Page 21

10

ROSI

I foundCora in the hallway, pacing in front of our room. When she spotted me, we rushed into each other’s arms for a hug.

“Thank gods you’re okay,” she said, releasing me.

“What happened?” I asked, nodding toward the room.

“I don’t know. One minute I was reading Jeremy’s palm, the next everything exploded.”

It was then I noticed the man leaning against the wall covered in ripped leather with muscled arms and tatted sleeves that sported various instruments and musical stanzas. His smooth head glowed under the dim lights of the hallway that I now realized were for emergencies.

I nodded in acknowledgement, and he responded with a salute.

“What about you?” Cora asked, squeezing my arms.

Thinking back to what I’d been doing when it happened, I realized I couldn’t tell her. If I did, I’d never hear the end of it. Besides, I wasn’t sure it was something that would happen again. Austin and I had probably just got caught up in the moment.

“Same. Well, not the palm reading, but we were on the couch. Talking. And then the lights burst. Austin put out a fire on the furniture. He’s good at acting fast under pressure at least.”

Cora nodded. “I bet he’s good at a lot of things.”

I snapped my mouth closed, unwilling to dignify that with a response. But he was good at other things. I could already tell and wanted desperately to continue what we’d started but wasn’t sure he’d be into me for more than a minute. It was a stupid idea. There was no way for our relationship to be anything but a whirlwind fuckfest. He was a celebrity and travelled constantly. It was just that when I realized he believed my story without question… Well, he’d gone from sexy as hell to irresistible in a heartbeat.

“Where is he anyway?” Cora asked, stretching to look over my shoulders.

“Jackson Meadows showed up. They’re probably still in the room talking. When I realized it wasn’t just us that it happened to, I rushed out here to find you.”

“You’re such a sweetheart.” Cora pinched my cheek, and I rolled my eyes in response. “Who’s Jackson Meadows?”

“He’s Nicole’s boytoy.” I read up on the history of all the resorts in my research and prep for the trip. When I saw him behind Nicole, that just confirmed the rumors for me. “He’s also an engineer.”

“Let’s go back in there,” Cora said, steering me toward Austin’s suite. “Maybe we can get some more info on what’s happening. Coming, Jeremy?”

“Nah, I’ll head back down and see what Sherri’s up to. Maybe we can have a threesome later, bae?”

Cora winked. “Sounds nice.”

“Wait, you literally only had one person in there? Why’d I have to vacate then?” I whispered as she buzzed Austin’s door.

“I just started small. Don’t worry, it’s vacation and I plan to have fun.”

She’d set me up, but I’d enjoyed spending time with Austin, so I let it go. But I wondered if there was an empty suite I could move to so I didn’t find myself homeless for the rest of the month or have to impose on Austin for that length of time.

Speaking of, what was taking so long for Austin to answer? A spike of concern shot through me, and I pounded on the doors, stopping short of thumping Jackson on the chest when they slid open.

“Excuse me,” he said, slipping by.

Crossing the threshold, I spotted Austin looking miserable on the couch.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “What happened?”

Cora frowned and squinted at a spot just over Austin’s shoulder. “Your aura is a mess.”

“Thanks?” Austin said before meeting my eyes. “Jackson thinks I had something to do with the electrical issues.”

“Shit,” I said, kneeling beside him and putting a hand on his leg in what I hoped was a comforting way. “Why?”

“Proximity to all the disasters. Can we talk in private?” he asked, eyeing Cora.