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Damn it.
I swing around and scan the room again in search of Bryce. She’s nowhere to be found.
She’s not the type of person to leave without telling me. Maybe she tried to get a hold of me and because I didn’t have my purse with my phone in it, I didn’t know. I’m supposed to crash at her place tonight and she was going to drive me back to Santa Clara tomorrow.
First things first, I need to find my purse. I do a quick sweep of the room, looking on all the tables to see if my purse somehow ended up on one of them. When I don’t find it, I decide to do a more thorough check while also looking at the purses the guests are holding. Perhaps someone picked mine up by accident thinking it was theirs?
Another trip around the room doesn’t turn up anything, and now there’re even fewer people here and it’s clear to me that Bryce isn’t in this ballroom.
“What’s wrong?” Lee stands off to the side, a concerned look on his face. The bow tie of his tuxedo is undone and hangs loose around his collar. That, coupled with the first two buttons of his shirt being undone, makes him look next-level sexy.
“Nothing. I’m handling it.” I walk away, but he stops me with his hand on my upper arm.
“I’ve watched you circle this ballroom twice. You’re practically in tears. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I yank my arm away. “I don’t need your help. I said I’m handling it.”
“I know you probablycanhandle it, but I’m here offering to help, so why not just take me up on it?”
He’s right. I know he is. The only reason I’m so openly hostile toward him at this point is my ever-present lust for the man.
I’m not good at letting other people help me, but in this case, I really could use a hand.
“I lost my purse. I think I left it on one of the auction tables, but it’s not there anymore.”
His lips press into a thin line. “All right, what’s it look like?” I describe it to him, and he nods. “I’ll figure out who cleaned up the auction tables and see if they saw it. You keep looking in here. Check under the tables too, in case it fell off and got pushed under the tablecloth somehow.”
He doesn’t wait for me to answer before taking off in the direction of the empty auction tables.
Though I’m not used to letting someone help me, I find myself reluctantly grateful Lee stepped in.
Thirteen
Lee
“No luck on my end. How about you?” I push a hand through my hair, annoyed that I can’t be some white knight and deliver Shayna her missing purse.
She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Nothing.”
“I spoke to one of the hotel staff and they said one of the people from the charity packed up all the auction stuff. She was going to get me a name and number, but it’ll probably be tomorrow by the time it’s figured out.” I gently pull Shayna’s hand away from her face.
Her big aqua eyes meet mine, sparkling with unshed tears.
“Hey, it’s not that bad.” God, I want to pull her into my chest, but she’d probably castrate me.
“It is that bad. Everything is in there! My phone, my money, my bank card, the keys to my apartment. Thank god I didn’t throw my credit cards in there. I have no idea where Bryce is and I’m supposed to stay with her tonight. Now I have no way of getting back to Santa Clara.”
I take her hand and lead her toward the exit. “All hope is not lost. Let’s check with the hotel staff to see if they have a lost and found. Maybe someone found it and turned it in.”
She nods and allows me to lead her by the hand. The ballroom is mostly empty at this point, and the staff is taking the table linens off the tables and breaking down the room.
A quick visit to the front desk of the hotel doesn’t turn up Shayna’s purse, and she looks more dejected than ever.
“Do you have any rooms available?” I ask the clerk after she’s checked—twice at my behest—for the purse.
Shayna’s head whips in my direction and she scowls. “No.”
“For you, not us. You said you had nowhere to stay.”
