The couple turned the corner at the top of the stairs and stopped to speak to the same woman that showed them their seats earlier. Walk to the other side…other side. The VIP section ran the perimeter of the building on the second floor. Would it be too much to ask that they were seated on the opposite side? Yes, yes it would. They were headed straight for them. A tall, leggy brunette with a dress that offered less concealment than a French bikini and a suit clad man that was even taller with broad shoulders and a handsome face. They presented quite the striking couple if one would care to notice.
“Oh! I lost my contact!” Jane exclaimed before lowering her torso, her long hair shielding her face.
“You don’t wear contacts. Get up.” She could feel him grab a fistful of her hair and give a slight tug.
“Um…my shoe is um, like stuck on something. Let go of my hair, I’m just going to…” her muffled voice turned to a slight screech when his tug became a bit more forceful.
“Jane,” his commanding voice boomed over the hum of voices and commotion inside the building as her head snapped up suddenly.
“SHHHH!”
“You have got to be kidding me.” Jane’s eyes wandered slowly from Pete’s toward the sound of a woman’s voice.
“They let you back in here? Look Damon, it’s Rick’s psycho ex,” she sneered. Apparently Damon was trying to tug her away but she was having none of it.
Jane’s mouth set in a grim line, her eyes fastened on the scraps of fabric strategically placed to create the illusion of clothing.
“What’s the matter Jane? Can’t you speak? I mean, that’s a first,” she spit out as Damon’s tugging was becoming more persistent.
“I just want you to see something. See this, bitch? See it?” She was waving her hand in front of Jane’s face. A large sparkling diamond caught the subtle lighting surrounding them.
“We’re married,” she added just in case no one was able to put two and two together, apparently.
“My condolences,” Jane’s lips finally moved as her eyes fastened to the other woman’s face. The other woman’s eyes flashed before she took a step forward and leaned down.
“No matter what lies you tell, no matter what you did to try and split us up, we’re married. So chew on that, psycho.”
Jane’s eyes locked and held Damon’s for a split second. “Chew on this - you naïve asshole. He’s still sleeping around. What are you up to, four? Yeah! Four women now. He only had two when you were dating. You’re disgusting by the way,” she added before turning her attention back to the brunette. “And he doesn’t wear a condom,” she added with a smug grin.
“That’s it. I’m gonna wipe the floor with your face.” She took a step forward only to be grabbed and hauled back by her upper arms.
“Holli, let’s go. She’s not worth it,” Damon stated as he struggled to hold on to her. Jane immediately stood up and took a step forward.
“Want a repeat of last time? You have a shitty memory. That was your face, that floor.” Jane stated as she pointed to spot somewhere beyond the couple.
“Is there a problem here?” a new voice asked. A deep, booming, masculine voice that caused all eyes to snap to the source. A huge man stood to the side, his overly muscular arms folded across the enormous expanse of his chest.
“No problems,” Pete supplied as his hands grasped Jane’s arms pulling her back against his body.
“I have a problem. I have a problem that you let trash like this in your club. Why don’t you go waste yourself, you miserable bitch,” Holli spewed out of perfectly glossed lips.
“Hello, this is my personal space of which you have inserted yourself and not by invitation, I might add. Why don’t you make a like a tree…and…fuck off,” Jane shot back. An amused snort sounded behind her, compliments of Pete, no doubt.
“He has a new girlfriend now. A normal girlfriend, just for your information.” Holli sneered as Damon finally managed to budge her away slightly.
“She’s a pole dancer.” Jane replied blandly.
“I’m sorry, but one or both of you is going to have to leave,” the bouncer stated as he inserted himself between the two women.
“Me! That’s me. I’ll go. Let’s go,” Jane exclaimed, still held against Pete’s body.
“Find out if they’re still in Vegas,” he whispered in her ear.
For real?
Damon managed to get Holli to back up a few feet and it truly appeared as if he was going to turn her. There simply was no time to come up with a cleverly disguised question.
“Hey! Are they still in Vegas?” Jane called out, causing Holli to quite struggling against Damon and stand stock still.
“Like I would tell you, stalker.”
“Never mind, scratcher,” Jane stated as she pulled on her arms to no avail.
“What the hell does that mean?” Holli didn’t budge as Damon gave her a firm pull.
“Forget it, come on,” Pete growled in her ear as he backed up, still gripping her tightly.
“That’s not a urinary tract infection!” Jane yelled out as Pete continued to pull her backwards.
*****
“Words fail me.”
“Cool. So just shut up,” she replied, watching the neon signs as they passed them in quick succession.
“Do you get into fights often?”
“You have no idea. When you have a mouth like this, you’d better know how to defend yourself. Believe me,” she mumbled toward the window.
“I see. Have you ever gone to therapy?” he asked as they exited the freeway and turned almost immediately into a hotel parking lot.
“I don’t need therapy. I need to cease existence. That’s what I need. What are we doing here?” Her eyes scanned the front of the high end hotel as he brought the car to a stop.
“We’ll stay here for the next couple of days,” he stated as he pulled the keys from the ignition.
“Why?” She watched him warily as he turned to open his door. Following suit, she opened hers and stepped out.
