Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
The hotel bar is crowded for a weekday, but that’s fine. It will give me a chance to people watch before Azazel arrives. I find a high-top table in the corner and arrange my chair so I can see the entirety of the room.
In the fifteen minutes I wait, I pick up more than one person doing their best to covertly slide a wedding ring into their pocket before approaching a prospective one-night stand. There’s a person on the opposite side of the bar who I’m nearly certain shares my profession. They watch me closely before realizing I’m not looking to pick up a new client here, then they lose interest. It’s all deeply entertaining.
Until a familiar man walks through the door—and not the one I’m expecting.
“Shit.”
Tanner cases the room in a single sweep and starts toward me. How the fuck did he know I was here? Finding my phone number is difficult but not impossible. Finding my location? That offers up a number of problems that I don’t have time to deal with, because he’s closing the distance between us. Fast.
I try to catch the bartender’s eye, but he’s busy flirting with an exasperated businessperson who may or may not be interested. No help there. I bypass my phone and go for my Taser. Even if I could get a text off to Pope, it won’t make a difference. I know they have someone in the building because it’s standard practice, but it will take them too long to get here.
Tanner reaches me in seconds. He’s a tall white guy with the kind of good old boy looks that are a generic sort of handsome. Or they are usually. Right now, he’s nearly purple with rage. “You cheating bitch.”
“Tanner.” I keep my voice low and even. De-escalating. “I didn’t expect to see you.”
“Because you cancelled on me!” He’s yelling, not seeming to care in the least that he’s making a scene. The bartender finally lifts his head and narrows his eyes. Too damn late.
“I have rules. You broke them.” I am not going to apologize for holding the boundaries that keep me safe, but fuck if I like this kind of mess. Azazel will be here any moment, and the last thing I want is to force him to deal with this. “And I’m not your girlfriend, your partner, or your wife. You are my client.”
“Whore!”
I roll my eyes. I can’t help it. “Yes, yes, that’s very original. Please leave before the nice bartender calls the police.” Pope will do worse; they do not like people fucking with those under their protection.
“I’m not leaving without you.” Then the fool lifts his clenched fist to strike me.
I have my Taser halfway to his balls when a hand appears and grabs his wrist. Tanner grunts with the slowed effort, though I can tell by his eyes that he’s waiting for the moment he can try to hit me again. We both look over at the same time to see Azazel standing there as if he appeared out of thin air. Azazel’s got a bored look on his face . . . until you get to his dark eyes. They’re filled with so much rage, I panic and Taser Tanner in the balls just to do something other than embarrass myself by cowering.
His legs give out and he collapses. Except he doesn’t hit the floor, because Azazel still has a hold of his wrist. It leaves him dangling like a toddler throwing a fit. The absurd urge to laugh nearly overwhelms me. This cannot be happening.
I clear my throat. “Azazel. Lovely to see you.” He doesn’t respond, doesn’t so much as glance at me, all his murderous rage narrowed entirely on Tanner. Fuck. If I don’t do something—and fast—he may go straight from protecting me to an assault charge. Or murder, for that matter.
I shove my Taser into my purse and rise to press my hand on Azazel’s chest. “Leave him. He’s not worth it.”
“I think you’d be surprised on how I measure that worth.” But he releases Tanner. Azazel turns smoothly, putting himself between me and the other man, and presses his hand to the center of my back. “Let’s go.”
Relief makes me a little dizzy, but I manage to walk out of the bar with my head held high, ignoring Tanner’s increasing volume of curses behind us. It’s only when we reach the lobby that Azazel hesitates. “I know we had a night arranged, but if you’re too rattled, I completely understand.”
If only he knew. It takes so much more than a mess like this to rattle me. Tanner is proving to be a nightmare, but he’s not the worst I’ve dealt with. I smile up at Azazel, and I don’t even have to fake it. He’s as beautiful as a model: sun-kissed skin, dark eyes, and stylishly cut dark hair. But it’s more than that. He’s courteous, he seems to listen, and he eats my pussy like he never needs to breathe. If the bed play gets a little possessive, that’s a red flag I’m happy to ignore until I can’t do so any longer, because everything else with him is pure pleasure.