Page 64 of Shadow Lies

He could be in the bathroom. Or maybe he was out in the fully equipped kitchenette.

The only thing better than waking after a night of amazing sex with Kane would be waking to a fresh cup of tea that he’d brewed for her.

With that in mind she eased out of bed and searched the floor for something to put on.

Kane had efficiently and enthusiastically divested her of all clothing last night. Pressed against his naked body next to her before she’d fallen to sleep last night, she’d seen no reason to put anything back on.

A pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt she spotted would suffice for now. She bent to retrieve them and pull them on before she padded out, barefoot, into the living area.

There was one light on near the door, but it was enough to show her Kane wasn’t in the room. She moved to the smaller bathroom attached to the living area. It was empty. She knew the larger bathroom attached to the bedroom had also been empty.

Her chest felt tight as she tried to draw in a breath. She could delude herself that Kane had ran out to get them breakfast, but she knew it would be a lie.

Kane was gone. Not just from the hotel, but possibly from Beijing, depending what time the bus left. And worst of all, she was pretty sure he was also gone from her life.

She could cry. There was no one to see or hear her. But the tears didn’t seem to come. It was like they were stuck. Trapped in that bubble of pain filling her chest.

But even though she seemed to have no tears to spill out of her dry eyes, stomach acid she had in plenty. Her stomach churned, threatening to erupt. She pressed a hand to her belly.

Losing Kane was making her physically ill.

The discomfort increased until she considered taking this pity party for one to the bathroom, just in case she needed to vomit.

Before she could make that decision, the cell phone on the dining table by her computer setup rang.

Kane.

She dove for the phone, knocking into a chair on her way and stubbing her toe so hard tears of pain finally did fill her eyes.

“Hello? Kane?”

“No. Not Kane. Boy problems?” Charley asked, her coolness even more annoying this morning.

Alexis frowned, hating that this woman had guessed so accurately. “No,” she denied.

And Kane was definitely not aboy.

He was all man. A man who had walked away from her and left a man-sized hole in her heart.

She remembered the look of complete horror on his face over her cell’s passcode being his birthday. She struck the painful memory from her mind. Although, remembering how he’d loved her then left her wasn’t any less painful.

“Want to talk about it?” Charley asked.

Alexis’s eyes widened. “With you?”

“Do you have anyone else you can talk with?” Charley asked pragmatically.

Did she? No. Not so much. She couldn’t talk to her sister about Kane, for obvious reasons.

Hey, Britt. So, I slept with your college boyfriend and he dumped me so I’m sad. Wanna have lunch when I’m back from my secret mission to China?

Yeah. No.

Alexis did have her hacker friend, but they didn’t have agirl talkkind of relationship. They discussed computers, not boys.

But even with her lack of real friends, in no universe were she and Charley—or whatever her actual name was—friends.

“I’m fine.” Alexis dismissed the offer with a lie and moved on. “Did you call for a reason?”

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