Page 107 of Make Me Sin (Bad Habit 2)
“Me, too. He said he would. I’m not sure what happened.”
She and Nico share a look that scares me. It’s an “uh-oh” look, one that has my heart beating a little faster as soon as I see it.
“I think I’ll leave a little early to go check on him,” I say, trying to keep my voice light.
“He still doesn’t have a phone?” asks Nico, his arm around Kat’s shoulders.
I try to make my shrug look nonchalant. “He’s got a burner so I can call him in case of an emergency . . . you know, because of Eric. But I don’t want to use it unless it’s a real emergency.”
“Chloe, he’s not going to be mad at you if you call him and the shop isn’t on fire,” says Kat, exasperated.
“I know. It’s just that phones aren’t his thing. He doesn’t like the idea of people being able to bother him whenever they want. So . . . I’m respecting that.”
Nico smiles at me. “He’s a lucky son of a bitch to have you, Chloe.”
“Yes, he is,” agrees Kat firmly. “If Nico refused to talk to me on the phone—”
“He hasn’t refused, there just hasn’t been an emergency. If there was, I’d call him.” My voice comes out louder than I intended because I’m feeling defensive all of a sudden. When Kat blinks at me in surprise, I look away, embarrassed.
Then she’s hugging me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. It’s none of my business.”
I release a pent-up breath and hug her back. “Don’t be sorry, I’m acting like a weirdo. I think I’m more worried than I realized about him not being here. Is that stupid of me?”
She pulls away and squeezes my arm. “Of course not. I know exactly how you feel. If I don’t know where Nico is every minute of the day, I can hardly breathe.”
That makes me feel a little better. We smile at each other. Grace interrupts us by saying, “So, Vegas for the bachelorette? Or is that too much of a cliché?”
Kat wrinkles her nose. “Do we have to do a bachelorette party? Aren’t we a little old for that kind of thing? I’ll just spend the entire time pining away for my hubby-to-be, anyway. I doubt if I’d be any fun.”
Grace looks at her as if she’s off her rocker. “The bachelorette party isn’t for you, silly; it’s for the bridesmaids, as a reward for all their hard work toward the wedding.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not the case,” I say.
Grace waves a hand in the air, dismissing the subject. “Anyway, Vegas is on the table. If either one of you girls,” she nods at Kenji and me, “has a better idea, let me know.”
I say, “Where’s Nico going on his bachelor party? Maybe we should go to the same city and stay in adjacent hotels.”
Grace and Kenji look like they might throw up. Kat, on the other hand, squeals in delight. “Yes! What a great idea!” She turns to Nico. “What do you think, honey?”
He smiles down at her, and brushes a lock of hair from her forehead. “I think I’m up for anything that makes you so happy, darlin’.”
She claps. I can tell from the glare Grace shoots me she is less than thrilled with my suggestion, but I blow her a kiss and she rolls her eyes, and I know I’m forgiven. She’ll have fun no matter where we end up going.
“Anything else you need from me, Chloe?” asks Jennifer, packing away her notes, schedules, and timelines into a shoulder bag.
“Nope. We’re good.”
She nods. “I’ll be in touch next week, then. Call me if anything comes up in the meantime.” She blows me an air kiss, hugs Kat and Nico, waves good-bye to everyone else, and leaves.
“I think I’m on my way, too, guys. I’ve gotta go find out what happened to my man.”
Everyone hugs, we say our good-byes, and after they’re gone, I get in my car and head home, trying to not worry.
The first thing I notice that’s wrong is the chain-link fence on the dirt road leading to the hotel is open. Wide open, not just unlocked.
I pull to a stop several yards away, staring at it. I’ve never seen it unlocked before. In fact, I lock it behind me every morning when I go to work.
I swallow, assuring myself it’s nothing. I drive past it, unsure whether to leave it open or lock it behind me, but there’s this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach and I don’t want to dally, so I drive on. At the top of the hill when t
