With Rango leading the pack, the group stumbled toward the front desk, laughing and jostling each other along the way. When they reached the place where I stood, Rango leaned across the high counter and said, "You got anything with a hot tub?"
Behind him, one of the girls giggled.
I gave Rango an irritated look. "Was that a serious question?"
"Hell yeah!" Rango said. "We wanna keep this party goin'!" Turning toward his companions, he raised both fists high in the air and called out, "Who's with me?"
Surprise, surprise, they all were.
How nice.
Laughing, Rango put a hand to his ear and roared out, rock-star style, "I can't hear you!"
Like the idiots they were, the group let out another nerve-jangling mix of roars and squeals.
Wincing, I turned toward the office door, located just a few feet behind me. Rupert had to be hearing this, right?
Sure, I knew some of these people, but I wasn't so naïve as to think I could handle them alone.
I zoomed in on the doorknob, waiting for it to turn.
It didn't.
Damn it.
My gaze was still trained on the door when I heard a slap against the counter. I whirled to see Rango's palms pressed flat against the high countertop. He loomed toward me and said, "So, who are you looking for? Your boyfriend?"
"No." I lowered my voice. "And what are you doing here, anyway?"
He gave me a sloppy grin. "This is a hotel, right?"
"Obviously."
"Then I want a room, just like I said." He straightened. "You got a problem with that?"
Working hard to keep my cool, I spoke slowly and precisely. "We don't have any rooms with hot tubs."
From a few feet away, Chet called out, "You give us the tub. We'll make it hot."
I squinted at him. What did that even mean?
As I watched, Chet draped an arm over the shoulder of the curvy blond standing next to him. Reaching around just a little bit further, he lowered a meaty hand to her breast. He smiled and gave it a squishy squeeze.
As for the blond, she was either too dense to notice or, more likely, too drunk to mind. Either way, judging from her unsteady posture, the girl was obviously under the influence or something. Vaguely, I wondered if mopping up puke was in my job-description.
I gave Rango a pleading look. "This really isn't a party type of place."
Rango grinned. "It is now, babe."
"Oh come on," I said. "Seriously, look around. The lounge isn't even open."
It was true. The hotel catered to long-term business people, mostly auto executives and part-suppliers. The place wasn't exactly party-central. Besides, it was a weeknight. Didn't these idiots have jobs?
But of course, I knew the answer to that. I'd spent a couple of crazy months running with Rango's crowd. Almost none of them worked, at least not at normal jobs like most people had.
Even Rango. Technically, he was a D.J. of sorts, a smalltime celebrity with a big local following. But as far as I could tell, that gig was mostly for kicks.
Rango had money, lots of money. The club where he worked? He owned it, along with a couple of restaurants in Troy and some title-loan place that I refused to think about.
But as far as I knew, Rango didn't really manage anything personally. Like the rest of his crowd, he wouldn't know hard work if it bit him on the ass.
In fact, I wished something would bite him on the ass – anything to make him leave.
"Who needs a lounge?" Rango said. "That's for old people."
"Yeah," said the other girl, a cute brunette in a skin-tight black dress. "Old people. Like fuddy-duddies."
Rango rewarded the girl with a big, raucous laugh. "You got that right."
With his gaze still on me, he eased over to the girl and wrapped an arm around her waist. He pulled her close to his side and said, "We can make our own lounge." He ducked his head to give the girl's cleavage a long, stupid look. "Am I right, Jilly babe?"
Her lips formed a pout. "It's Julie. Remember?"
"Whatever, Jules," he said, pulling her tighter. "You still wanna party, right?"
She melted herself against him and planted a loud, smoochy kiss on the side of his face. "If you're paying, I'm playing."
Rango frowned.
I couldn't help it. I laughed.
Rango pushed away from the girl and turned back to me. "Something funny?" he asked.
I shook my head. "Nope."
"Aw come on," he said, "share the joke."
When I still didn't answer, he called over his shoulder. "We like a good joke. Don't we, guys?"
"Hell yeah!" Brody hollered out, turning to leer at me. "Make us laugh, pretty girl."
Eauw.
Rango spread his arms wide. "You heard 'em. Gimme your best shot."
What on Earth did he mean by that? Honestly, I had no idea. I lowered my voice. "Or maybe, you could just go home and sleep it off."
"Yeah?" He gave me an open-mouthed grin with the barest hint of tongue. "You comin' with me?"
I drew back. "No."
"Fine," he said. "If you're staying, we're staying."
I blew out a long breath. "Oh come on. You can't really want a room." I scanned his group. "For five people?"
"Why the hell not?" Rango laughed. "It's not like we plan on sleeping."
"Well, maybe you don't," I said, "but the other guests do. In fact, most of them are sleeping now. Or trying to, anyway." Hint, hint.
"Fuck 'em," Rango said. "If they get pissy about it, we'll invite 'em to the party."
"They're not here to party," I said. "They're here to work. They've got to get up in the morning."
Rango glanced at the clock. He grinned. "Looks like morning to me."
