“Have money?”
She didn’t actually, because most often she gave it away to good causes, and the rest Jay had stolen.
“That’s none of your business.”
“You didn’t eat all the hotcakes.”
“I don’t eat all that much, and that’s got nothing to do with anything. I’m not coming back, so don’t think you can steamroller me into this.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m an adult who has been making her own decisions,however badly, for years, and I don’t want to go back home.”
“No,” he said. “Why don’t you eat all that much?”
“I don’t have the appetite of a small pachyderm.”
“Elephant, Hope. It’s what we uneducated people call it,” he drawled.
He got to his feet, which she guessed signaled that she should too.
“Come on, we need to get your stuff. When Tex calls with a time, we have to be ready to leave.”
“What? No, I told you I’m not doing that.”
Ignoring her, he signaled the waiter.
“I said I’d pay.”
“With what? That meal will cost more than the twenty dollars you have.”
“I’ll pay you back then,” Hope said.
Ignoring her, he took her backpack and her hand, and then started walking.
“Stop dragging me about the place.”
“Then keep up and I won’t have to.”
“Newman, I can look after myself.”
“Sure you can, that’s why I found you pursuing a new career in a seedy bar.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Whereare you staying?”
“Somewhere.”
He led her to the elevator. His phone rang as he hit the up button.
“Tex.”
“All organized, bud. Just head to the airstrip.” Newman listened to his friend.
“Sweet, see you in Brook then,” he added.
Looking at the corner of the elevator he’d backed Hope into, he felt it again, the pleasant zing of lust.
