Read Online Smoke Signals by Catherine Gayle - Free Book Online Page A

I shouldn’t be there, at least to me.
    The little girl in my lap had kept petting the satiny fabric of my dress and chattering about how pretty and soft it was, which only made me more uncomfortable. I had no business touching that child. None.
    And then it was all too much for me.
    I lifted her off my lap, got up, placed her on the chair, pried her fingers free from my dress, and ran back inside the hotel as fast as I could.
    “Aw, honey, come back,” the pregnant woman said as I scurried up the aisle as fast as I could go. “You just need to ignore them. It doesn’t matter. Hunter, go stop her and bring her back. Why’d everyone have to be so ugly to her? Come here, sugar.” The last must have been directed at the little girl. She wouldn’t be calling me sugar .
    The sound of her voice trailed off as the glass doors slid closed behind me.
    Clutching my purse to my side, I walked as fast as my heels would allow toward the bar. Briefly, I thought about leaving the hotel and finding somewhere else to search for my John, but I quickly dismissed the thought. Razor was busy with the wedding. He wouldn’t be able to come looking for me for hours, and by then I had every intention of being holed up with someone who would pay me for my time. The quicker I could find someone, the better, and that meant sticking close. The bar seemed like as good a place as any to start my search. Not that I could afford to buy a drink, but maybe I could talk someone into buying me one…and taking me upstairs to earn some cash. Whatever money I had, I needed to hold on to and find a way to get more. Surely the marriage could be annulled once Razor realized I wasn’t coming back. Or if not, he could get divorced due to abandonment or something like that.
    He’d be fine. Yes, he’d tried to help me, but I was well beyond his help. That much must be clear by now.
    No matter what, there was no time for me to waste. I’d already lost last night. I couldn’t afford to spend another moment doing anything other than finding a way to get myself out of my current mess.
    The second I stepped foot in the hotel bar, I scanned the faces present. It was early in the day for people to be drinking, but this was Las Vegas. Everything was different here.
    One man in the far corner met my eyes. I forced myself not to break his gaze, letting him assess me as much as I was doing the same to him. But he wasn’t my mark. No chance. There was something cold and dangerous in the depths of his eyes. He angled his head toward an empty seat next to him. I shook my head, hoping he’d take that to mean I was looking for someone.
    Which I was. I just didn’t know who.
    On the opposite side of the bar, a group of men sat huddled together. Young. Well-groomed. They were talking and laughing, sipping from their beers. Maybe one of them, if I could get one by himself. I could handle more than one, but that didn’t mean I wanted to.
    I was just about to make my way closer to the group of men when Razor put his hand on my arm from behind. I knew it was him without turning to see. In our time together last night, I’d gotten to know the feel of his hands. Big. Strong. Long fingers with a few calluses.
    But gentle. Heartbreakingly gentle.
    That was the bit I recognized now. It was the only reason I didn’t immediately panic. Yes, I was trying to leave him, but he was a good man. He wouldn’t hurt me. Not intentionally. But if I stayed, I’d end up hurting him. I might have already done so last night.
    “You should be at wedding,” I said, the certainty that I couldn’t stay with him making my voice harsher than usual. “Go back. Your friend needs you.”
    “I think you need me,” he said. So calm. So patient. All the more reason I couldn’t stay with him. He deserved so much more than I could ever be.
    My blood turned electric, surging through me and leaving jolts and shocks in its wake. Every nerve ending in my body was painfully alive and aware of