“Yeah. I really wish you two could meet because I’d truly enjoy seeing you piss yourself.” He’d signed the final line, and I snatched the papers away and returned them to the folder, filing it in my messenger bag. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
“You’re leaving me to eat dinner alone?”
“Figured you’d like to spend time with your favorite person,” I said, picking up my pen from the table.
“I can’t even keep the pen?” His shit eating grin made my blood boil.
“Good evening, Mr. Cartwright. Thanks in advance for the indulgent dinner I’ll order from room service at the hotel.”
He laughed and sipped his wine. “I look forward to seeing you soon, Miss Marceau.”
“I can’t say the same.”
I turned and left, the server avoiding eye contact with me as I walked past. I couldn’t wait to book a flight home and get back to Kane. Henley reminded me of all the men I’d wasted time on before finding my one and only.
Viv
THE CAB RIDE TO THE club gave me a chance to freshen up my makeup and dab on a touch of the perfume Kane liked. I was tired from my weekend of travel, but I wasn’t waiting one more day to see him.
Part of my fatigue was caused by missing him. I needed his arms around me. Nothing relaxed me like nestling against his hard chest and breathing in his cedar and leather smell. And after my frustrating weekend of getting the runaround from Henley, I needed to relax in a bad way.
When the cab cruised to a stop at the curb, I paid the driver, got out and saw Kane walking toward me.
“Hey, babe.” He pulled me into his arms and held me close. “Missed you.”
“I missed you, too. I’m so frazzled. I just need to be alone with you tonight.”
“I’ve got a suite ready for us upstairs.” He put an arm around my waist and led me into the club.
Rosie was working the door tonight, and he nodded at me. “Hey, Viv.”
“Hey, Rosie.”
Despite his giant, tough-guy exterior, Rosie was a super sweet guy. Kind of like someone else I knew.
Kane took my hand and wove through the densely packed crowd of people. We went up the wide stairway and into a suite. As soon as he closed the door, the sound of pounding music vanished.
“Oh, Kane.” I eyed the spread of food on the table. Bread and butter, salads, a bottle of chilling wine and . . . I opened the stainless dome covering one of two bowls on the candlelit table for two . . . the spicy soup I’d missed the other night. “I’m starving. This looks amazing.”
His lips curved up in a smile. “So let’s eat. I’m starving, too.”
I sat down across from him and sighed deeply, finally able to relax.
“Does this mean you can slow down with work?” he asked, holding out the bread basket so I could take a piece. “You’ve been killing yourself lately.”
“I got the signature I needed, so I’m close to the end. That client will get billed something like twenty grand for me having to come chase him down like that.”
“Fuckin’ dumbass.”
“You have no idea. But enough about that. How was your dinner with Brooklyn?”
He looked down at his plate. “Good. She did a cheer for me and I saw her spelling test on the fridge. She got ‘em all right. How’d I end up with such a smart kid?”
“You’re pretty smart yourself.”
“Yeah, for a felon.”
I finished chewing my bread and then took the glass of wine he’d poured me, enjoying a long sip.
“First of all, don’t disparage yourself. You are smart. And also, some of the most intelligent people in the history of the human race have been criminals.”
“I miss your bed,” he said.
“What’s with the random subject change?”
He shrugged. “I know you’re exhausted, but I want to come sleep at your place when I leave here.”
I took another drink of my wine and smiled at him over my glass. “I had a key made for you, so you can let yourself in now.”
“Damn right I will. I’m comin’ over every night.”