“RJ,” she said, quiet enough that I doubted Winter could hear her. “I trust you to sort this out, since it was your idea to make it more complicated than it needed to be. If he’s lying, shoot him.” She gave me a sweet smile. “Go ahead. Y’all be careful,” she said, spinning away from me.
Winter frowned at her, so maybe she hadn’t been quiet enough. I walked over and snagged his elbow, then led him out of the room with my heart pounding hard enough that I could feel it thudding in my ears. He stared up at me, and I knew, deep inside, I didn’t want to hurt him. I just prayed that for once I would be proven wrong and he was as innocent as his wide, scared eyes tried to convince me he was.
3
WINTER
“Hey, that hurts,”I snapped and tried to tug my arm free of RJ the giant’s iron grip. He hadn’t let go of me during the trip to the front doors of the Courtesan Hotel. Cold wind slapped my cheeks as we walked, and I shivered. His mouth twitched downward and he still didn’t let go, but his grip softened.
RJ hustled me past a younger guy in a thick black coat who was quick to flash a smile at us and seemed to be on valet duty. We nearly jogged toward a black BMW Roadster in the rear of the parking lot, which had my estimation of RJ going up a few notches. The car was sexy, no two ways about it, and I had a thing for black. The color was so clean and perfect, and along with its opposite, white, was made for showing off other colors and creations.
He took me to his Roadster and opened the door. There were only two seats, so it didn’t seem like RJ had a lot of friends he was interested in ferrying around. I sat when he gave my shoulder a push, and then he slammed the door behind me. I glared at him through the windshield as he strolled around to his side with his shoulders back and his hands in his pockets, and he didn’t so much as glance at me when he got behind the wheel and turned on the car.
“That was rude. I could’ve walked myself.”
“You ran once,” he said.
I cringed. “Yes, but then we talked to Madam Winters.”
He gave me a glare full of contempt that I felt all the way in my balls as they tried to hide against my body. “I’m not stupid. If a man shows me what type of person he is, I believe him.” He emphasized his point by smacking his palm against the steering wheel.
“I promise, I won’t run from you.”
He snorted and backed the Roadster out of the parking spot, then drove slowly toward the exit.
Anger had my body heating all over. “You don’t believe me, do you? I saidI promise.”
“Nope,” he said blandly.
Huffing, I crossed my arms, my coat rustling a bit. The smell of the new car mixed with leather and the woodsy cologne RJ wore, which in turn had me thinking about all the things I’d missed out on while I was building my business—most of them revolved around a bed and having a man in it. I closed my eyes as my body warmed all over, then realized maybe the heated seats had something to do with that sensation.
“What did the courier look like?” RJ asked. I snapped my eyes open to study him. He seemed far too serious as he eased the Roadster onto the street. We passed a bakery and the thought of cupcakes had my stomach growling loudly enough to be heard over the road noise. He frowned in my direction.
“I never got to eat dinner. Sorry.”
He shook his head. “Give me directions to your jewelry shop.”
I did as he asked, all while trying not to be resentful. What kind of person outright dismissed someone else and thought they were lying? I hadn’t ever done anything to make him think I was a bad person. I mulled over the situation for a few minutes while he navigated the Roadster through the downtown traffic.
“What did the courier look like?” he repeated.
I spun toward him in my seat. “A cute little thing who was hurt by someone at some point.”
He frowned and cut a quick glance at me before he fixed his attention back on the road. “What doesthatmean? Do you want to get out of this or not? Don’t play games.”
“I’m not! None of this was my fault!”
He shook his head and glared at me for a second. “First of all, it was, because you were dumb enough to trust someone you didn’t know with jewelry worth a shit ton of cash.”
“Ouch,” I muttered, shifting uncomfortably.
He grunted. “For the last time, what did he look like?”
Leaning back against the leather seat, I strained my brain. Whatdidhe look like? I’d been tired and just finished my work. Hell, I was still exhausted. I laid a hand over my eyes and focused. “He had a crooked nose and brown hair and a nice smile. His name was Pinky.”
“And?” he asked.
I dropped my hand to stare at him. Okay, I got that he thought I was about as smart as a piece of sidewalk chewing gum, but did he have to sound so pissed off about it? “I don’t know. And he seemed nervous?”
