I snorted. “Well, it doesn’t matter now.”
“Why not?”
“He won’t be back.”
Her nose wrinkled and she covered her mouth with her hand. I would go sleep somewhere else if she laughed at me right now, and maybe she knew it, too. “How come?” she finally asked when she could without snorting on her amusement.
“I told him I couldn’t go with him. Weren’t you listening?”
She tittered. “You really think that’s going to drive off a determined man? If you’re worried, he has an office out past the airport. It’s a bit of a drive. You could take DeAndre and go there. I trust him to have you around town. He’s so strong.” She sighed happily and rested her head on the couch near mine.
My blood froze in my veins, and I choked on my breath. Coughing, I wheezed out, “Me? Go there? To him? To find Brooks?”
Her lips twitched. “Only if you liked him.”
“This is absolutely obnoxious,” I snarled and shot to my feet. Her smile never dimmed as I stomped to my room feeling just like a teenager. I couldn’t put a cork in my anger. I shouted, “None of this matters!” The satisfaction that came with slamming my door was short-lived.
Her laughter carried down the hall, and I smacked my palm to the door, but that only made her cackle harder.
* * *
The next day the hotel was maddeningly busy—as usual. Even when there were very few customers, there was typically a ton of work for me. It wasn’t my best day, and before it was even ten o’clock in the morning I was snapping at people asking me simple questions, and everyone started finding other places to be when they saw me coming. I didn’t care, at all, because by noon I had turned away one screaming mistress-wife combo who were teamed up and looking for their significant other, found a phone for two different clients—apparently the couches in the lobby ate them, along with wedding rings, one of which I also retrieved while I was searching for phones—and still hadn’t managed to eat my breakfast.
And by the time I remembered my cold scrambled eggs on a covered plate on the desk, it was time for lunch.
But I got involved in calling to complain about our missing alcohol shipment, and before I knew it three o’clock was rolling around, and the half-baked plans I’d made last night as I was falling asleep had my palms slick with sweat. I wiped my hands off on my suit coat and went to find Mother.
Unfortunately for me she had a client on a massage table in the second-floor spa room when I managed to track her down. I peeked my head in the door, caught a noseful of vanilla incense, sneezed three times, and mouthed “going out.” She paused her massage, frowned, and then nodded and smiled. I closed the door quickly behind me. Thank everything she’d been dressed. Half my nightmares were of the times I’d found her naked.
Back in my room I took a quick shower, then panicked my way to my closet. I only had one casual outfit, and it was nothing too friendly, merely a pair of navy shorts that made my ass look rounder than usual and a white V-neck T-shirt. Once dressed, I smoothed my hands down the sides of my shirt and snorted. All I needed was a white hat and I could pretend to be going sailing. Sighing, I snagged my lone pair of sandals out of the closet and slipped them on. I didn’t look like myself, and I was doing something I absolutely never did, so I supposed that was all right.
Someone knocked on my bedroom door. Mother peeked her head in. “Oh, what are you doing, sweetheart?”
Embarrassed, I mumbled “nothing” as I pocketed my wallet, which I rarely carried around with me, and my phone. She pushed my door open, and DeAndre waved at me, looking every ounce a man who was hired muscle with his chiseled jaw and pecs the size of hubcaps, which was fine, since that was his job.
“Take him with you.” Mother patted his shoulder and practically glowed in his direction. Thankfully DeAndre was used to her and only nodded.
“This is why I never go anywhere.” I glared at DeAndre, who stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I need a bodyguard to step foot out the front door. It’s too much hassle.”
“Don’t be a spoiled brat, dear. Let the man do his job.”
I sputtered, and Mother laughed as she came over to give me a kiss on the cheek. “You’re adorable. You should dress like this more often.” She fussed with the tag sticking out of the back of my shirt, and I batted her away.
“Grown men aren’t adorable,” I grumbled at her.
She shook her head. “Let me walk you out so you can keep your courage.”
I glared. How did she know I’d been thinking about changing back into my suit? With her help I was bustled into the back of a red extended Audi that was part of the Courtesan’s fleet for customers who wanted, or needed, to be ferried around New Gothenburg. DeAndre drove me out of the city and past the airport. We stayed on the highway for a few miles, and then he pulled the Audi into a turnoff with a large Sutherland Security sign planted next to it.
We traveled via a tree-lined lane to a yellow metal building. As we approached the parking lot, I noticed a walkway attached what had to be the office to a warehouse that stretched out far enough it appeared to be as long as a football field. Curious, I leaned forward as the car drew up to the simple front entrance. The only thing there was a porch roof that gave cover to a single tinted glass door.
“You can’t park here.”
DeAndre sent an unruffled look at me through the rearview mirror. “The madam told me to get you to Mr. Sutherland’s business and inside and under cover before I park. I do what she tells me. No offense.”
I studied him, curiosity getting the best of me. “Is she worried right now for any particular reason?”
“She doesn’t tell me why to do things,” he said, voice even and professional.
