I hadn’t slept with a woman in weeks. Hell, it might have been months. I had needed the release, yet sitting here, looking at the blonde in the bed, I still felt like utter shit.
Quickly, I gathered up my clothes and headed into the bathroom. I shut the door and looked down in the trash at the used condom.
“What in the hell are you doing, Dirk?” I mumbled as I focused on my reflection in the mirror.
I splashed water on my face, pissed, and then got dressed. As I made my way back out into the room, I heard her moving around on the bed.
“You’re leaving?” she asked.
“Yes.”
With a humorless laugh, she said, “Well, I guess when you said you were only interested in a fuck, you weren’t lying.”
I placed my cowboy hat on my head and exhaled. “Listen, I’m sorry. I was pretty drunk last night and—”
“Don’t. You told me at the bar what you wanted. I wanted it too. Don’t be sorry. Besides, I think you were the best sex I’ve ever had.”
I smiled. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
An awkward silence filled the room before I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “So, yeah, I’m going to go ahead and take off.”
As I turned to leave, she called out, “Hey, cowboy.”
I turned to look back at her.
“Whoever she is, I hope things work out. You’re a nice guy, despite the fact that you’re bugging out in the middle of the night.”
With a frown, I let out a confused laugh. “There isn’t anyone, so I’m not sure—”
She brought her hand up and shook her head. “Trust me, there’s someone. You simply haven’t let your guard down enough to see it.”
She got out of bed and walked across the room butt-ass naked. She winked at me and then closed the bathroom door.
That was my cue to get the hell out of dodge. As I made my way to the elevator, I thought about what she had said. Why in the hell would she think there was someone in my life? What did I do to give that impression?
I pulled out my phone and checked my email. I needed a distraction because I didn’t want to even think about what I’d said to Merit in my dream.
I rubbed the back of my neck and let out a frustrated groan. Then one of the unread emails in my inbox caught my eye. It was from an old friend of mine from high school, Philip Wilcox. He’d left Montana and moved to New York City for a while after he graduated college. He’d been on the NYPD before eventually moving back to Montana. He worked for the state, or maybe the Feds, no one really knew. What I did know is if I ever needed anything, he was the guy to help.
I stared at the subject line of the email. A part of me felt guilty for having Phil dig up anything on Merit. But something about her behavior on New Year’s Eve didn’t seem right to me at all. We hadn’t seen or spoken to one another in eleven years. She had attempted to be civil with me, but it was clear she had wanted to be as far from me as she could that night. Then the way she left right before midnight after getting a phone call… Something felt off, and I had sat on it for all these months before I finally gave in to the temptation to ask Phil for help.
Subject: M.E. Update
I hit his number and heard the phone ring.
“Hey, you do know what time it is, right?”
“No, what time is it?” I asked.
He laughed. “Let me guess, you just crawled out of some woman’s bed and are now heading to your own hotel room.”
“You would be correct.”
I glanced down at my watch. It was four in the morning.
“Damn, Phil, I didn’t realize it was this late. I can call you back later.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’d be getting up soon to head to the gym anyway, so this gives me a head start.”
I got off the elevator and walked the short distance to my room. Once inside, I started to shed my clothes. I needed to get the smell of cheap perfume off of me.
“What did you find out?” I asked.
“She wasn’t fired from her job, she resigned. From what I could find out, no one knows why she stepped down. From all accounts, she had seemed happy working there and had never once mentioned moving back to Montana. Her boss wouldn’t talk to me, but her assistant did.”
I nodded. Then I asked the one question I had no right asking at all. “Dating anyone?”
“Not for the last eight months or so. It looks like she’s been in a few short-term relationships, nothing long term. Well, this last guy, I guess, was long term. They dated off and on for the last two years. Right before the new year, when she moved back home, they broke up. He’s already engaged to some model in New York City.”