“You and I both know that doesn’t mean shit.”
She sighed. “I know, and it’s disheartening. Diane and Will actually seem like good people. I enjoyed talking to them tonight.”
I did too, which was shocking. The more time we spent with him, the more I’d get an idea of his character. Aylee closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table before heading into the kitchen. She shuffled around and then the smell of popcorn wafted through the air.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m hungry. I saw a box of popcorn in here earlier.”
“You gonna share?” I asked.
“Depends.”
“On what?”
She didn’t answer, choosing to focus on her task. Once the popcorn was done, she poured it into a bowl and sat down beside me, being a tease. I tried to grab a handful but she smacked my hand. I had a feeling she was waiting to hear something from me first. “Please,” I begged, leaning in to get a better whiff.
She shook her head and stuffed her mouth full. “Nope.”
I bit my lip and watched her lick the salt off her fingers. Holy fuck she was killing me. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”
Eyes wide, she choked on her popcorn and coughed, gasping for air.
I patted her on the back, trying to contain my laugh. “You all right?”
“Yeah, I just wasn’t expecting you to say that.”
Keeping my gaze on hers, I grabbed a handful of popcorn. “I’m not always an arrogant jackass, Aylee. With that being said, thank you for being vigilant tonight. I know that’s what you wanted to hear.”
“Do you mean it?” she asked.
Smiling wide, I tossed the popcorn in mouth. “We might end up being a good team after all.” The problem was, I was beginning to want more.
“So far so good,” I said, stretching my calves. Jason’s voice was in my ear as I ran in circles up and down the street in front of Madame Chatfield’s estate. She lived behind a large, wrought iron gate in a mansion three times the size of my uncle’s bed and breakfast.
“You doing okay? Not tired yet?”
I knew he could see me, but I couldn’t see him. “I’m fine. Just hoping I’m not running around like this for nothing.”
“Your effort is not going unnoticed. You should wear those shorts more often.”
Lifting my hand, I fixed my ponytail and flipped him off.
He chuckled. “I saw that.”
“Good. Time for lap four.” Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and picked up my feet. I was in really good shape, but the Vegas heat was torture. Maine was much more pleasant. Lifting my shirt? I used it to wipe the sweat off my forehead; it was already burning my eyes.
“Stop, firecracker. The gate just opened. Be ready to get in the car.”
Leaning over on my knees, I caught my breath. “Ten-four.” It wasn’t long before his silver Nissan GT-R sped around the corner. I hopped in as fast as I could and buckled up. “You haven’t lost her, have you?”
“Nope, we’ll catch up.” Turning the car around, he sped off in the direction he just came.
“Are you sure it was her in the car?”
“Positive. I don’t think any of the escorts have white hair and wrinkles.”
“Never know. Chatfield might be exploring the possibilities of granny porn.”
Jason shivered. “Fuck that.”
We finally caught up to Chatfield and followed her down to the strip. “Where do you think she’s going?”
“Don’t know, but put this on,” he said, tossing a baseball hat onto my lap. “We don’t want her being able to recognize us.”
I put it on and tucked my hair underneath, making sure my sunglasses were in place. Once we got to the section of hotels, her car turned into Caesar’s and stopped at the entrance. She got out and headed inside while her car stayed in the front. “What are we going to do?”
Parking quickly, he grabbed his gun out of the center dash and holstered it under his shirt. “We’re going to take her for a ride.”