He snorted. “What about you? I’d have expected, I don’t know, either drinking ten cups of coffee over a typewriter or elegantly draped over a sofa in a gown. How does a person become a romance writer?”
I shrugged. “Perverted mind, introverted personality, and a reading addiction. It was meant to be, really. The typewriter thing isn’t far off, though.”
Chapter Four
Hayes
Iwas already rethinking my assessment that this would be a straightforward job.
I was an orderly kind of guy.
Black and white.
Neat and tidy.
Luna did not appear to have that same quality.
I also valued professionalism and decorum.
Luna was scattered and distracted.
I pulled up in front of the first place we’d be staying. A boutique hotel that was aiming for rustic, cliché Texas charm. It was all wood beams and rock work.
Luna would love it.
She jumped down from the truck and stretched her back. Her hair was half up, half down, somehow looking both put together and wild. She had a casual elegance that I should not have been noticing. “I’m on deadline, so I didn’t look over theitinerary too closely. We’re in Dallas, right?”
I snorted. Not going to comment on the distractibility of my new client. “Yes. We’re here tonight and all day tomorrow before heading to Fort Worth for day two.”
She nodded and started pulling her bags from the front seat while I scanned the parking lot and the building. I hadn’t had much time to prepare in advance, so I needed to take stock of exits and entrances. “Stand down, Agent Guard Dog, I’m not that recognizable.”
I shot her a look. “If something happened—”
“Well, if ifs and buts were kisses and thrusts, we’d all have a happy ending.”
It took me a second to catch up on what she meant. “What? That’s not—”
“Come on, let’s check in. I have to pee.” Luna breezed past me with a bag in each hand. I grabbed both our suitcases from the truck bed and rushed to catch up.
The publisher had booked us adjoining rooms, so I’d be close—but not too close—to my new client. As we stepped into the elevator, I texted Gray.
Hayes: I have the asset, we’re at hotel 1
His response came right away.
Gray: 10-4
Once we were checked in and behind closed doors, I let Luna do her thing, while I went to my room to review the tour plans again. Locations, driving routes, and stops all needed to be mapped and maintained with precision. I wanted detours for unexpected traffic. Escape routes for unexpected shitheads and safe stops for unexpected…Luna.
The hotel room was quiet, and I got lost in what I was doing for a few hours. Sometime later, I glanced at theclock. It was after one in the morning. I pushed myself out of the hotel bed. I’d do one last perimeter sweep, then get some sleep.
Our rooms were connected by a door that I had intentionally left unlocked. I gave a gentle knock. When no one answered, I pushed the door open a crack and froze. I expected to find her peacefully sleeping.
That was not what I found.
I felt my shoulders tense as if there was a threat, but the only danger was Luna, and the victim was her hotel room. The room had been a standard setup—a desk on one wall, a bed and two nightstands on the other, and an armchair in the corner. She had moved the desk up against the end of the bed. It was littered with notebook paper, pens, empty snack wrappers, and a cup.
Luna lay on the bed, with her laptop on the table. Her round ass caught my attention before I refocused on the mess. I stepped into the room and stalked toward her. She had her curly hair piled on top of her head, with a pen sticking out from one side.
