As soon as she stepped into the lobby, her eyes moved around, searching for that one man who gave her heart a bit of a jump-start every time she saw him.
“Where were you?”
Becca spun around, spotting Lillian and Tallia coming towards her.
She had to think quickly, not sure when they had come looking for her. Had it been before she’d come back from Alex’s room? No clue! “I was in my room, changing clothes.”
Tallia looked at her curiously. “I knocked on your door but you didn’t answer.”
Caught! Oh, this was bad! She looked at each of her friends, one by one and they all looked confused. “I was probably in the shower when you knocked,” she lied.
The explanation seemed to appease the others and they turned to each other. “Where’s Jane?” she asked, interrupting whatever they might have been about to say.
Lillian smiled. “She felt the need to apologize to Detective Shaw and thank him for his help last night.”
Tallia laughed. “Right. That woman has the hots for our handsome detective. Jane is off to do a lot more than thank him.”
Lillian laughed. “I certainly hope so! I spoke to Phillip about Tony last night and, apparently, he’s a great guy. Phillip has known him since college and they have done all sorts of crazy things over the years, but he’s an excellent police detective.”
Tallia clapped her hands together, bouncing slightly in excitement. “Jane definitely needs a bit of craziness in her life. She’s too prim and proper for her own good.”
Lillian and Becca both laughed and agreed. “Yeah, but will Jane think she needs Tony’s brand of craziness?”
They stared at each other for a long moment. “Well, she said she’d be back soon, so why don’t we head to the dining room for breakfast?”
All of them agreed and they made their way through the crowds to the dining room. Because of Lillian’s amazing organizational skills, they were seated immediately despite the tables all looking completely full already.
The three of them dined on delicious New Orleans foods, including the ever famous beignets, which were really just fried dough covered with powdered sugar. But in this hotel, the beignets had a more elaborate topping option. They were served with a tray of honey, warm chocolate syrup, and a vanilla syrup that was oozing with deliciousness.
They were just about to dive into their first taste of a real, New Orleans beignet when Jane rushed to the table, practically falling into the empty chair. “I’m so glad I’m not too late,” she gushed.
No one mentioned Jane’s flushed cheeks or the glimmer of excitement in her pretty blue eyes. But everyone suspected that the handsome detective had something to do with that glimmer.
“Okay, let’s figure out what’s going on today.”
Lillian clapped her hands. “So we’re going to see…” and she listed out a long list of tourist attractions in New Orleans. Becca listened, but when Lillian announced that they had to stop and see the tombstones, Becca wasn’t as enthusiastic. Graves? Who wanted to see a cemetery? That sounded a bit crazy, but she didn’t want to ruin anyone’s excitement.
“Off we go!” she announced and led the way out of the lobby.
Becca followed, absently walking through the crowds but, in truth, she wanted to see Alex. Most likely, he wasn’t around. It would probably be more beneficial for him to hang out in the hotel lobby during the afternoons or evenings, not in the morning. He’d probably attract more customers during the later hours of the day.
Why did the thought of Alex trawling for customers bother her so much? She had no claim on his time. But even though rationally, she knew that she didn’t have the right to keep him from doing his job, the thought of him with another woman…it was like a knife twisting in her stomach and she took a deep breath as the sharp pain hit her.
Turning away, she walked quickly out of the hotel and slipped into the waiting limousine. She wasn’t going to think about Alex. He was not a part of her future. Or even her present! He was in her past. It was one night. One wonderful, amazing night with just one kiss.
It hadn’t even been a good kiss, she told herself. Just a mediocre kiss. A kiss she could easily forget.
Yeah. Right. And she was the next Miss Universe!
Chapter 4
Becca shifted around, trying to get her hair off her neck to get some sort of breeze. It might be December, only a couple of weeks away from Christmas, but it was warm here in New Orleans.
And there he was. Alex! She’d been thinking about him all day. While Lillian had been going on about the history of New Orleans, the beauty of the architecture, and the warmth of the people, all Becca could think about was Alex, the way he’d held her in his arms last night and…
Okay, yeah, the way he’d kissed her this morning. The way his kiss had felt like he was kissing just her. That his kiss was meant for just her and he never kissed any woman with that kind of passion before.
It wasn’t fair, she thought, as she made her way hastily through the beautiful lobby. Lillian had some bridal duties with her mother. Tallia and Jane were heading to the heated pool to cool off and read, but Becca bowed out, saying she had a headache. All she wanted to do was hide in her room, afraid of seeing Alex. Afraid that he might be trying to pick up another woman for the night.
Okay, so she knew it was his livelihood, but that didn’t mean it didn’t bother her. It didn’t mean she wanted to watch him with another woman. The very idea hurt way too much.
As she stared at the walls of the elevator, she thought about how much he charged for one night with him. How could she get that kind of money?
As soon as that thought hit her, she stood up straighter. What the hell was she thinking? Had she really just considered the possibility of sleeping with a paid prostitute? Because one could put any fancy word on it that they wanted, but in the end, the man had sex for money. That made him a prostitute and there was nothing more there.
But yeah, gigolo sounded a whole lot better. More…sexy.