“Why?” she asked again. He was grabbing what looked like two duffle bags from the back seat.
“Because I like to move around. I don’t like to stay in the same spot for more than a couple of days, that’s why. Come on.” He slung both bags over his shoulder and hit the key fob. The lights flashed once as a short horn blast signaled the car was locked. She was still rooted to the spot next to the passenger side of the car.
“Why?”
“Ask me why one more time and you can sleep in the trunk,” he tossed over his shoulder as he wandered toward the front of the impressive looking hotel entrance.
“Why? Just kidding,”she added when he stopped and shot a warning glare her way. She quickly jogged up to him.
*****
“This is soooo awesome!” she shouted from the bedroom. Her finger pressed the remote continuously. Faces and scenes changed constantly with every press. Pete was holed up in the living room area of the suite, no doubt working on his computer – whatever he did on that thing. It didn’t matter. She was so mesmerized by the sheer amount of channels to choose from that he and his mysterious computer work were completely forgotten.
“It’s a TV, Jane,” she could hear his voice from the room beyond, probably accompanied by his signature eye roll.
“I know, Pete. I just…don’t get to watch TV, that’s all,” she stated more to herself in a low voice as her finger stopped pressing and a handsome actor’s face filled the screen. He was holding a gun, sneaking around a corner. She grabbed the last crunchy chocolate cookie from the small pack she pilfered from the snack tray in the suite, brushing the crumbs from her new flannel pajama pants as her eyes widened. An explosion filled the screen as debris flew everywhere.
“Could you turn that down?” he yelled from the other room as her eyes narrowed somewhat. She shoved the rest of the cookie in her mouth before grabbing the remote to comply.
*****
Ahhh. Sweet peaceful sleep. Warm and
fluffy. This mattress was even better than the one in the cabin, if that was even possible. She sighed with eyes still closed, her hand reaching up to sweep the hair from her face. Her very unconstrained hand. Her very free hand that could move about at will because it was not bound to anything. One eye popped open to confirm that yes, she was free. She moved her legs to confirm that they too were unbound. Her foot caught something hard on its backward swing, though. A corresponding grunt filled her exposed ear as her eyes widened immediately. Within seconds an arm appeared and flung itself around her waist, pulling her close. Pulling her up against something hard. Hard and…whoa. Something poked her rear end. Hello there…something warm next to her ear. Warm breath. That would be Pete. That would be Pete’s not so little friend introducing himself to her backside.
She immediately sat up and scooched back on the huge bed as his eyes opened then fastened immediately on her. He was shirtless, his corded arms and sculpted chest completely visible above the white comforter that was settled low on his waist.
“Good morning,” he mumbled, making no attempt to move. His eyes were sort of smoldering in a half daze as he gave her a small lopsided grin.
“Yeah. Hey, ah…so…” Her mouth was moving but nothing discernible was coming out so she clamped it shut.
“It was either this or tie you up again. I’m sick of sleeping on a couch,” he mumbled as his eyes seemed to register a bit more clearly.
Her lips moved before a small “Ok” finally crept out.
“You know? That was nice, except for the fact that you talk in your sleep. I think that’s the first time I ever slept next to someone. I kind of liked it…other than the mumbling.” He turned on his back and stretched. His arms bulged in all the right places, his stomach muscles contorted as well. She found it impossible to unglue her eyes from his body.
“Really?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“You never slept next to anyone?”
“Nope”
“You never had a girlfriend?” she blurted.
“Not really. My lifestyle isn’t exactly conducive to a relationship.” He settled his arms next to him and turned his face to hers once again.
“Sooo…you’ve never, you know…umm. Wow,” she breathed out. What was he? Thirty? How was that even possible?
“Oh, I’ve…’umm wow’d’ before. Don’t you worry. I just don’t ‘umm wow’ anyone repeatedly. Catch my drift?” He shot her a lazy grin as heat seemed to creep up her neck and settle on her cheeks.
“But what about…?” Shut up! She almost blurted something about the phone conversation she eavesdropped on.
“What about…?” He prompted, pushing up to lean his weight on one elbow.
“Nothing. It’s just…nothing. I’m hungry. Are you hungry?” she stammered nervously as he pushed up revealing more ink across his back. The intricate design almost begged to be traced with her fingertips. It was almost entrancing as if it meant something, some hidden message in the swirls and contorted shapes. Like words that ran into each other. Before she could peruse it further, he was already out of the bed and wandering toward the bathroom. His pajama pants were definitely tented in the front and her mouth went even drier than it already was.
“Exercise first, then breakfast,” he called out before the door to the bathroom closed and her breath escaped in a whoosh.
Her hands immediately touched both sides of her face. The heat from her cheeks was completely unmistakable. He had to have seen her blushing. How embarrassing. She fanned at her cheeks, trying to get them back to some kind of normal color before the toilet flushed and he wandered back into the room.
Was she blushing? Man, that was cute…Detach asshole. She’s a weed. He reminded himself as he walked back into the bedroom. Her hair was everywhere, her face was so fresh and her body…
Don’t look at her.
