“Why?”
“Club—”
“Business. I get it.” I scowled. “God, Austin, I’m so frickin’ sick of hearing that.”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Yo.”
I hadn’t even heard it buzz. I stomped my foot in frustration. I guess our conversation was over.
“Yeah. Two minutes.” He hung up. “Wait here. Got me?”
“No. I’m not a child, Austin. You don’t get to leave me here like I’m being relegated to the principal’s office.”
He swore and stormed out of the office. I moved to follow but the door was locked. I let out a frustrated squeal and kicked the door, only managing to stub my toe.
“I swear to God, Austin Carver, I’m going to castrate you,” I yelled at the door, and then flopped onto the sofa and pulled my phone from my purse to call Kim.
“Hey, honey,” Kim said.
“Hey, where are you?” I asked.
“Just crossed the bridge.”
“I’m so sorry Austin’s such a killjoy.”
Kim chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m totally fine, hon. Seriously, it’s all good. I’ll call you tomorrow okay?”
I frowned. Was she blowing me off too? “Um, okay.”
“’Bye.”
She hung up and I sat staring at my phone for several seconds before chucking it back into my purse. My girdled middle was uncomfortable, so I wrestled my Spanx from my body, then I unzipped my boots and slid them off. My toe was throbbing now, but I stood and decided to investigate the space.
A pocket door led to a spacious bathroom, complete with shower and fluffy towels. I wondered how often Austin stayed here long enough to shower. I walked back into the office and through another door to find a bar set up with several chairs surrounding small tables. What had me spellbound was a large picture window that overlooked the entire club. I didn’t remember seeing it when I was out there, so wondered if it was a one-way mirror.
I’m not sure how long I stood watching the club goers, hearing nothing but my own breathing, but Austin’s arm wrapping around my waist startled me and I jumped.
He kissed my temple. “Sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I pulled away from him. “I want to go home now. Will you call me a cab?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll take you home, but I can’t leave just yet. We’ve got a situation and I don’t know how long it’s gonna take.”
“Which part of I want to be alone are you not picking up on?”
He slid his hand to my neck and tipped my chin up with his thumb. “You and I have things to talk about. I get that. But you’re not leaving without me, Dani, so accept that now.”
“God, you make me so frickin’ crazy!”
“And you’re a pain in the ass.”
