Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Dylan pulled out to pass a slow-moving truck. The traffic on the route eighty-seven was lighter than expected for a Friday night and they were making good time. They’d be at the resort shortly.
Dylan glanced over at Raleigh sitting in his passenger seat.
Her long dark hair was pulled back in a loose bun at the nape of her neck.
Those green eyes that had been filled with terror and anger when he’d met her at her house were filled with something different today.
Anxiety? Probably. Her shoulders were tense, and she hadn’t stopped tapping her finger on her thigh since he’d picked her up.
What in the hell had he gotten himself into this time?
He’d pulled the local precinct file after he left her place a couple of days ago.
The cops who answered her nine-one-one call the first time had believed her, but after calls two and then three more with no proof, they’d decided she might have some mental issues.
The stuff they saw daily made that a logical conclusion.
He sighed. He knew about mental illness; he’d see it up close and personal.
He glanced at Raleigh again. The jury was still out.
This weekend would make it clear one way or the other.
She believed what she was telling him about her stalker.
It was obvious she was terrified. She’d fought like hell when she’d thought he was the stalker.
He cursed silently as the scene played out in his head.
Once again, instinct took over instead of following the rules.
He should’ve waited at the door until she acknowledged him or even called for backup if he thought she was in trouble, but he’d charged ahead without thinking it through.
A mistake like that had almost cost him is career and still might.
“Uh, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.” Dylan swallowed and tried to focus on what Raleigh was saying.
“I was thanking you. I really do appreciate your help. This stalker situation…well, I’m at my wit’s end.
I wouldn’t have felt safe coming out here alone, and I have to be here.
The mother of the bride is one of the PR firm’s biggest clients.
She wants her daughter’s wedding to be covered in all of the best social media and news outlets.
I have to make sure it’s being presented properly.
“It’s a big deal. Lots of advertising money involved. If I don’t show, my boss will kill me.” Raleigh leaned back into the leather seat of his pickup truck.
She was a cute little thing. When he’d had her pinned to the bed, he couldn’t help but feel her generous curves.
She’d fit perfectly against him, so it wasn’t going to be a hardship to pretend to be her boyfriend.
And she obviously needed help, though it remained to be seen whether it was the kind of help he could give her.
“So, how’d you and Lauren meet?” Dylan asked trying to get a conversation going. Maybe it would relax her.
“We go to the same gym. She was at the juice bar raving about the yoga classes, so I decided to give them a try. She can be very convincing. And she was right. They’re great.”
“Lauren’s great at talking people into things.” Especially if you’re her cousin, then she doesn’t take no for an answer. That wasn’t true. He did owe her for letting him crash at her place when he first arrived in town. He’d just never expected to have to pay her back like this.
“She is,” Raleigh agreed. “She mentioned you were taking on a new role at work.”
He snorted. “Is that what she called it?”
“Um, what exactly does that mean?”
“I am currently on desk duty and reassigned from my position in the Emergency Services Unit of the NYPD.” He grunted.
Raleigh cleared her throat. “Ah, I see. No Lauren didn’t mention that.”
Shit. Now she was going to think he wasn’t capable. He frowned. “Don’t worry. I’m can still protect you. I was reassigned because…” What was the best way to explain it? Just don’t bother with details seemed like the best bet. “I disobeyed an order.”
“I see. Well, I’m glad you are able to come with me this weekend, regardless of the reason.
” She gave him a tight smile but went back to tapping her leg.
“Do you mind if we review the schedule for the weekend? Once we get to the resort, I have to connect with Phillip the photographer for the project and go over a few things.”
“Go for it.” They’d already gone over it in mind numbing detail over the phone but if she wanted to do it again, it was fine by him.
“There’s a welcome event for guests tonight, a dinner.
It’s supposed to be starting shortly. I need to go so I can make sure the influencers are posting about it and there are good optics.
Everyone will want their picture taken with the happy couple.