“So, let’s go for a run. I bought you some work-out clothes and some sneakers the other night. Come on, up you go.” He was flicking his wrist at her as he walked toward the duffle bags perched on the luggage rack.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do I have to run?”
“Don’t you ever run?” he asked as he opened one of the bags and began rooting through it.
“Yeah, if someone’s chasing me…” she muttered.
“For exercise. I’m serious. Don’t shake your head at me,” he admonished after turning and throwing some garments at her.
“Come on, it’ll clear your head. Exercise releases endorphins, puts you in a good frame of mind. Plus it revs up your metabolism. You were a nursing student; you know this stuff. Come on. Chop chop.” He snapped his fingers to emphasize the point. Actually, the motion caused his forearm muscles to pop. She shook her head to clear it.
“Or I can tie you to the bed and you can wait for me,” he stated as he settled his hands on his tapered waist.
“I’ll run,” she stated quickly before she bounced off the bed and headed for the bathroom.
*****
“That was torture.”
“It was not. I took it easy on you. Eat your breakfast,” he commanded before swallowing his two raw eggs and settling the glass back on the small table in the room.
She eyed the fresh fruit and toast on the plate in front of her. Her hand immediately grabbed for the small bowl of butter packets before it was grasped firmly.
“No butter.”
“The butter is there for a reason. I like butter on my toast. I want butter. I don’t want to waste the butter. Let me have the butter.”
“Why are we talking about the butter? Try the jelly.”
“Oh, like jelly’s so much better. It’s probably full of sugar, corn syrup, fake fruit flavor, food coloring. Yeah, jelly is soooo good for you. I want the butter. I need the butter. I ran three miles this morning. Let me have the butter.”
“Jane…” One of his dark brows shot up and it became glaringly apparent that her hand was still encased in his. Moments passed as their eyes met and held before he pulled his hand back abruptly.
“Fine. Take the butter.”
“Thank you,” she enunciated with a smug smile before grabbing three packets and plopping them on her plate. She made quick work of slathering not one but two packets on one piece of toast under his scrutinizing glare.
“So, what’s on the schedule for today?” she asked after chewing several times.
“Other than a coronary bypass for you?” he stated before jerking his head back and catching the butter packet spiraling toward his face. His reaction was lightening quick. Almost as quick as the warning scowl that overtook his features.
“Sorry, it slipped,” she mumbled before a small grin tugged up one corner of her mouth. “It’s slippery. It’s butter,” she added on a breath as her eyes shifted down to her plate and a smile replaced the grin.
“Anyway, I thought we would hit that office building in Southfield today. Have a look around.”
“I don’t know where to go in that building. It’s huge. There has to be at least fifty different companies and I don’t know how many individual offices,” she stated.
“Easy enough. You made a delivery there,” he shrugged.
“No, that’s just it. I screwed up the delivery. I took the stuff to the wrong suite and I have no idea which one it was supposed to go to. Rick chewed my ass for that and I haven’t spoken to him since.”
“And that doesn’t make you the least bit suspicious?” he stated more than asked.
“I’ll admit…his reaction was a bit…extreme. But I swear; I had no idea,” she quickly added.
“Right,” he sighed. She didn’t have to look at him to guess his facial expression. She concentrated on her toast instead.
Chapter 6
“I told you.”
They stood in front of the board in the lobby listing all of the suite numbers and the corresponding companies and individuals. There were at least one hundred listings on the board.
“This is impossible. You don’t remember the name of the company?”
“No. Just the suite. Or at least what I thought was the suite. I thought it was 1030, but apparently I was wrong.”
“How do you screw that up? I guess I’m a little confused here…”
“There were extenuating circumstances,” she offered then turned from the board and watched as men and women wandered through the lobby. Most were dressed professionally and the majority hurriedly walked to the front revolving door or from the door toward the bank of elevators just off the main lobby.
“And those were…”
Her eyes continued to scan the activity in front of her. “Well, I was trying to concentrate on what he was saying but I was being mugged at the time.”
“What?”
Her eyes flitted to his for a second before focusing on the scene in front of her.
“Rick would beep me and I would call him back from the phone at the Laundromat down the street. He beeped, I went down to call and while I’m on the phone some dude asks for my money. I ignore him, right? Because I’m trying to concentrate and then he sticks this thing in my ribs and it’s really annoying when you’re trying to listen to someone, you know?” She turned widened eyes to his face to emphasize her point.
“Sure…and?”
“So finally I just took the receiver and smacked him upside the head with it. AFTER Rick told me where to deliver to. It’s not my fault. I think I just misheard him. It was an honest mistake.” She shrugged as she turned her focus once again to the lobby.
“So he dumped you,” he supplied for her, trying not to focus on the image of her beating some poor, unsuspecting mugger with a phone.
“Nah. It wasn’t like that. I mean, it started out that way. He would take me out, tried to get me in bed. I gave him the whole two month spiel and he pretty much backed off. Prior to that, I may have embarrassed him a little bit. I had an episode at the club,” she supplied then clamped her lips shut.
“No way. I find that hard to believe,” he offered wryly.
This Guy Kills Me Page 13