Okay, bad grammar aside, she still wanted to stop him from being with other women. What a crazy thought! She was only here in New Orleans for a week. Why should it bother her that the man was selling his services to other women?
She wasn’t sure, but it did. It bothered her a lot!
So, do something about it! Becca huffed and reminded herself that she wasn’t the kind of woman who sat around and let life happen to her. She was a doer. She made things happen. She took charge whenever possible!
When the elevator pinged at her floor, she pressed the button to head back downstairs again. As soon as the doors opened up again, she burst out of the elevator and stormed over to the front desk.
“Can I help you?” the person behind the desk asked in her most professional manner.
“I want to speak with Alex. Do you have any idea how to reach him?”
The woman’s smile faltered slightly and she stiffened. “You want to speak with Mr. Alexander Beauchamp?” she asked, her tone sounding weak and…scared?
Becca hesitated for a moment, not completely sure. “I don’t know his last name, but yes. If that’s the Alex that I was talking with yesterday in the bar, then that’s the man I would like to contact.”
The woman’s smile faltered again. “Are you a personal acquaintance of Mr. Beauchamp’s?” she asked carefully.
Becca thought about it, memories of yesterday afternoon and last night coming into her mind like a wave of warmth. “I suppose I am.” She looked at the woman curiously and it suddenly hit her. She might be doing something illegal. Or the woman thought Becca was trying to solicit Alex’s services. Maybe she should speak to the concierge. Wasn’t that how things were done in the movies?
She held up one hand carefully, worried now that she was doing something wrong. “Look, I don’t want to get anyone in any trouble. And I definitely don’t want to get the police involved,” she told the woman.
“No!” The desk clerk gasped. “Mr. Beauchamp definitely doesn’t want any
police. I’ll just…” her fingers trembled as she typed something on the keyboard. “I’ll text him,” she explained.
“Are you sure it isn’t too much trouble?”
The woman smiled, but her expression looked forced. “I’m sure Mr. Beauchamp will be pleased to hear from you. What’s your name?”
Becca realized that she’d never told him her last name. But he’d known her last name! That was certainly odd, she thought. How had he known?
The woman was waiting and she gave the desk clerk a weak smile. “Becca Hampton,” she told the woman, then stepped away from the counter. There was a long line of other guests waiting for assistance. They probably had hotel business and Becca…well, she didn’t. “I’ll be at the bar for a while,” she told her, calling out the information over her shoulder. “If Mr. Beauchamp has time, please tell him where I am.”
Becca walked into the bar and sat down exactly where she’d seen Alex sitting just the night before.
The bartender immediately came over to greet her and take her order. “What can I get you, Ms. Hampton?” he asked.
Becca blinked, surprised that the man knew who she was. “Um…I’ll just have a glass of white wine,” she told him.
“Chardonnay or a Pinot Grigio?”
Becca didn’t make enough money to know the difference, but she’d heard several people order when she’d been in bars. So she went with the opposite. “A pinot, please.”
The bartender nodded, then moved down the bar, and pulled a bottle out of a fridge. When he set the glass filled with white wine in front of her, she thanked him with a smile, already having her credit card out and ready.
“No charge, ma’am.”
She blinked, not sure why he would say that. Then she remembered how Lillian’s mother was picking up the tab for their rooms. “No, this isn’t part of my room. This is separate. I don’t want…”
The man lifted his hands in the air. “Orders from Mr. Beauchamp directly,” he explained and moved away.
Becca wasn’t sure what that meant, but she was flattered that Alex was still trying to buy her drinks. What did that mean? Was she crazy to let a ray of hope enter her heart?
No, that was silly. She couldn’t…
“May I join you?”
Becca twisted around to find Alex walking towards her. He looked more casual than she’d thought possible in a pair of jeans, but still with a button down shirt tucked into the waist. Did the man ever relax? Watching his approach, she suspect that he didn’t.
“Thank you for the wine,” she lifted her glass in salute.
“My pleasure. That looks like a pinot grigio. I would have thought you were more of a chardonnay woman.”
Becca sipped wine, appreciating the delicate flavors. “It’s good,” she said, with a slight shrug, silently telling him that she wouldn’t know a good or a bad wine other than by taste. “I’m not really any kind of wine person.”
“Not into wines?” he asked, and nodded to the bartender when he put a glass of amber liquid in front of him.
“Not really. And even when my friends and I buy a bottle of wine, we can’t really afford to be picky.”
He laughed and the sound was soft and sexy, filling her heart with warmth. “I remember those days,” he said and lifted his glass to his lips.
She eyed him carefully. “I doubt you do. You don’t look like the kind of man who ever scrimped and saved.”
He smiled, his dark eyes twinkling even in the dim light of the bar. “You’d be surprised.”
She laughed, feeling special from the way he was looking at her. “I doubt anything you tell me would surprise me, Alex.”
“What did you do today?” he asked, changing the subject.
She told him all about their adventures throughout the city, ending with her presence here in the bar. “I think I terrified the front desk clerk. I’m sorry, I forgot that you’d put your number into my cell phone this morning and I could have texted you by myself.”