Bedford Hills might be a suburb of NYC, but they say more business deals happen at events like this and at the local country club than they do back in the city boardrooms, and I believe it. ”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“The rich and powerful live in Bedford Hills. CEOs of Fortune Five Hundred companies, rub elbows with Senators and Supreme Court Justices. I heard that a former U.S. President is thinking of buying a place up here.” Raleigh sighed.
“That’s why everything has to go perfectly.
By establishing relationships with these people now, I might get to interview them one day for a story.
I want to be an investigative reporter. PR hack is just a steppingstone in that direction. It pays the rent.”
Dylan nodded but didn’t comment. If she made up the stalker, it was understandable. Who could constantly operate under that kind of pressure? Being at the beck and call of rich people sucked. Doing it for a living would be hell on earth.
Raleigh asked, “How far from the resort are we?”
“’Bout twenty seconds.”
She grinned, then reached into her bag and brought out her cell phone. “I have to create memory book type thing for the client to give out to friends and people who couldn’t make it, so I need to record what everything looks like. Please drive slowly. I want to make sure I capture the details.”
He cocked an eyebrow. Who the hell were these people, the royal family? “Roger that.”
“Silver Springs Hotel and Resort located just outside of Bedford Hills, in upstate New York is considered one of the premier locations to hold events in the state. We turned right onto a long driveway that curved around a fountain at the entrance,” Raleigh narrated as the phone recorded everything.
“The building has a brick facade with stately white columns out front, holding up a balconet. There are huge pots of multicolored flowers by the front doors and window boxes of flowers beneath every window on the front of the building. The cobblestone pavers of the drive surround the stone fountain. It gives off such a stately appearance, very New England meets British castle.”
She paused the dictation app on her phone and then snapped a few pictures. Starting the app again, she said. “Edit to add that resort is the wrong word for this place. More of an upscale luxury retreat.”
Dylan grunted. Everything reeked of money and privilege.
His shoulders tensed as he put the pick-up in park.
He glanced down at his jeans and collared shirt and then set his jaw.
Spending the weekend with the idle rich was, no doubt, gonna suck.
Out of place and out of time. Too bad it was too late to cancel.
One valet opened Raleigh’s door. Dylan opened his own and slid out, handing the other attendant the keys. A bellman came to collect their luggage.
Raleigh put her arm though his and pasted a smile on her face. “Are you ready? It’s show time. We have to sell the boyfriend thing.”
“Uh, sure.” He tried to relax, but it wasn’t working.
The flowers and decorations were extreme, like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous had puked all over the place.
The hotel had covered every surface in a riot of pinks and yellows and the overwhelming sickly-sweet smell of the flowers filled the air.
It was giving him a major headache. There was even a fountain in the middle of the lobby.
How many guests had taken selfies in front of that?
How many of the drunk ones had fallen in?
He shook his head. Where the hell was the bar and was there a quiet corner where he could drink a beer in peace? He missed his couch and his big screen TV more than he thought possible.
Raleigh led him to the giant reception desk on the far wall.
Dylan glanced at her. She didn’t hesitate but strode confidently right up to the desk and she didn’t seem overwhelmed by the surroundings either. Almost as if she was used to it. Was this her world? Or it could be she was an amazing actress. Time would tell.
The clerk announced that their cabin was ready.
Cabin? They weren’t staying in the main building?
What exactly did Raleigh have in mind? Was she just being super cautious?
Now he had to worry about securing a whole cabin instead of just one room.
Looking around the lobby again, his gut churned.
So much for a quiet getaway with a bit of work.
There was no part of this weekend that was going to be relaxing.
“So, cabin?” he asked as they waited for the clerk to come back with the keys.
“Uh”—her gaze darted around the lobby—“I’m a bit nervous with the whole stalker thing. The idea of people walking down the hall at all hours… I just thought the cabin sold the idea that we were on a romantic weekend a bit more. I don’t want to tell people I’m being stalked and you’re my bodyguard.
“Besides,” she added in a chipper voice, “it has two bedrooms, so we get a bit more privacy. Oh, by the way, I have hinted that I have a boyfriend across my social media platforms, but I’ve said you’re camera shy so you don’t have to be in any of the pictures.”