Read Online Devious by Suzannah Daniels - Free Book Online Page B

why
would she lie?  You didn’t ask her where she worked, did you?”
    “No,
we were just talking on the phone one day, and she brought it up.  She said
that she’d been working at a hotel in Oakley, and the owner was really nice.”
    “Then,
I don’t see why she’d be lying.  If she didn’t want you to know, she wouldn’t
have said anything.”
    We
got in the car and continued down the main drag.
    It
wasn’t long until we spotted another hotel.  This one was nicer than the other
ones, and it actually looked like a decent place to stay.  Judging by the
exterior, it couldn’t be more than a couple of years old.  The parking lot had
several cars in it, and while there weren’t many people at the pool, it looked
inviting and ready for swimmers.  Rows of brand new chaise lounges lined each
side of it, and round tables with closed, royal blue umbrellas sprouting from
their centers filled each corner of the patio area.
    Stone
pulled into a parking space and met me at the rear of the car.  “Why don’t you
go in and check here?  You still have that photo on your phone, don’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Okay,
good.  I’ll try to call Jessie’s brother, Drew, to see if he knows of any
hotels other than the ones on the list.”  Stone glanced at the list in his hand
and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.  “There may be something that’s off
the beaten path.”
    “Okay,”
I agreed, hoping Drew might have some helpful information.  I pulled the photo
of my mother up on my phone and headed toward the lobby, wondering if this was
the one, if this hotel would lead me to my mother.
     
    Stone
     
    The
hotel looked like a nice place, but just in case we came up empty-handed, I
figured I should try calling Drew again.  If he had any new information, then
we could check it out while we were here.
    I
dialed his number and decided to walk across the hotel’s driveway to a concrete
bench positioned in the center of a circular stone patio where the pathway
ended.  Tiny, trimmed bushes surrounded the patio, and red flowers added a pop
of color. 
    What
the hell!  I rushed across the pavement as a large delivery truck pulled into
the hotel drive and swerved into the lane I was crossing.  The driver jerked it
back into the proper lane and pulled up horizontally in front of the hotel,
stopping just short of the lobby doors.  Cursing under my breath, I gave a hard
glare over my shoulder and continued toward the stone pathway while I waited
for Drew to pick up.
    “Sorry
about that,” a female voice called.  “I’m not use to driving this huge thing
yet.”
    If
it’d been a guy, I’d probably flipped his ass off.  But considering she was
pretty damn good looking and I was busy with something more important at the
moment, I let it go.  “No problem,” I called, glancing at her as Drew answered.
    “Hey,
Drew, this is Stone Hamilton.”
    The
female walked toward me.  “Stone?”
    I
glanced at her again, taking the time to really look at her now that she had
called out my name.  Damn, it couldn’t be.  My mouth dropped open, and I
quickly shut it, hoping to look a little more composed.
    “Drew,
I’m gonna have to call you back.”  I hung up, not waiting for him to reply.
    She
hurried toward me, her red-gold hair spilling around her navy pullover.  She
was just as sexy as I remembered her.
    “Stone
Hamilton?”
    “Tiffany?”
    Her
perfectly formed mouth shot into a wide grin.  “You remember me.”
    Hell,
how could I forget?
    She
motioned back toward the truck, which had Scholtz Coffee painted on the
side of it.  “Sorry about almost running over you.  I usually work in the
office, but my dad’s driver was sick today.  Even though I could drive it
pretty good at one time, I’m afraid I’m a little rusty.”
    “That’s
your dad’s company?”
    “Yeah,
we’re actually based out of Knoxville.  We deliver coffee to businesses in the
Southeast.  Anyways…look at you.  You look