I closed my eyes and stood there. It was probably my turn now. I didn’t want to piss off Forrest, but the more I tried to make myself go out there into the hallway, the more certain I was that I couldn’t. Forrest would know I ditched his friend. Groaning, I smacked my head back against the wall. Fuck, maybe I should have stayed in New Gothenburg, where things were weird but familiar.
“Hello? Hunter?” someone whispered into the hall. Footsteps came nearer. My heart pounded in the back of my throat and thudded in my ears. “Are you out here?” I inched away in the opposite direction of the voice and then took off at a light jog in case he checked around the corner. I’d just pretend I’d gone to see Angel. It would probably bite me on the ass later, but right now I couldn’t see myself going back there.
My stomach was a mess, and I wasn’t interested, so I kept going down the hall and took another turn, and then another one. All the hallways were lined with snazzy lights, beautifully framed portraits, and the same fancy carpets… and I ended up lost, but I didn’t try very hard to figure out where I was, either. I passed a cleaning woman, who ignored me, and finally I found an exit marked Rooftop Pool Entrance, which sounded interesting. I pushed the door open, and breathed a deep, happy breath when I stepped out into the sultry poolside air.
The water gleamed, and there were multicolored lights illuminating the bottom that made the water a shimmering fantasy jewel. The smell of any pool chemicals was almost nonexistent, like maybe this place was too high-end for that. Overhead, the stars I figured were up there somewhere were killed by light pollution, which didn’t really happen in New Gothenburg, but I sucked in a deep breath at the view around us. The clouds were an odd orange hue, where they hung low in the sky. We were on top of the world here at the Virtue, and I could see out across the city. Close by there were roofs with nothing on them, gray and cold, and there were some with parties going on and lights strung around the edges, where people clearly mingled. And then farther out, the city gleamed like a gem that pulsed with a heartbeat—red veins of light flowing away from me, white veins flowing toward me.
“Wow.” It really was bigger than New Gothenburg. There was no end in sight. The pool seemed like a good spot to hide for a while, or at least the view was pretty. There was a man swimming laps, but I didn’t care. I sneaked around the edge of the pool to a seat in the farthest corner, pushed up against the railing lined with cement plant boxes full of blooming yellow roses. A single lonely bumblebee crawled along a bud close to me, and I reached over to pet its fuzzy back; it let me touch it before it crept into the center of the flower. I settled down into a low lounge chair, drew my feet up, and rested my elbows on my knees, staring out at the city. How long would I have to stay out here for this to be believable? I gnawed on my lip and nearly groaned. What if Angel called Forrest? Fuck, he probably would. What if he had already? Hanging my head, I blew out a shaky breath.
“Forrest? Ya looked like ya were fighting with Rourke earlier,” a man said nearby, but he didn’t sound too upset about that.
Snapping my attention onto the lilting Irish voice, I stopped breathing for a few seconds. The man I’d seen walking in earlier, the one with the fantastic lips who’d talked to Rourke at the bar, also had a sculpted body he was in the midst of toweling off. Not too heavily muscled, but just right, he was wearing swim stuff that was so small I nearly swallowed my tongue. I had board shorts for swimming at the lake; he might as well be naked. He smirked at me and draped his towel around his neck, walking over. The dark hair that smattered over his washboard stomach and disappeared into his suit was difficult to keep my eyes away from.
Shaking my head, I tried to get my thoughts together. “I’m not—”
“What’s wrong? Why’d anyone leave a classy man like yourself all alone?” He smiled and there was an amused edge to it, like he was joking a little or something, and my face got hot and stayed that way.That accent is going to kill me.Was he making fun of me? Fuck, had Forrest slept with this guy? I looked around, and when I glanced back, he was frowning in something like concern.
“Me?”
He laughed like he thought I was messing with him. “Rourke not giving ya enough compliments? You’re unreal. If ya need to be reminded, I’m only too happy.”
“Rourke doesn’t compliment me,” I said stupidly, and then wanted to slap my hand to my face. I twisted my fingers together, and then tried to stop that, but ended up lacing them tightly together over one knee instead.
The man tilted his head and frowned at me. “Are ya two not together anymore? Are ya… are ya working again?” There was a heat in his question that shivered something in my stomach, waking it up and sending interesting little tingles along my thighs. I had trouble looking away from his cut abs.Fuck, am I really this thirsty?I leaned my mouth against my knuckles, biting at the back of my hand for a second, then I closed my eyes. This guy really was hot. And he was speaking directly to me. I’d never met anyone like him before, not in my whole life. He was clean-cut in a way everyone I’d met here seemed to be, totally different from the guys in MC clubs, and he obviously took care of himself.
And he’s excited to be near me.
That had me feeling squirmy in a guilty way.No, he’s excited to be near Forrest.
“Wanna hand?”
I opened my eyes and felt stupid, staring some more.
He reached toward me, expectantly. No one had ever offered me help up, not ever, and I’d been knocked on my ass plenty of times. All I was doing right now was sitting. It was really fucking weird, but nice, so I took his hand and unfolded myself. Somehow I got one boot tangled up in the leg of the chair as I was getting to my feet and nearly tripped, basically while standing still. My entire body burned in embarrassment as I caught myself, and he steadied me with a hand on my shoulder. He rubbed his thumb there, over my arm where he was touching me. I couldn’t stop looking at his long fingers. He surprised more heat into my face when he rubbed his other thumb lightly along the back of my hand where he still held it.
“All I wanna know is, am I gambling—” He whispered the words and leaned forward to plant a kiss on my cheek that shocked me into glancing at his face. “—by doing that?” He waggled his eyebrows, and I sucked in a deep breath. Was this what it was like to be Forrest? I’d never had it happen, but I was pretty sure this was flirting. Yeah, maybe he thought I was a prostitute, but I was caring less and less about that.
“So you’re one of those guys, huh?”
He chuckled. “And what sort of fella would that be, then?”
“The kind who does wheelies on fresh blacktop in the rain.”
He shook his head, flashing me his teeth. “Never tried that.”
His amusement got to me, and I found myself smiling back at him. “Wouldn’t advise it.”
He let my hand go and stepped back to grip his towel at both ends, sliding his gaze down my body. I tugged at the hem of my shirt, wondering if I’d messed up already. “You’re a tease,” he said, and his accent twisted the words into a strange music I wanted to hear again.
“Me?” I asked fast. What was he talking about? “You’re the one who….” I touched my cheek, and he winked.
“Ya didn’t tell me if you’re free or not, so aye, fae and fair, you’re the one who’s a tease.”
He stared at me, so focused and with such heat, that my toes curled in my boots. I didn’t even know his name. I didn’t know if I was supposed to have slept with him before. I didn’t know if he was a client of the business, or someone else. But… wasn’t this why I was here anyway? To try new things? To… get King out of my head?
“Uh, I am.”
His smile slipped. “Seriously?” He slid his hand up my arm to my elbow and gripped me there.
