Book 3 - Page 74 (1/2)

He took my mouth softly, in slow, drugging pulls, running his velvety tongue very slowly along my lips, begging for entrance.

With a small moan, I opened for him.

“Do it, Danika.  Claim your man,” he pulled back to murmur against my mouth.

I wasn’t proud of it, but I let him have me, quick and fierce against the wall.

We were straightening our clothes when Mona opened the door.  She didn’t say a word.  She didn’t need to.  She just wanted us to know that she knew what we’d been up to.

I felt bad.  I’d just partic.i.p.ated in making her bad day worse.

A few days later, I couldn’t believe I’d ever had a kind thought about the woman.

Always trust your gut, even when it makes you feel like a total b.i.t.c.h.

That’s what I learned from Mona.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

I was at work, minding my own business a few days later when a smiling Mona came waltzing into my gallery.

Every time I saw that smile, I became more certain that there was just something wrong with it.

“Is it about time for your s.h.i.+ft to end?” she asked, her tone pleasant enough but lacking any inflection.  Her eyes were sort of glazed over and vacant.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Even so, I didn’t really want to know where this was headed.

I sighed.  I still felt bad about what she’d been through with her dad, so I’d be humoring her.  “I run the place.  I can leave any time I want.  I take it you wanted to talk again?”

She nodded.  She was just off.  I wondered if she’d taken something, but I didn’t know her enough to be able to tell for sure.

“I’ll meet you at that bar, Twist, when I’m done.”

She left.

I finished up with a few things, and then tasked Sandra with closing up in thirty minutes.  I headed to Stephan and Javier’s bar with the hope that I could get rid of Mona quickly and then just hang out with the guys.

Stephan saw me coming and came to greet me with a big hug, kissing both of my cheeks.  “Finally, you come to see us.”

Javier followed closely behind him, and we had a quick love sesh.

“Come sit at the bar, chat with us.  Tell us what’s going on with you.”  Javier wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.  “Because we’ve been hearing some things.”

“h.e.l.l, we’ve been seeing some things,” Stephan added, referring, I knew, to the baby shower.

I scanned the plush lounge area for Mona and sighted her easily enough.  “I’ve got to talk to someone real quick, and then I’ll be right there.”

I excused myself, knowing they’d have a million questions for me to answer about this in about five minutes.

I sat down next to Mona on a plush white leather couch.  Next to, as in three feet away.