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I stood up and took a deep breath. I was too curious to lurk in the shadows. I began walking towards the man in careful strides, treading the water wearily.
The man must have seen me appear in his peripheral vision. As soon as our gazes locked, his skin drained of color and his mouth hung open as if he’d just been caught in the act. Of what, I didn’t know, but I planned to find out.
“Hey,” I said as I approached him like a hunter in a forest. Before I could ask him why he was loitering behind a hotel, he bolted, running away down the street in a flash.
I started chasing him, but it was no use. He ducked and dodged between buildings and disappeared completely. Cursing, I slowed to a stop and looked around. The streets were empty in every direction.
I didn’t know who he was or if he had something to do with Geneva’s hotel raid, but without any solid evidence, it was another dead end.
Chapter 19 - Geneva
Wrinkles set in on my forehead as I frowned, glancing down at my phone. I stared at the numbers for Caleb, Worth and Ethan that I’d saved in my phone’s contacts list.
Before departing ways, we had exchanged numbers. They had mine, I had theirs. Should I call them? Would now be too soon? That notion was still up for debate in my mind.
What if they called me? Would I be prepared to answer? What would I say?
I took a deep breath and stood up, walking to my front window to peer outside. I lived in an apartment complex on the bottom floor. A man was walking his black Labrador past my building in the parking lot. Another lady wearing a visor checked her mail from the boxes at the front of the complex. The world looked normal from the inside looking out.
I was glad to be home. Being back in Tampa gave me a sense of relief.
The police had no leads to go on for pursuing my ransacked hotel room case, thus leaving me with no case at all. At least the hotel staff hadn’t tried to charge me for the damage to the room. Small mercies.
I glanced back down at my phone.
Was it fate that the guys happened to live in Tampa too, and we just happened to have a chance meeting in Miami? More importantly, did I even believe in fate? I wasn’t a hopeless romantic by any means, but I liked to keep my options open.
I walked back to my kitchen and poured myself a cup of the lemon and honey tea I’d steeped a few minutes before. Tea always warmed me inside and gave me a refreshing outlook when I needed a little boost.
It was probably best if I left the fling for what it was…a fling.
If they decided to contact me, then great. If not, I wouldn’t beat myself up over it. I was used to being alone. Sure, I had a circle of close friends and colleagues, but I had been on my own for a long time. I didn’t need a man in my life to take care of me; I was independent.
I couldn’t let it get me down. Whatever was meant to be was meant to be, even though I hated that cliché too. I grabbed my favorite wooly throw blanket off the back of my couch and wrapped myself up. Before long, the coziness of my makeshift cocoon and the tea put me right to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up still on my couch, blinking against the harsh light of a new day. Wow, I needed a vacation from my vacation. I must have been more tired than I thought to fall asleep in the living room.
Blearily, I shuffled through my morning routine. I had a nine o’clock appointment at the studio to look through the Miami shots with the photography team. After that, I would be given a schedule with my next set of photo shoot assignments.
After a quick shower, change of clothes and light makeup, I grabbed my phone and a banana off the kitchen table and hiked my purse over my shoulder. I set out the door and called Tamara as I pulled out of my parking space.
She answered on the second ring. “Hey girl, are you back in town, too?”
“I am,” I said. “Heading to the studio now.”
“Me, too,” she lamented with an audible yawn, which made me feel even groggier than I already did.
Travel was just part of the territory when you posed for advertisements in magazines, but it was something that you eventually got used to over time. Or at least, that’s what people claimed.
I stayed on the phone with Tamara for most of the fifteen-minute journey to the studio. As soon as we pulled into parking spaces next to each other, we waved through our car windows with eager grins.
I hung up the phone and pushed it inside one of the side slots in my purse. I approached Tamara. “Glad you made it home safe.”
“Yeah.” She hugged me. “The drive back didn’t seem as terrible as it normally does.”
Tamara had a certain glow about her today. Her chocolate hair was hanging in perfect spirals off her shoulders and her makeup was subtle but stunning and she was wearing an adorable yellow sundress.
“Let’s go inside and see what we’ll be up to this week,” she said.
