Chapter 14
brOOKE
I stretched on the bed, my body relaxed and sated. Why was it that every time I was with Roy I could go from feeling scared for my life to having crazy hot sex in the blink of an eye? It was like this guy could make me shift gears in a way I spent my whole life trying to learn how to do.
I had to face it–if I’d learned nervous system regulation when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t have needed to become an accountant and bury myself in numbers and spreadsheets. Or maybe I needed a shit-ton more orgasms because they were a great way to relax.
Although just because I was relaxed right now, didn’t mean I should be. The past twenty-four hours had been insane. I needed to call Casey. My bestie was the voice of reason. I couldn’t tell her over the phone what was going on with the mob, but I could at least tell her about meeting Roy.
I grabbed my phone and saw a text message from my mom.
I met someone! I think this is it. He’s from Florida. I’ve never been and can’t wait to see palm trees! Love you.
Ugh. How long had it been since it didn’t work out with the last man? A week? I’d given up long ago hoping she’d change. At least I didn’t have to move with her like I had as a kid.
I sighed, gave her message a thumbs up reply, then dialed Casey. She worked as a flight attendant, which meant she was gone for days at a time, so I didn’t get to see her as much as I wanted, but we left each other messages often.
Shockingly, she picked up on the first ring. “What’s up, gorgeous?” she crooned.
I couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, Casey! Are you in town?”
“No. I’m in Miami–out on the town tonight.” She sounded boisterous and out of breath. Muted voices were in the background. I pictured her walking along a palm tree lined street. Maybe she’d run into my mother.
“Ooh, who with?”
“My co-worker. We’re on the prowl.” She made a cat rawr-ing sound. “Maybe we’ll find some hot Latinx men to show us the town.”
“Ooh, well, good luck with that. I, uh, met a guy last night.”
She squealed. “ And ?”
“And I like him,” I admitted.
“Oh my God! It’s about time! Where’d you meet him? Who introduced you? I mean, I’m thrilled for you, but…”
I sighed. “Say it.”
“Fine. I love you, but you know you have, um, questionable taste in men.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, I know. Um, I randomly met him at the Four Seasons while I was here for work, and we hooked up.” I didn’t tell her the part about hiding in his room from two scary thugs. I could tell her the whole story later.
She gasped. “Oh my God! A hotel bar hookup? He’s probably married. You know all the guys trolling hotel bars are married, right?”
While she lived life larger than I did, she was also so much more wary and skeptical. Pragmatic. I was far from flighty, but her job got her in front of a ton of people from all over the world. She’d pretty much seen it all.
Me? I worked in my cubicle, did yoga after work, and binge watched shows because I didn’t have any money for international travel.
I pursed my lips and thought of Roy. “I don’t think he’s married.”
“How do you know? Did you look for a tan line on his ring finger? Wait–you said here for work. Are you still there now? Are you still with him?”
I laughed. “Yes.”
“Right now?”
I looked around the plush bedroom. “Well, he’s not in the room right now, but yeah. I’m in his penthouse suite.”
Casey whistled. “So he’s rich. I definitely think he could be married.
Well, at least you’re having some fun. But listen–you need to be careful.
I’m not saying he’s an axe murderer or anything, but we gotta keep you safe.
Send me a picture of his driver’s license.
I will background check him for you and make sure this guy isn’t a psychopath.
You should never hook up with a guy without sending me a photo of his license. We’ve talked about this.”
She was right. We had talked about it. I just didn’t usually make it a habit to hook up with guys I just met. In fact, I’d never done it before.
“You’re in Miami for a night on the town!”
“So? They have internet here.”
I sighed. “Okay. I will text it to you when he gets back. He ran down to my car to get my gym bag.”
“Oh, my God. Have you guys just been in bed all day?”
I shoved this morning’s events out of my mind. “Um, no. I ran home for a bit. But…um, then I came back.”
“So the sex is good?”
My pussy clenched at the question. “ So. Good. Like multiple-orgasms-good. He’s incredible. And hot. Six foot six and stacked with muscles. He’s a big sexy cowboy from Montana.”
She sighed. “Montana. So this is definitely just a fling.”
Just a fling. Why did my heart sink to my toes when she said that? Did I want something more? I couldn’t already be planning a future with this guy, could I?
Except… it seemed like some part of me had rushed ahead. Maybe it started when he told me he’d never felt this way about anyone else. I’d felt the same way, to be honest. So how did you walk away from something like that?
It was hormones talking. Or my satisfied clit. Why would I walk away from a guy with so much tongue talent? Or maybe it was my heart doing the thinking, which was really dangerous. I shouldn’t read into this time as anything more than a fling. He’d be going back to Montana soon enough, and I’d–
Well, hopefully, I’d be alive. I highly doubted I had a job come Monday, not that I wanted to keep working there. I shouldn’t expect anything from Roy. There was no expectation, no matter what he said.
“Brooke,” Casey said, cutting into my thoughts.
Maybe Casey was right. Maybe he was married, and this was some schtick he had with the girl in every port.
Gah.
“I…don’t know,” I told her. “I like him. Maybe he’d move to Denver to be with me.”
Casey laughed, denting the hope fluttering in my heart. I couldn’t think about it, though, because Roy was walking in carrying my gym bag.
“Thank you,” I mouthed, taking it from him and setting it on the bed.
He kissed me. “I’m gonna take a quick shower, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
I watched his ass in his jeans as he headed into the bathroom.
“Ooh, was that him?” Casey asked, overhearing. “He does sound hot. Send me a pic. And his license! I’d better go. I’ll be back in town on Tuesday. We’ll lounge on our couch and eat ice cream, and you can tell me all about it.”
Our couch. The one where the bad guy ate my raisin bran before Roy killed him.
“Sounds good,” I replied, wondering how I was going to ever sit on that couch again. Or be in my living room. “Have fun meeting a Latin lover!
Roy had left the door open as he stripped, giving me a glorious view of his perfect physique. I leaned sideways to make sure I caught it all as I ended the call. Roy sent me a wink before he disappeared into the steaming shower.
Time to act. I darted into the bathroom to grab his wallet out of his jeans pocket. His license was right inside.
Roy Banner, from Cooper Valley, Montana. He hadn’t lied about that, at least.
I took a quick picture of it and texted it to Casey.
There. Now I could stop worrying about red flags. Casey would do her background check and tell me it was all fine.
At least, with Roy. It wasn’t all fine. I still had mobsters who wanted me dead, a client who was going to go to jail if I talked, and a job I would probably lose or had lost already.
So, just an average Saturday.