Page 101 of One Last Shot

She looks nervous. “I hope you don’t mind me showing up a day early with no warning?”

“I guess that depends on your reason for coming early.” I’m frozen in place as the thought crosses my mind that she could be here to break things off.

“I missed you.” Her reason is so simply stated, so raw. She shrugs nonchalantly, but I see some sort of fear or pain flash across her eyes before she gives me a small smile.

I open my arms and she rushes into them, curling her limbs around my back, pulling me tight to her. I do the same, and kiss her forehead gently, considering how precious she is to me. She stays cradled against me for a few minutes and then pulls her upper body away, glances down at where our bodies are connected at the waist, and laughs out a “Really?”

“You’re pressed up against my naked body, and I haven’t seen you in weeks. What do you expect?”

“Don’t look at me like that,” she warns.

I lift one eyebrow slightly. “Like what?”

“Like you’re undressing me in your mind. I can always tell by the way your eyes change.” She plants her hands and forearms against my bare chest.

“If you want me to stop undressing you in my mind, you’re going to need to stop touching me like that.” My lip curves into a smile. Whether we have sex right now or not, it’s just so fucking good to have her back in my place.

“Fine,” she says as she steps back out of my arms. “Not because I don’t want to be naked with you, but because I come with a shit ton of information I need you to look at.”

“Information?”

“About Tony Gionetti.”

My stomach sinks. If that name isn’t a mood killer, I don’t know what is. “Why do you have ‘information’ on Tony?”

“Because he’s skeevy as hell and so I had a friend of mine who’s a private investigator look into him.”

“Funny,” I say. “Just this morning, Tom gave me this woman Alicia’s number and told me to give her a call about this very thing.”

Petra just stares at me like she’s dumbstruck. “Alicia?”

“Yeah, he didn’t give me a last name, but he said she’s the best.”

“She is,” Petra confirms. “That’s who I had look into Tony. And you’re going to be completely disgusted at what she found.”

What are the chances?

“Let me get dressed,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” She pushes her suitcase against the wall of the entryway and takes her over-the-shoulder bag and heads into the living room.

I get dressed as quickly as possible, wondering if I should tell Tom that Petra has dirt on Tony? It only makes sense to wait until I know more—until I know if it’s significant enough to keep him away from Stella for good.

She’s not in the living room when I head back from my room in sweatpants and a T-shirt, so I head into the den and find her curled into the corner of the couch.

“This is my favorite room.” She lets out a contented sigh.

“The den?” I ask, glancing around.

She laughs. “This whole time I’ve been calling it the ‘sitting room’ in my mind.”

“Like we’re in a British period drama?” I can’t hide my amusement.

She shrugs. “I guess. I love the light, and the view, and the fireplace.” She looks me up and down as I cross the room to sit on the couch. I tuck one leg under me as I turn to face her.

Her lips curl up on one side and there’s laughter in her eyes. Not what I expected, given the conversation we’re about to have. “What?”

“Remind me sometime to tell you about my friend Sierra and her thoughts on gray sweatpants.”

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