddling up as I worked my tennis shoes off of me below the covers. My eyes were drawn to the sexy swell of his butt in his j
eans, his body a sensual delight that I hadn't had a chance to really enjoy as thoroughly as I wanted to. Too bad the trip was almost over and we would have to go back to our lives apart from each other.
"Alright. This one is a fruitful delight. Should be fun." He sat down on the coffee table in front of me and reached out, brushing his strong hand up my thigh and squeezing softly. "You okay?"
"Much better now. I can't thank you enough for going with me." My eyes burned, and I pressed my fingertips to them. "I'm sorry. I'm just not real good without sleep."
"None of us are." He squeezed my leg again and released me. "Close your eyes and tell me what fruit I've put in your mouth. You ready?"
"Yes. If I start snoring, cease the tasting game. I don't want to choke and die." I chuckled and finished wiping at my tears before settling back and letting out a slow breath as he chuckled.
"Open your mouth, Viv." The sound of him shifting toward me caused my stomach to tense.
I opened my mouth and jerked back a little at the cold, odd texture. Taking my time to chew the sweet goodness, I quickly realized that he'd started with a tough one.
"Kiwi." I opened my eyes and smiled at him as he licked at his fingers.
"Good. I won't ask for a descriptor on what you tasted. You're too tired for that, and as sexy as you are when you're critiquing, I'd want you naked and in my bed once again." He wagged his eyebrows once before giving me another command. "Close your eyes again. Next fruit."
"Oh no. It's your turn." I moved to the edge of the couch, pressing my knees against his inner thighs and waiting patiently until he closed his eyes.
"Feminist," he mumbled playfully.
"Equal opportunist." I picked up a piece of pineapple and lifted it to his beautiful lips. "Open for me."
He growled low in his chest, but opened, licking at my fingers as I put the fruit in his mouth. "Delicious. Pineapple."
