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Chapter 11
Fox
Ipause outside the motel room door to check for the sliver of paper I left pinched in the frame. It’s still there, barely visible unless you know to look for it. No one’s been here since I left. Good.
I unlock the door and hold it open for Dani. She quickly walks in with her head still down, just like I told her to, though I wonder if it did any good at all. How am I supposed to keep her hidden when everyone in the world knows her face? Even the old man at the front desk looked twice. I suppose it’s not every day a pretty girl in nothing but a bathrobe sneaks into a hotel room with a mysterious man who paid in cash.
Then again, this is Los Angeles.
I lock the door behind us. Dani sits down on the edge of the bed, her fingers still clutched around the neck of her short robe. Her thighs stick out the bottom, attached to long, perfect legs and blood-covered toes. She’s still pale from shock. Her eyes are cold, devoid of that spark she usually had before.
I grab a disposable cup off the bathroom counter and fill it with water from the sink. “Dani, you okay?” I ask, offering her the cup.
She looks at me with trembling eyes as she takes it. “Yeah.”
“It’s okay to say no.”
“Oh.” She sighs and takes a slow sip. “I might change my answer then...”
A pop song pierces the silence. Dani lurches and water spills over the side of her cup before she deflates and reaches into the pocket of her robe.
“Just my phone,” she says.
I snatch it from her hand before she can answer it.
“Wait—”
“No phone,” I say.
“No phone?!” she repeats. “I have to answer that, Fox. It’s my Dad. My building’s security would have called him by now.”
“He’ll live.”
“Fox.” She stares up at me with narrow eyes. “If I don’t answer that, he’s going to freak out. Do you want Bennett Roberts to freak out?”
I bite my inner cheek. “I will call him. From a different phone. This one can be traced, and we don’t want that.”
“Fine,” she says, obviously too exhausted to argue.
She slowly peels the bandage off her face and tosses it into the trash can by her feet. My cheek tingles, reminded of the same scar I have on my own face.
Dani Roberts.It’s finally sinking in. I’m in her presence again. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I feel that electrical charge radiating my nerves. I haven’t felt it since the last time I saw her. Since the night we…
Blood pumps in my ears. My skin tickles. Saliva gathers beneath my tongue. She’s here. In my motel room.
She’s sitting on my bed.
I clear my throat and step toward the closet for my duffel bag. “It’s not much,” I say, grabbing one of my white dress shirts and a pair of black boxers, “but they’ll fit until we can get you something else.”
Dani takes them from me and nods without speaking, nor does she show any telling emotions as to whether she’s appalled by the thought of wearing them. I watch her movements in my peripheral vision, completely losing myself in her again. She slides her fingers through her damp hair. It falls on her face and the locks stick to her cheeks. She pushes them behind her shoulders to bare her neck. Her tongue wets her cherry lips and my manhood strains against my pants.
I spin toward the door. “Stay here.”
Dani stands up. “Where are you going?”
I hold up a hand to stop her. “I just need to pick up a few things,” I explain. “Wait here. I’ll only be a few minutes. Put the chain on until I get back.”
I don’t wait for a response. I close the door and lock it behind me, pausing for a few moments until I hear the metal chain sliding into place. It’s not much — and won’t slow Mercer down more than a few seconds — but it’s all I have right now.
