“Fine,” he said.
“How long will it take you to find him?” I asked, annoyed and frustrated by the fact that he was acting like he didn’t give a crap about me finding Declan, even though I’d told him Declan was the man I was going to marry.
He stared at me a long moment, but this time, I didn’t close my eyes. I kept my gaze on his. If he thought he was going to intimidate me, he was wrong. The song playing through the club switched, moving from a pounding bass line to something slower, softer, further serving to break the spell between us.
Colt turned away from me and began walking toward the door.
“Colt!” I yelled.
He turned around.
“How long?” I needed to know. These feelings I had inside of me, this pull I felt toward Colt even though I knew he was bad for me and could lead to nothing but devastating heartbreak, made it crucial that this little arrangement had a time limit. I couldn’t risk being around him for too long.
“I already found him,” Colt said, and then he turned and walked out the door.
“What?” I exclaimed. I rushed after him, chasing him down the hall. “What do you mean, you already found him?” I demanded.
“Just like I said, Princess,” he said, and I hated that he was calling me that, hated that he was back to acting cocky and like he was way too cool to care about anything.
He continued walking until he was almost back to the area that housed the main stage, then turned the corner. We were in the dressing room now, the room where I’d gotten ready earlier, where Jessa had helped me to put on my make up just a few hours before she’d sent me back to that bachelor party.
“You found him?” I breathed. “But how?”
“It wasn’t hard,” he said. “Anyone with an internet connection could have done it.”
Trepidation skittered up my spine – I had a feeling it was a lot more complicated than just having an internet connection.
But whatever.
Colt’s tactics weren’t important. What was important was that he knew where Declan was.
“So where is he?” I asked.
Colt shrugged. “He’s here. In the city.”
I let out the breath I was holding, almost giddy with relief. Declan was here! He was here, in the city. I could go and see him!
“What’s he doing?” I asked, the anticipation flowing hot through my veins. “I mean, did you find out anything else about him?”
But before Colt could answer one of the dancers came walking out of the tunnel that led from the main stage. She was wearing a pink glitter G-string, her skin tan and perfect. Stuck on the side of her stomach, right by her hipbone, was a delicate rhinestone heart.
“Colt,” she squealed. She was topless, her perfectly symmetrical tits bouncing as she wrapped her arms around Colt’s neck. The two of them looked like they’d stepped out of a magazine ad. “What’s new, baby? I feel like we haven’t talked in forever.”
“Not much. What’s new with you, Ava?”
“Lots,” she purred, trailing one of her long raspberry-colored nails down the front of Colt’s chest.
Mine.
The word flashed through my mind before I could stop it.
“Well, we’ll have to catch up then,” Colt said. His eyes flicked down her body, ogling her tits, her thighs, his hand wrapping around her waist and spreading out over the small of her back.
“After party?” she giggled.
“Always.”
“See you then.” She took off down the hall, her tight ass bouncing as she went.
Colt turned back to me. “You need to go back and wait in the office,” he said. “I’ll come and get you at the end of the night.”
“Declan,” I reminded him. “What’s he doing? What’s he up to?”
Colt shrugged. “Find out for yourself,” he said, and then he turned and left me standing there in the hall.
I watched mindless TV on the flat screen in the office until three am, when Colt finally reappeared.
“It’s about time,” I said, but he ignored me.
His hair was mussed, there was a smudge of lipstick on his cheek, and he smelled like perfume. I could only imagine the things he’d been up to since I’d last seen him.
I watched as he grabbed his leather jacket off the back of a chair. “You ready?” he asked me gruffly.
“I guess,” I said.
“You guess? You’re either ready or you’re not.”
“I’m ready, but not if you’re going to act like a dick the whole time.”
“Who’s acting like a dick?”
“You’re all broody and short. It’s not that fun to be around.”