kisses the top of my head and I feel my face flame red, which makes the old lady laugh more.
When the doors open on our floor, we both step out. The old woman stays behind. “Congratulations, you two! I’m going to go tell the girls!” She presses the button for her floor, the doors close, and she disappears.
There’s a fairytale smile plastered across my face. I used to wonder how princesses could look like that for so long. It had to be because of the prince. I’m talking about cartoon princesses, of course. When someone draws the perfect man, there’s a lot to smile about. Sean is by no means perfect, but he’s perfect for me.
Before we take another step, the squawk of a police CB shatters the hallway’s stuff y silence. Sean’s eyes narrow as his gaze shoots to the end of the hall. They’re standing in front of our room.
Instinct takes over and I grab Sean’ s arm and try to pull him to the stairwell. It’s right next to me, but Sean shakes his head. They haven’t seen us yet. He shakes his head, and makes a snap decision. Leaning in close, he kisses my cheek, and shoves me into the stairwell as he does it. “Stay out of sight.”
Without a word, Sean walks toward the room. I glance through the little rectangle of glass, but I can’t see him. I can’t leave the hotel without setting off my bracelet, and I can’t hang out in the stairwell either. My stomach lurches as I consider why the police are here—what it means. Mel was in the room. Something bad could have happened to her, or worse. Someone reported us, which means someone knows we were here with Sean and what we are.
If the cops are looking for call girls, I look the part. Part of me wants to ignore Sean and walk down the hall. But, I’m not that stupid, so I rush down the flight of stairs and grab the elevator to the lobby. As I pass a large marble table with an oversized floral arrangement, I grab a newspaper and head to one of the posh seats. There are tons of reporters right outside the front doors. Flashes keep going off. I feel so sick. Should I crush the bead on my bracelet? Does this count as danger? Black could be exposed if they find me, but they must have found Mel.
I sit down on a blue velvet arm chair and slouch back like I’m not freaking out. As I ponder whether or not to break the bead, I hear three hotel employees speaking in hushed whispers. “I can’t believe it’s him, I mean first his wife and now this.”
“I know. At least he can’t get away with it twice.”
The third voice chimes in, “I don’t know, people don’t have a lot of sympathy for hookers.”
My spine goes straight. I can’t turn and look at them. The buzzing in my head has grown so loud that I can no longer hear their words. It sounds like they think Sean killed a hooker. That means that the cops were in his room because… Mel’s dead?
She can’t be. I just saw her. She was fine, but they just said … Oh my God. I can’t stand it. I turn around and look at them, unable to hide the emotions as they crawl out of my stomach. My jaw drops. I want to ask them what happened, but if I speak, they’ll connect the dots. People saw me and Mel walk in together and my clothes say everything. Even so, I don’t want to leave Sean and Mel up there. She has to be fine. It’s suddenly so hot inside that I feel like I’m going to hurl.
The air in here is too hot, too stuffy. I can’t breathe. My skin is numb and it feels like I’m walking in a bubble of cold mist. I try to exit through the bar, but it’s packed and there are people guarding the door, keeping the press out. Worry pinches my brow and I decide to head to the ladies room to give myself time to think. Sean said to leave. I need to leave, but I have to do it without being seen. Too bad everyone and their goddamn dog notices me in this dress! I’m about to push through the bathroom door, when a hand rests on my shoulder.
My elbow flies back and jabs the guy in the gut.
CHAPTER
When the doors open on our floor, we both step out. The old woman stays behind. “Congratulations, you two! I’m going to go tell the girls!” She presses the button for her floor, the doors close, and she disappears.
There’s a fairytale smile plastered across my face. I used to wonder how princesses could look like that for so long. It had to be because of the prince. I’m talking about cartoon princesses, of course. When someone draws the perfect man, there’s a lot to smile about. Sean is by no means perfect, but he’s perfect for me.
Before we take another step, the squawk of a police CB shatters the hallway’s stuff y silence. Sean’s eyes narrow as his gaze shoots to the end of the hall. They’re standing in front of our room.
Instinct takes over and I grab Sean’ s arm and try to pull him to the stairwell. It’s right next to me, but Sean shakes his head. They haven’t seen us yet. He shakes his head, and makes a snap decision. Leaning in close, he kisses my cheek, and shoves me into the stairwell as he does it. “Stay out of sight.”
Without a word, Sean walks toward the room. I glance through the little rectangle of glass, but I can’t see him. I can’t leave the hotel without setting off my bracelet, and I can’t hang out in the stairwell either. My stomach lurches as I consider why the police are here—what it means. Mel was in the room. Something bad could have happened to her, or worse. Someone reported us, which means someone knows we were here with Sean and what we are.
If the cops are looking for call girls, I look the part. Part of me wants to ignore Sean and walk down the hall. But, I’m not that stupid, so I rush down the flight of stairs and grab the elevator to the lobby. As I pass a large marble table with an oversized floral arrangement, I grab a newspaper and head to one of the posh seats. There are tons of reporters right outside the front doors. Flashes keep going off. I feel so sick. Should I crush the bead on my bracelet? Does this count as danger? Black could be exposed if they find me, but they must have found Mel.
I sit down on a blue velvet arm chair and slouch back like I’m not freaking out. As I ponder whether or not to break the bead, I hear three hotel employees speaking in hushed whispers. “I can’t believe it’s him, I mean first his wife and now this.”
“I know. At least he can’t get away with it twice.”
The third voice chimes in, “I don’t know, people don’t have a lot of sympathy for hookers.”
My spine goes straight. I can’t turn and look at them. The buzzing in my head has grown so loud that I can no longer hear their words. It sounds like they think Sean killed a hooker. That means that the cops were in his room because… Mel’s dead?
She can’t be. I just saw her. She was fine, but they just said … Oh my God. I can’t stand it. I turn around and look at them, unable to hide the emotions as they crawl out of my stomach. My jaw drops. I want to ask them what happened, but if I speak, they’ll connect the dots. People saw me and Mel walk in together and my clothes say everything. Even so, I don’t want to leave Sean and Mel up there. She has to be fine. It’s suddenly so hot inside that I feel like I’m going to hurl.
The air in here is too hot, too stuffy. I can’t breathe. My skin is numb and it feels like I’m walking in a bubble of cold mist. I try to exit through the bar, but it’s packed and there are people guarding the door, keeping the press out. Worry pinches my brow and I decide to head to the ladies room to give myself time to think. Sean said to leave. I need to leave, but I have to do it without being seen. Too bad everyone and their goddamn dog notices me in this dress! I’m about to push through the bathroom door, when a hand rests on my shoulder.
My elbow flies back and jabs the guy in the gut.
CHAPTER
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