He shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Wouldn’t that be…hard? It doesn’t seem like you two parted on the best of terms.”
“We didn’t,” he confirmed. “But my feelings are irrelevant here. I need to find out what she knows about you and then I need to figure out the fastest way to get her out of town.”
“Should I be worried? I mean, she didn’t outright threaten me but when I read her it was pretty scary.”
“What exactly did you sense from her?” he asked. “You were pretty vague last night.”
“Violent tendencies,” I replied. “Well, at least until Chad walked up to us.”
“Chad was there?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “They actually left together.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm?” I repeated.
“Yeah,” he said. “Hmm.”
Six
I finally managed to convince Vance to let me leave since Maria couldn’t venture out in the daylight. Work was pretty busy since it was Friday and thankfully my shift went by without incident. He was waiting for me as I was closing the slotted gate that bordered the casino floor.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I couldn’t track Maria down at her hotel so I’m following you home,” he replied.
“Is that really necessary?”
“Yes, Karli, it is. We can’t be too careful until I know what her motives are.”
I sighed. “Let’s go.”
We got back to my place about twenty minutes later. I threw my keys into a little silver dish on my end table and turned towards him. “So, now what?”
He smiled lasciviously. “I don’t know…you tell me. What should we do to keep ourselves busy?”
I rolled my eyes as I walked down the hall. “I’m taking a shower.”
“Need some help?” he called.
I slammed and locked the bathroom door in response. Afterwards, I walked towards my bedroom with a towel wrapped around my body. I didn’t think to grab any clothes beforehand since I normally wouldn’t have to. I wasn’t entirely surprised to find Vance making himself comfortable in my bed. Oh God, his arms were stretched out, accentuating his perfectly sculpted muscles. His chest was bare and it was begging me to touch it. I had no idea about the waist down since he was under the covers, but I found myself wanting to know really badly.
I shook it off and clutched the towel to my chest. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I snapped.
He folded his arms behind his head and reclined against my pillows. “What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked. “It’s late. I’m going to bed.”
I shook my head vehemently. “Nuh-uh. We are not having another one of your little sleepovers.”
He laughed. “Fine by me if you’re not interested in sleeping.” He scanned my nearly naked body disinterestedly. “Although I am really tired, so it may take me a while to get going.”
Motherfucker, but I almost responded to his challenge by dropping my towel and mounting him. Instead, I angrily went through my dresser drawers trying to find the frumpiest thing possible. I went to the bathroom carrying an old, shapeless UNLV t-shirt and gray yoga pants. To add to the effect, I piled my hair into a big messy ball on the top of my head.