And that cinches it.
I’m out of here.
***
“Mr. Jordan said nobody is to leave the premises without his clearance,” the man tells me stonily. He looks like a butler in a dark suit, with a trim mustache and a stick up his ass. “I am sorry I cannot help you.”
“Me too,” I tell him and walk off to find someone who will help me get out of this place. I walk past the tennis court and am relieved that nobody I know is there.
Need to find the guy who flew us in. Th
e helipad. That’s my way out.
From the distance I see the chopper, and I breathe a sigh of relief. That’s good. Two guys are doing something on the side of the chopper. With my luck, the engine’s broken down, or they suddenly ran out of fuel.
I hurry toward them, dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater over a white camisole that I found in the bedroom closet. There was no jacket for me to borrow, so I’m glad for moving to keep warm. The wind cuts through me like blades.
“Hey. Hey!” I wave at them as I approach and one of them turns around to see what is going on. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He looks perplexed. He’s a big guy, big shoulders, beer belly, and at least as tall as Hawk.
Stop thinking about Hawk.
“Hi. Are you leaving soon? I need a ride.”
He scratches the back of his head and glances at the other guy who’s much younger and very blond.
Don’t think about Hawk and his blond hair. Don’t think of it tickling your face as he kisses you.
The blond guy frowns. “Mr. Jordan gave instructions—”
“Mr. Jordan is my friend,” I lie. “And he told every one of you to accommodate the requests of all his guests, isn’t that right?”
So there.
The two exchange another look.
“He did say that,” the big guy says.
“But shouldn’t we check in with him?”
“He’s in a meeting with the police. Said not to disturb him.”
“Goddammit. And we have to buy the stuff Mr. Jordan asked for, too.”
I shift from foot to foot, nervously biting my lip. “I just need to see my best friend. Just for a while. I can come back with you after you’re finished buying whatever it is you have to buy. I won’t be any trouble.” They’re staring at me, so I plunge on. “She broke up with her boyfriend. She needs to cry on my shoulder.” Like Hawk said I cried on his. Crap. “Nobody will know. I promise.”
I see the moment they cave in.
“Just two hours,” the young one says. “We pick you up from Mr. Jordan’s helipad then and come back here.”
“Fine with me,” I lie again—wow, I’m getting good at this—and climb into the chopper. My hands are shaking. My whole body feels leaden. It’s my heart, I think. My heart is so unbearably heavy.
Because I’m in love with Hawk, and he just smashed my love for him to pieces. Smashed my mind, and I don’t know how I can get back from that on a day that should be the happiest of my life.
Chapter Twenty-One
Hawk