CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Daisy
I caught Myers’ eye as I walked down the stairs with Jack. I felt his hand on the small of my back, and it was the only thing that kept me from being afraid. Myers had tried to contact me enough over the past few years that it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if he was my stalker.
If he was, maybe seeing me with Jack would end the harassment. I didn’t think it could make it any worse, at least. My eyes flicked briefly to Hannah’s, and she seemed to perk up with hope that I would acknowledge her.
Maybe it was mean of me, or at least not very nice, but I wanted nothing to do with her ever again. I passed my eyes over her as if she didn’t exist. She basically didn’t to me anyway. It had hurt me way more that Hannah had slept with my boyfriend than Myers cheating on me.
A good friend was a rare thing; a boyfriend I already knew wasn’t right for me… wasn’t.
I walked out with my head held high. Myers had tried to shame me when he’d found out I was working at Sugar, but I had pretended it didn’t bother me.
Soon after that, I discovered he’d tried to buy a membership, but Nico had turned him away.
He’d said he was both too young and too much of a dick to belong to his clubs.
It had made me smile, especially when I’d found out that he’d turned him away because he’d heard that he’d cheated on me. For a tough-looking guy, Nico could be surprisingly sweet sometimes.
I was about to tell Jack about that when a voice said, “Daisy?”
I turned, disoriented. It was already strange that I’d run into Myers tonight. Who else would know me in Savannah? True, it wasn’t that far from West Bay, but it was far enough to make it unusual.
“Daisy Tiller?”
A guy stood in front of me in a waiter’s uniform. He looked vaguely familiar. “It’s me… Lewis. From psych class? Freshman year?”
I realized he was waiting for some sign of recognition.
“Oh, hey,” I said. I did recognize him. He’d asked me out, and I’d been glad I had the excuse of being Myers’ girlfriend at the time. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” He stared at me, and the familiarity was stronger now. He’d bothered me. I’d caught him staring at me several times in class, which wasn’t that big a deal. But then I’d started noticing him popping up in random places around campus. I’d worried that he was following me.
“That’s good,” I said, about to turn and introduce him to Jack.
But he stopped me in my tracks. “I have a couple of classes with you this semester. Haven’t you noticed me?”
Caught off guard, I narrowed my eyes and looked more closely at him.
He had one of those faces that blended into crowds.
He had brown hair and eyes, lightly tanned skin.
He wasn’t short or tall, skinny or fat. He had a frat boy haircut.
He wasn’t ugly by any means, but he wasn’t exactly handsome, either.
He looked like half the male population of West Bay University.
“Um, no. I’m sorry. I haven’t seen you in class.”
For one brief second he looked angry, but then his features morphed into an easy smile. “I get it. You don’t really remember me.” He shook his head. “I sure remember you.” His eyes traveled the length of my body in a way that made me feel like I needed a shower.
I moved closer to Jack, and he wrapped an arm around my waist. I loved that he sensed that I was feeling skeeved out by this guy. “Well, nice to see you, man,” Jack said, sticking his hand out to shake Lewis’ hand.
Lewis’ eyes widened a bit as he shook Jack’s hand. “You’re… Jack Lancaster,” he said.
“I am. See you around.” He tucked me against him and started walking towards the exit. I turned to give Lewis a little wave over my shoulder, and my hand froze as I saw the look on his face.
If I’d thought he’d looked angry before, that was nothing to this. His face was flushed and his eyes were cold, his lips in a thin, harsh line as he watched us leave. I felt a little shiver go through me. I’d forgotten all about Lewis and how he’d scared me as a freshman.
Until now.
Was he my stalker? Did he wait years to start sending me notes?
“Did he creep you out a little?” Jack asked as we made our way outside.
“A little,” I admitted. It was more than a little, but I wasn’t about to tell him about my stalker. Besides, I wanted to go back to enjoying our evening.
“Ready to go?” Jack smiled down at me.
I nodded, and he helped me up into the hansom cab that would presumably take us back to his car.
Instead, I was surprised when he took me to a posh hotel downtown overlooking the river.
“We’re staying here?”
He nodded. “I thought it would be nice to get away from West Bay for the night.”
I took his hand as he helped me down from the carriage. We walked through the lobby of the hotel, and I tried not to look like some small-town hick who had never seen a luxury hotel before.
