Spotilicious (Jaguartow)

“No. That would have made this easy,” Juan said. “But don’t worry. I’ve got my sources, and it’s almost a certainty she was staying on the strip. I’ll find her.”

Marc nodded and sent Juan on his way. In the meantime, he needed to keep his alter-beast under control.

But to his dismay, the search wasn’t going as fast as he wanted it to be. It took three days to find her. Apparently, she still traveled under her previous married name, which had slowed Juan down. It bothered Marc to know that she had been married before, but as long as she wasn’t married now, that was all that mattered. He’d already begun his plan for flying out to find her. New York was halfway across the country, but he was certain that he’d be able to convince her to come back to Vegas.

It would be her new home.

Forever.

CHAPTER FOUR

Back to present…

In her panic at finding Marc on her doorstep, Kelly had overreacted. Her immediate thought was to try to simply stop him from continuing with his far-fetched story. She wasn’t sure why clobbering him across the side of the head with a shovel was the best idea, but it was the only thing she could think of at the time. As soon as he was unconscious, she took her phone back out of her pocket again and called the police.

She sat on the other side of the yard, shovel in hand, as she waited for the police to arrive. Just before they did, she saw the first stirrings that Marc was waking up. She kept the shovel gripped tightly in her hands as he slowly slid upward into a sitting position. When he spotted her, the most unexpected thing happened. She’d expected that he’d go berserk or threaten to file battery charges against her, but he just smiled. Not a creepy smile; it was as if a parent was chiding his misbehaving child.

Mark got up and dusted the dirt from his suit, acting as if nothing had happened. His movements were sleek and full of elegance. He gingerly touched his head where the shovel had connected with his temple. “To be honest, I didn’t see that coming, but I’ve always said I liked my women feisty,” he mused.

Huh? Feisty? She was in a homicidal mood for criminy sake. She had been sitting there asking herself the whole time why he would have tracked her down. Goodness knows it had been the best sex she’d ever had in her life, but she figured for a guy like Marc, their encounter was a dime a dozen. She didn’t think there was anything special about her. That was why she had left while he was still asleep the morning after. It would have been incredibly embarrassing to have him escort her out during the morning-after walk of shame. It was much better to be able to leave on her own terms. She had regretted not saying goodbye, but after what had transpired between them, she figured it was the best way.

Having him show up and say they were meant to be together was too preposterous to be true. Was he a stalker? A serial killer?

“Kelly, we need to talk. What are you doing over there?”

“I’m doing fine over here. Thank you.”

“Kelly… “ Marc plucked out a white handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped his temple.

She thought she saw blood on it. Yikes! A surge of guilt seized her heart. Oh my God, what did I do? Poor guy. I didn’t mean to hurt him that bad. Maybe I was too hasty to judge him…

“Kelly, this is getting ridiculous. Can we talk like civilized adults?” Marc pleaded. “I will overlook this juvenile prank because you’re my mate.”

Wha-what? She perked up, couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Excuse me? He will overlook? His chauvinist tone made her irritated. I was wrong. I should have hit him harder, that son of a—

A cop cruiser pulled in front of her building.

Thank God! Kelly sighed in relief. Two police officers responded to her nine-one-one call. She stood up, but Marc remained still. She saw the corners of his mouth twist up indicating his annoyance, but he didn’t make any other movement.

Two uniformed cops approached them. The older one sported a big mustache and his partner—who seemed like he was a rookie straight out of the academy—trailed behind.

“Were you the one who called, ma’am? Are you all right? You said you had an intruder on the property? Is this him?” Officer Mustache asked her.

Now that she had a little bit of time to get used to the idea of Marc being there, she started to feel a little foolish. She had overreacted. But now that this was happening, she didn’t know what to do.

“Yes, an intruder,” she said, but there was a waver in her voice that didn’t hold any confidence.

“Do you know this man, ma’am?” the other officer asked.

Marc slowly held his hands up, showing the police officers that he didn’t have anything in them. “I’m sorry that you’ve wasted your time coming out here, officers. Kelly and I were just getting reacquainted, and I think she had a bit of a fright when I arrived unexpectedly. It was a simple overreaction and misunderstanding.”

His tone had changed, she noticed. It was soothing, deep, and practically hypnotic. She was even more surprised when the officers slowly relaxed. Their eyes vacant. Their face blank. Granted, that was ultimately what she wanted. She didn’t want any violence on her account, but she didn’t understand why the cops seemed to be so accepting of Marc’s story.

“Isn’t that right, Kelly?” Marc asked her. “A simple misunderstanding between two old friends.” He winked as he emphasized the word “friends.”

She ignored his question.

Officer Mustache nodded sagely. “It’s no problem. You should always err on the side of caution, ma’am. We’ll leave you to your reacquaintance then.”