He laughed softly. “Not a problem. I think you gave her a story to tell the other employees. It’s not often someone threatens to call the police if I’m not contacted immediately.”
Becca cringed. “Sorry about that.”
He was silent for a long moment, his hazel eyes looking at her features. “Why did you contact me?”
She twirled her glass and looked around. “Do you have a…” she wasn’t sure what he called his appointments. “A date tonight?”
His hand paused for a long moment as he watched her over the crystal rim of his glass. “Are you asking me if I have a lady waiting to pay me for my sexual services tonight?” he asked her, that teasing laughter in his eyes again.
She shifted uncomfortably on the barstool. But she couldn’t deny his question. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking.”
Another long silence. She finally pulled her eyes away from the shimmering wine in her glass, looking up into is eyes. “Are you offering to spend the evening with me if I am without an appointment?”
She considered her next words carefully, not sure if she would be able to live with herself if she actually spoke them out loud. But she thought about how she’d felt when she’d walked into the lobby, the idea of him with another woman, doing things to a stranger that…okay, if she was perfectly honest with herself, she’d admit that she wanted him to do those things to her.
She had a credit card that was rarely used. Why was she even hesitating? Why was she holding back? She should just tell him what she wanted, see if he would agree to her request. Would her morality allow her to suggest what she really wanted? Then again, would she get any sleep this week, thinking about him with another woman?
When she considered that she wasn’t spending anything on this vacation, how much she was saving by Lillian’s mother covering the airfare and hotel expenses, not to mention, all of the meals that they would be eating at the social events during the week, it made more sense to spend her credit on a really wild and crazy vacation than to sock it all up in the hopes that something better would come along. Something more exciting. A hot air balloon ride came to mind, but then she looked into Alex’s eyes and knew that a night with him would be one hundred times better than any hot air balloon ride. So much more exciting and exhilarating.
Besides, it’s not like she had to have sex with the man! She could just enjoy his company. If she was paying for his time, she could do whatever she wanted with him!
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and blurted it out. “I want to buy your time for the week,” she blurted out before she could think better of the idea.
She opened her eyes and looked at him, holding her breath as she waited for his reaction. As she looked at him, his features were stunned for a long moment. And in those tense moments, she wasn’t sure what he was thinking.
Slowly, as both of them stared at each other, the words she’d just blurted out hanging in the air between them, his features changed from stunned, to smiling and she slowly let out the air trapped in her lungs.
“A whole week?” he asked softly, reaching up and twirling a lock of her hair around one of his fingers. “Tonight, from this moment through next week, right?”
Becca nodded, unaware of her dark hair sliding around her shoulders or the excited glimmer in her eyes. “Plus I’d like you to attend the wedding with me.” It occurred to her that she hadn’t told Lillian that she would be bringing a date. But the reception wasn’t a sit down meal. So, it should be okay. At least, she hoped it would be. If not, she’d just…well, she couldn’t skip it. She was one of the bridesmaids! But she could show up, do her bridesmaid duties, and then slip out. Then on Sunday morning, she could simply pretend as if she’d been there all along. None of her friends needed to know that she’d been with Alex. They wouldn’t approve of her decision. They wouldn’t understand.
“The wedding too, huh?” he asked, looking at her as if she’d just said something amusing.
“Is that too much?” she asked, not w
anting him to think she was crazy or anything. But yeah, when it came to Alex, she was feeling more than slightly crazy. What she felt for him was…strange. Crazy. Insane, actually.
She simply wasn’t going to dwell on the insanity of her decision. She’d blurted it out, now she’d have to live with whatever came of it.
And from the look in his eyes, she suspected that she was going to enjoy ‘living with it” a whole lot!
He leaned forward slightly, a look glimmering in his eyes that she couldn’t quite define, but it still made her stomach twist around like a pretzel.
“How about this,” he started off. “I don’t want you spending money on renting me or anyone else. I don’t think that you have a great deal of money, and spending it on something you are morally opposed to wouldn’t be good for you.”
Becca lowered her lashes, disappointment crushing her. She felt as if a hole was sinking into her chest and she wasn’t exactly sure how to deal with it.
“What if my moral dilemma is the lesser of my inner turmoil?” she asked softly, knowing that she was revealing something to him that was unreasonable. There’s no logical reason she should feel this connected to a man after two days of knowing him. Unfortunately, she couldn’t explain it, but neither could she ignore it. “I’ve never acted this impulsively before, so bear with me. I’m normally very logical and rational. I’m not used to this.”
He laughed softly and pulled her into his arms. She felt his lips kiss her hair, but hated him for teasing her like this.
“I know the feeling, Becca,” he said and she couldn’t stop the shiver when his hands slid lower, wrapping around her waist. “Come with me. Let’s work things out, okay?”
Becca couldn’t handle this. The high of hoping she could be with him this week, nor the letdown of his rejection. What did “working things out,” mean, exactly?
He led her over to a small room and closed the door. The room was usually used for small parties or gatherings and was just off of the lobby so people could easily find it and didn’t need to be wandering around the hotel, searching for their event. In this case, it was just large enough to give them privacy.
Passionate Mystery Page 4
