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The wild stripper party Harmony bought and paid for has ended up being as tame as the dances we all went to in high school.
“I get that you’re not interested in a hook-up.” He smiles softly. “Let’s go grab a drink. We’ll leave your three friends here if that’s all right by you.”
I laugh. A drink wouldn’t hurt and it would give me a chance to unwind without the cheerful chatter about next year’s lesson plans that I’ve been subjected to all day. My friends may have the summer off, but they love their jobs enough to bring their excitement about next term along on our mini-vacation.
“Just a drink?” I look down at the tank top and tutu I’m still wearing. “I should change first.”
“There’s a costume party happening down the strip right now.” He rubs his jaw. “It’s at a club inside the Echo Resort. I can get us in and if we stay dressed like we are, we’ll each score a free drink.”
Echo Resort and Casino. That’s where West is staying.
“I’m not trying to keep you in that hot little skirt because it drives me crazy.” He wiggles both brows. “I swear there’s a costume party tonight. It’s a promo thing for a new tequila.”
“Go!” Kendra yells from where she’s standing with Harmony and Priscilla. “We’re all calling it a night. Go and have fun, Linny.”
I glance at their smiling faces before I turn back to Ray. “Looks like we’re headed to the Echo Resort.”
Chapter 5
Linny
I stand in front of the door to Room 2626 at the Echo Resort and chew on the corner of my bottom lip. I shouldn’t even be here.
It’s past two a.m. and I’m in a restricted area.
You need a room key card to access the elevator that leads up here.
I obviously don’t have one of those since I’m staying at the Vertex Hotel.
The man I came to this resort with did have one.
Ray tugged a key card for the hotel from his wallet when I told him about West. He handed me the card after explaining that he’d gotten it two weeks ago from a woman on the thirty-second floor who invited him back to her room after a lap dance at the club he works at three nights a week.
He used the card that night. After he gave her an hour-and-a-half of his time and some extra special treatment, he tucked the card back into his wallet and left with a hefty tip.
He told me he meant to toss it in the trash but never got around to it. It’s expired, but it does bear the name and logo of this resort.
I was shaking as I neared the elevator after saying goodbye to Ray. He left me with a kiss on the back of my hand and assurance that I was doing the right thing by heading up to West’s room.
I barely know Ray and we only shared one drink, but I took his advice. He told me that there’s no harm in having fun with a stranger.
He’s right.
I want to see West again and so I took the card, marched up to the guard standing by the elevator and as one of the three women in front of me flashed him a look at her key card, I asked another of the women where she bought her red dress.
I didn’t have to show the card I was clutching tightly in my hand.
Instead, I boarded the lift and listened to a stranger talk about her favorite clothing boutique in Los Angeles.
She spun in a circle as the elevator’s doors closed, showing off the dress that she had paired with a red facemask trimmed with feathers to create a costume for the party. She looked elegant and sexy.
She giggled at my tutu and tiara as her friend used her key card to scan the pad in the elevator. She pressed the button for the twenty-ninth floor and I pushed the button that read twenty-six.
Once the doors popped open, the trio blew me a flurry of air kisses as I stepped out into the quiet corridor.
I’ve been standing here for what feels like an hour, but it can’t be more than a few minutes.
I take a deep breath and knock softly on the door to West’s room.
