Page 25 of Minus

“I’m calling because I want some answers. No, Ideserveanswers, and I’m not hanging up until I get them.”

“Answers, huh?”

“Yes. I want to know exactly why you left, where you’ve been, and I don’t want to hear anything about the secrecy of club business or not understanding your world.” I squared my shoulders, even though he couldn’t see me. “I won’t stand for any bullshit answers.”

“Okay,” he replied.

“Okay? What do you mean, okay?”

“I mean, okay. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but not over the phone. How ’bout we meet for breakfast tomorrow morning around eleven o’ clock, and we can talk face-to-face.”

“That’s a little late for breakfast, Jase. I can’t just blow off work to meet you.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. How ’bout tonight at my hotel then?”

“A night in your hotel room isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” I replied, with a shudder.

The thought of spending the night with him did funny things to my girly bits.

“But you’re thinkin’ about it now, aren’t you?” he whispered.

“Stop it.”

“C’mon, you used to love it when I’d talk dirty to youand make you blush. I bet your cheeks are already rosy.”

More like fire engine red.

“Stop it, Jase. I mean it.”

“Alright, alright. What I meant to say was Cutter booked me a suite at a nice hotel, and the word is they’ve got a nice restaurant inside. We could have dinner.”

I paused.

“Look,” he said, then sighed. “I was actually going to call you a little later. I wanted to apologize for what I said last night, but I wanted to give you some time to cool off first. I’m glad I’ll have the chance to look you in the eyes when I tell you how sorry I am.”

Oh jeez, I’m gonna need new panties.

“Okay.”

“How about you swing by my hotel after work? We can eat and talk… in public. Whatever you want,” he said.

“I can’t tonight.”

“Tomorrow night,” he said. “I’ll text you the address… unless, of course, you had your hacker find out where I’m staying.”

“No. I didn’t,” I said.

“I just sent it to you, so it’s on your phone now. I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay?”

“See you then,” was all I could manage to squeak out, then hung up.

Minus

IHUNG UPwith Cricket just as Clutch entered the shop.Perfect timing. The last thing I needed was for him to hear me talking to her. I hated that Clutch was right, but he was. I was far from over Cricket Wallace.

“Interrupting anything important?” Clutch asked as he approached.

“No, just checkin’ on some things back in Savannah,” I lied. “I came back here for a little peace and quiet.”

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