Even though that was exactly who I was. I stared at the chandeliers, the simple but elegant décor, and the pianist playing soothing jazz classics in the lobby.
“Don’t you need to check in or something?” I asked as Jack strode past the check-in desk.
“I handled that earlier,” he waved a hand as if it didn’t matter. He also directed me past a bank of elevators. “We don’t use those to get to our room.”
He rounded the corner, pulling me along as I tried not to stare. We reached a different elevator that required a key card for access. “This is the penthouse,” he explained.
“Oh.”
I followed him inside, focused on our opulent surroundings, when a terrible thought occurred to me. “I didn’t pack a bag or anything…”
I was picturing myself looking like a raccoon in the morning since I wouldn’t be able to take my makeup off or reapply it.
“I know. I asked Carmen to make sure something was here for you so you’d be comfortable.”
We entered the huge, two-story penthouse. It had a main room, several bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, and even an elevator.
Jack tossed his jacket over a chair and threw the keycard on a large console table in the foyer when we walked inside.
“Come with me.” He gestured for me to follow him, and I walked over to the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the back wall.
“Wow,” I breathed, looking down at the lights of Savannah to the side of us and the harbor out in front of us. I could look straight down and see couples walking along River Street holding hands after a night on the town. “It’s so beautiful,” I murmured.
“It is,” he agreed. But when I turned to look up at him, he was staring at me.
“This is going to be really bright in the morning,” I said, mainly because I was feeling awkward and self-conscious around him.
“Watch,” he said, and pressed a button on the wall. The windows immediately were transformed to be opaque. I gasped.
“That’s impressive,” I laughed.
He gave me a half grin. “Come upstairs with me?”
“Sure,” I whispered, a warm feeling spreading low in my abdomen. We walked up a large, spiral staircase to a massive, loft-style bedroom. A plush King bed lay in the center of the room.
“Your things should be in the bathroom and the closet if you need anything.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling and leaving him perched on the edge of the bed.
I hurried into the bathroom, noting a large, designer duffel sitting on an oversized ottoman in the center of room. Thinking it was weird to have seating in the vanity area of a bathroom in a hotel room, I went over and unzipped it.
And my eyes widened. Inside was a note. It was from Carmen.
It read:
Daisy,
You’ll find everything you need for the weekend in here. I had help from Madeline, so I know everything will fit. Make Jack happy—remember how much he’s doing for you.
Sincerely,
Carmen
While part of me was just relieved it wasn’t from a stalker, another part crumpled up at being reminded that the only reason Jack was being so nice to me was because he wanted to fuck me. I sighed.
Way to remind me that I’m basically a prostitute, Carmen.
I rifled through the bag until I landed on some clothing. I hoped there was a sexy sleep set for me to wear. I looked through it, noting a cute sundress I could wear the next day. Then my eyes widened at the lingerie set that fell out.
“Holy schnikeys,” I mumbled.
“Did you say something?” he called from the next room.
“Nope. No, I’m good.” I winced. He hadn’t asked me how I was doing. Jeez.
I quickly put on the lingerie and stared at myself in the mirror. “My God. I look like a porn star.”
The lacy pushup bra was at least a size too small, making my breasts seem extra big.
I didn’t really need any help in that department.
The closure for the bra was a huge bow. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he’d be untying it to reveal me like a present.
The matching thong was Brazilian cut, so it was basically a couple of strings of material.
There were a set of shiny black four-inch heels to wear with it.
There was no need to wait, I thought, as I pushed my feet into the shoes. I went to the bathroom door, opened it, and leaned seductively against the wall.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his shirt unbuttoned, his socks and shoes off.
For some reason, the sight of his tanned, naked feet was…
turning me on. He had very nice feet, strong and well-kempt.
Not like locker room feet you were afraid probably carried some sort of athlete’s foot disease or something.
He cleared his throat, and my eyes snapped up to his.
He got a small grin on his face, but his eyes were hot on my body, heavily lidded with lust. “The rest of me is getting jealous of my feet,” he said softly.
He eyed my body, his eyes like lasers as they took me in from my head to heels and back again.
“Come here,” he said, leaning forward until his elbows were on his knees. His voice was quiet but commanding.