She sighed in exasperation, and finally he handed the receiver to her.
“It’s for you.”
“Gee, thanks.” She put the receiver to her ear and said, “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Aidan.”
“Hey.” She hesitated, then tried for a joking tone. “I hear you saw Vinnie and you didn’t send him straight to jail.”
“Yeah.” He was quiet for a moment, then asked, “You all right?”
“Of course,” she told him.
“I’m heading back out to the plantation. I’ve decided to sleep out there tonight.”
“Oh. Well, I guess that’s good. I mean, you’ll be there if anyone tries to play another prank.” At least it didn’t sound like he thought she was guilty of anything.
He was silent for so long that she was beginning to think she’d lost the connection, but finally he spoke again, “Kendall, this might sound like a strange request, but…don’t go out tonight, huh? Go home, lock yourself in and just take it easy. Don’t go chasing around after any errant tourists, okay?” The last was said with an effort at lightness.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing new. But just stay home, will you?”
“All right,” she agreed, wondering why he sounded so adamant about it. Was he worried about her for some reason? Or just afraid she’d hook up with some other guy? They weren’t going steady or anything, and what kind of woman did he think she was, anyway?
But deep down she knew his caution had nothing to do with the fact he’d slept with her. Something was bothering him, and that bothered her. She didn’t like this new feeling of nervousness. This was her city. She loved it. She hated having to feel afraid of it.
“Call me if…well, for any reason,” he told her.
“I will,” she said.
Then he spoke again, somewhat awkwardly. “You’ve heard about that charity thing Jeremy’s been promoting at the aquarium Saturday night, right?”
“Of course.”
“Would you mind going with me?”
She was surprised. Was he asking her on a date? Or did he just not want to show up solo?
Did it matter?
“Sure. I’d been thinking I should spring for a ticket. It’s a good cause.”
“I’ve got plenty of tickets. We bought about twenty, just to kick it off.” He was quiet again for a long moment. “You can bring friends, if you want.”
Okay, so it wasn’t a date. Maybe he was hoping she’d bring Vinnie, so he could keep an eye on him.
Then again, on a Saturday night, Vinnie would be working.
Oh, hell, she couldn’t read signals over the phone. And maybe there weren’t even any signals to read.
“That sounds great. I’ll let people know. I would have loved to bring my friend Sheila, but she isn’t back from vacation yet.” She winced inwardly. Sheila was out of town. She had to be.
“See if Mason wants to come. And if he can take the night off, ask Vinnie.”
So he did want to keep an eye on Vinnie. “Okay,” she said, feeling ridiculously disappointed.
“I’ll talk to you soon, then,” he said.
“Sure. Bye.”
He didn’t say goodbye, just hung up. She set the phone back into the cradle.
“Can we close up now?” Mason asked.
“Of course.”
He walked over and set an arm around her shoulders. “Want to come out and play with me, little girl?”
“Are you heading out to the Hideaway again?” she asked.
He shrugged. “When you find a place you like, why change? Hell, I don’t even have a cat to go home to.”
“And you think you’re going to find the love of your life in a bar?”
“Maybe not. But I’m easy. I’m happy with a halfway decent-looking girl who’s just looking for some hot and heavy sex for the night,” he teased.
“Gee, forgive me. I’ll pass. I’m going to stop off on the way home and get something to eat, then enjoy some deliciously bad television and get some sleep.”
They locked up and parted ways. She headed for home, and he went on toward Bourbon Street.
Aidan had packed his bags and checked out of his hotel, thinking he might as well start living at the property while it was under repair. At first he’d thought that they would be knocking down walls, and that there would be no water or electricity. But with nothing major going on structurally, there was no reason to go on paying for a hotel when he could stay in comfort in the master bedroom. There was no cable, so Zach was still going back to the city every night so he could continue his Web investigations, and Jeremy had also opted to keep on staying in town. But Aidan felt like something quieter, and he had a flashlight in case the electricity failed while the place was still being rewired, so what the hell.