Page 29 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

When I came back out of the bathroom, Hailey was lying on the bed with her head perched up on her hand as she stared at the TV.

I had purposefully left my change of clothes in the room so that I could come out in a towel just like she had done to me the other day. The room still smelled like her.

"You know, they're saying it was her ex boyfriend and best friend. Can you believe that? What assholes."

I glanced at the TV. She was watching the news about the shooting again. A caption was scrolling across the screen that said, "Suspects coming to light in the Hunter shooting." I looked away from the screen. "No, I can't actually. That doesn't even make any sense. Why would they do that?"

"Maybe her ex was jealous or something? And I'm sure her friend was too. James Hunter was the richest bachelor in the country before she won him over." She turned toward me and her eyes seemed to bulge slightly.

I tried to hide my smile.

"Either way, she's totally your type, right? Long red hair, blue eyes, and she looks short. She's absolutely gorgeous."

"I don't have a type."

"No?"

"No."

She immediately looked away from me and picked up the map that was next to her on the bed. "I was thinking maybe the Grand Canyon is too far out of the way. It'll add a few hours to the trip. We should probably just skip it, right?" She ran her fingers through her hair as she stared down at the map.

I sat down next to her on the bed, way too close for a normal conversation, but I didn't care. I swore I heard her gulp. Right now, I wasn't in any rush to make our trip together end any earlier. I was going to spend the day teasing her. And tonight? Well, tonight I was pretty sure she'd be begging me to take it further.

"Where's the Grand Canyon?"

"Here," she said and pointed to the map.

It was barely out of the way. "You know what, I was actually thinking it might be cool to stop here too," I said and pointed to where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico all met. "How cool would it be to stand in four states at once?"

"That would be pretty awesome. But that's even farther out of the way. I need to

get to Pasadena as soon as possible." She bit her lip as she looked back down at the map.

I wanted to bite her lip for her. "You know, I've heard that lots of people try to have sex in that spot."

She laughed. "And I bet they all get arrested."

I shrugged. "It would be pretty fun to try though, wouldn't it?"

She looked up at me. "Have you never seen the movie Vacation? I was serious about everyone getting arrested who try it. Besides, there's other fun places to have sex that don't necessarily break the law."

"Give me one example."

"Well, with a new partner, isn't anywhere pretty memorable? Even in a random hotel in the middle of Oklahoma?"

Now I needed another cold shower.

She smiled at me and climbed off the bed. "Can I drive some today?" She pulled out a tank top from her suitcase.

"Sure."

She froze, staring at me. A smile spread across her face. "Really?"

It would be way easier to flirt with her if I didn't have to pay attention to the road. And this stretch of road was basically deserted. Not many people were traveling to some of the hottest places in the country in the middle of summer. Even if she was a terrible driver, she'd probably be fine. "Yeah, it's about time you pulled your weight. You do have a license, right?"

"Of course I do. I'm not some slick from NYC who takes the subway and taxis all the time."

"Very funny."

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