“Just because she didn’t tell you doesn’t mean you haven’t speculated or thought about it. Tell me why you think she left.”
Her inability to see the obvious has my blood boiling. I am about an inch away from leaving and not coming back. “Why the hell do you think? Because I was a fucking wreck! I was in the hospital and had no idea how I was going to live like this, what it was going mean…she couldn’t deal.”
“Any chance you are projecting your perceptions of Becca’s feelings onto Danika?”
I hear the words, but they don’t process. They are a jumble of sounds in my head, mixing in with all the shit already floating in there. I shake my head, trying to clear away everything else, concentrate on what she said, but I can’t.
“Savage?”
“What?” I snap, but she doesn’t recoil. She watches me for a moment before continuing.
“Is it possible you are projecting the way you think Becca felt onto Danika? It seems to me, based on what she told you, that she loves you, and isn’t going anywhere, no matter what.”
Is that what I have been doing? Have I been ignoring everything Danika has said and done, and let my own mind create problems that don’t exist?
If that is what I have been doing…how the fuck do I stop?
The flashing lights and bumping bass make it impossible for me to stand still. I toss back the last of my drink and move to the dance floor to find Caroline. She has her ass ground against the crotch of a very attractive blond man in tight jeans and a white button-down shirt. His hands are all over her.
I grin at her as she winks and holds her hand out to me. I grab it and let her pull me to her.
Our hips bump together and she leans in, pressing her lips to my ear. “Thank God! You have returned to the land of the living. If you sat at the table for five more minutes you might have grown roots. Let’s see you get this thing going!” She smacks my ass and blondie behind her laughs and nuzzles against the back of her neck.
Looks like someone is getting laid tonight.
Shit.
I don’t want to think about sex. In fact, I have intentionally avoided anything sexual for weeks. Thinking about sex means thinking about Savage, and the fact I haven’t heard from him since he told me he loves me, in a fucking text message. I told him I wasn’t going anywhere and he disappeared on me—completely.
He’s okay. I know that. Nora has, somewhat reluctantly, provided me some tidbits of information. She says he has barely left his office, but always smiles and says hello to her. It has to be awkward. He probably assumes I told her everything, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I could never betray him like that. Yes, I told Caroline, but that’s different. Caroline is Caroline. Nora is his employee.
Caroline yanks on my hips, bringing me back to the present as she grinds her pelvis against mine, sandwiching herself between me and her new friend. I try to lose myself in the music, in the beat, in the sway of my body against hers.
Maybe this is exactly what I needed—time to unwind and forget the stress of the Savage situation and my dead story. Paul has disappeared again, and this time, I’ve given up hope of ever hearing from him. He made his choice—he chose the bad guys. Either that, or he is dead in the bayou.
That thought sends chills down my spine but does nothing to discourage me from continuing. I’ll just have to find another source for my story.
At least that gives me something to keep me occupied. I’ve been trying to make new contacts and find new sources over the last couple weeks, but people around Abello are tight-lipped. It certainly won’t be easy, but I’m up for the challenge.
Someone sidles up behind me—a hard, tall body plastered against my back. Something I haven’t felt in weeks grinds against my ass and I stifle a moan.
Shit.
I glance over my shoulder and find a dark-haired stranger grinning at me as his hands come around my waist.
“Hey,” he says, dropping his mouth to my ear, “you know, you are the most beautiful woman out here tonight. I love the way you move.”
Any other night, well any other night pre-Savage, that probably would have worked. I would have been out the door with him in ten minutes and fucking him within twenty. But the moment the words leave his mouth, I pull away from him and bolt toward the back of the club.
Someone grabs my wrist, halting my retreat. “Dani, where are you going?” Caroline’s wide-eyed gaze searches my face for an answer, but right now, I just need air and to get away from the hot, hard bodies, and my guilt.
“Caroline,” I plead, “please, let go.”
“No,” she says, getting in my face, “what happened back there?” She points toward the dance floor, where her blond partner is watching her expectantly and motioning for her to come back.
“Nothing. I just, wasn’t feeling it and I have to pee.”
She eyes me, clearly not buying the bullshit I’m putting out. She knows me too well and isn’t going to let this go.