Page 26 of Hidden Dane
She ran her hand down his shirt. “No, but we’ll order you a nice suit.”
Now that sounded like Emily. The twinkle in her blue eyes was the same twinkle she’d had the day she’d pulled him into her arms and kissed him, to save him from himself. “Why a suit?”
She crossed her arms in challenge. “Because I want to be wined and dined in style.”
Impressing her would be hard—how could he top the necklace from his mother? Neither one of them were wide-eyed innocents anymore. He didn’t move. “We need to be safe.”
She shrugged and pointed for him to leave as she said, “This is a five star hotel. I’m sure you’ll find a way to impress me. I’ll send clothes to your room while you make plans.”
He stepped into the hall and nodded his goodbye. “You’re still bossy as ever.”
She held the door frame and stared at him like he was a ghost. He froze as she asked, “Is that why you left years ago?”
Right. He’d high-tailed it after prom night.
In their hotel bed, he’d been alive and forgotten who he was, tainted by murder and lies. It had been wonderful and terrifying. Now, his fingers grazed hers on the frame. “I left because seeing your sister and Michael so happy all the time was a knife to my heart. My entire childhood was an orchestrated lie and I’d been used as a pawn. I needed to be my own man, Em.”
She intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed his palm. “How were you a pawn?”
“My mother’s death.” He pressed his forehead to hers.
Emily already knew how he’d been used because she’d seen it with her own eyes—nobody understood what had happened better than her. In taking off, he’d tried to forget his past, but denying his memories hadn’t given him any peace either.
The only true peace he’d had washer, safe, and in his arms.
She batted her eyes at him and her smile was brighter than the lights on the Eiffel Tower. “So, your leaving wasn’t anything to dowith me?”
Seriously? He’d left because he couldn’t let himself stay. Her arms were like heaven and at the time, he hadn’t thought he’d deserved that. He gently wiped a smudge of dirt from the crypt from her cheekbone. “You were why I stayed as long as I did. You were always an umbrella in the thunderstorm of my life. I stayed until I couldn’t stay anymore.”
“Umbrella?” She laughed and brushed some of the dust off his black shirt, not that it would ever get clean, and straightened. “Okay. Come get me in an hour.” She shooed him out and shut her door.
A shower would be the first thing he’d do to impress her. He let himself in the room to her left and stripped as soon as the door closed behind him.
His clothes had an odor and it was probably a good idea to burn them. He dropped them on the floor and headed into the shower.
A knock sounded and he tensed, turning the water off. “Room service.”
He relaxed as he remembered Emily’s promise. He peeked through the peep hole and saw a man in a hotel uniform with a plastic bag. Dane let him in. “The suit.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Lacoste brand was one of his favorites, and Emily likely knew his size though he hadn’t told her. He tipped. “Thanks.” He’d almost closed the door but then stopped. “Hey—what’s the best place to impress a woman at this hotel?”
“We have a rooftop restaurant.” The man smoothly pocketed the tip.
“Thanks.” He closed the door and opened his bags. How thoughtful—Emily had sent more than just a suit, and he now had clothes for tomorrow. After his shower, he filled out the slip for the hotel to do his dry cleaning and changed into new dark jeans and a black t-shirt.
A rooftop restaurant sounded romantic. He left the note for maid service and headed to the top of the hotel.
The staff was setting up for dinner, and Dane found the manager of the restaurant. “I’ll buy every table out for tonight.”
“It’s usually very busy,” the manager protested.
“That’s fine.” Dane handed over his black card. “I want to be alone with my colleague.”
“Very well, sir.” The man rang up a six figure number.
Normally Dane spent his paycheck on burgers and never touched the cash that kept accumulating from his supposed father, except when he wanted to solve a mystery that might right all the wrongs the Pearce name had done. The money he spent on this restaurant didn’t put a dent in his riches.