Oh screw it. Obviously, the guy couldn't take a hint. "You need to leave," I told him.
He eyed me with disapproval. "Damn, were you always this prissy?"
"I don't know," I said. "Were you always this dicky?"
His gaze narrowed. He leaned in close, and I felt his hot breath in my face. "Wanna know what I think?"
I didn't bother to hide my annoyance. "What?"
"I think," he said, "that you've got something of mine. And I’m not leaving 'til I get it."
Chapter 21
I stared at Rango. "So that's why you're here? Because of that stupid book?"
After our breakup, I'd lifted the thing from his nightstand. Most of the pages were empty, but for whatever reason, Rango had been obsessed with the thing.
I still couldn’t see the appeal. But on the inside front cover, I found something totally worth using – the passwords to all of Rango's social media accounts.
For a few crazy days, I had used those passwords to post some pretty ridiculous things online. It was nothing personal, just stupid stuff mostly.
Mature? No. Satisfying? Totally. Short-term anyway.
But in the end, my furniture was trashed, my clothes were stolen, and my perfect little apartment was a no-go zone, after my sudden eviction for all the weirdness. I couldn’t prove anything, but I just knew Rango was behind it.
And now, here he was again, dogging me at my new job.
I glanced out across the hotel lobby. Chet and blondie had stumbled to a nearby seating area and were sprawled out on the largest sofa. As I watched, Chet pulled out a silver flask and took a good, long swig before passing it to his companion.
The blond took a big, sloppy drink and flopped back against the sofa cushions. "Hey, you! Hotel Girl" she slurred out in my direction. "Crank up the music, will ya?"
I squinted at her. There was no music. And there wasn't going to be any either.
In front of me, Rango crossed his arms. "You want us to go? Gimme the book."
I crossed my arms too. "I'd love to," I said. "Just gimme the car."
"What car?" he asked.
"Oh for crying out loud," I said. "How could you not know? My car? Remember?"
Rango looked down to study his finge
rnails. "I've got my own cars to worry about." He shrugged. "Your car, your problem."
"A problem you caused," I reminded him.
Before Rango and I had begun dating, I needed some money fast. As a so-called favor, Rango had hooked me up with a short-term title loan through that place he owned. In the end, it was no favor.
In front of me, Rango looked up. "I caused it? How?"
Like he didn't know. "Remember?" I said. "The title loan?"
As part of the deal, I'd stupidly signed over my car title. The arrangement was mostly fine, right up until our breakup. The very next day, I had no title and no car, even though my loan was nearly paid off.
Lounging against the front desk, Rango gave me his sad face. "Sorry babe. Not ringing a bell."
"You are such a liar," I said.
Behind Rango, Brody called out. "Hey, I remember that car." He laughed. "Oh man, that was so awesome."
I leaned around Rango to give Brody a dubious look. Sure, I loved that car, but it was nothing a guy like him would go for.
"Oh, give it up," I told him. "You don't even know what car I'm talking about."
"Wanna bet?" he said. "Silver Ford, right?"
Surprised, I studied Brody with renewed interest. "Um, yeah," I said. "A Focus. You know where it is?"
Brody burst out laughing. "Not anymore."
I turned to Rango. "What does he mean? Where is it?"
Rango reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I dunno," he said. "Gone?"
"Yeah, I know it's gone," I said. "That's the problem. I need it back."
Behind Rango, Brody gave a little snicker.
I glared over at him. "Why is that funny?"
"Because," Brody said, "when he says gone, he means gone baby, gone." Brody lifted his big hands to squash an imaginary bug between his beefy palms.
"Oh my God." I turned to Rango. "You crashed my car?"
For whatever reason, Brody thought this was absolutely hilarious. Through loud guffaws, he called out, "Nah, he didn't crash it. He crushed it." Catching his breath, he managed to choke out, "Had this big party after. It was fuckin' awesome!"
I looked from Brody to Rango. "Is that true?" I was having a hard time catching my breath. "You crushed my car?"
"Screw the car," Rango said. "Gimme the book. I'll get you a new one."
"I don't want a new one," I said. "I want that one."
"Why?" Rango gave a weak little laugh. "Be a little hard to drive now. Don't you think?"
At the image of my car – the only one I had never owned – crushed for no good reason, I felt my eyes grow glassy. It wasn't like I really expected to get the car back. But nowhere in my wildest imaginations had it ended up squashed for some idiot's entertainment.
I pointed to the door. "Get out."
"Hey, we're customers," Rango said.
"You're not customers," I told him. "You're assholes."
Behind him, I heard more laughter. Apparently, in their world, this was considered some sort of compliment.
"Hey, shit happens," Rango said. "Gimme the book, I'll make it up to you, alright?"
"No, it's not alright," I said. "And besides, the book's not even yours." Or at least, that's what Jake had told me.
Rango looked unimpressed. "It's more mine than yours, babe."
I stared at him. What had I ever seen in the guy? Of course, he hadn't always acted like this, or I wouldn't have dated him in the first place. "If you call me babe one more time," I said, "I'm going to barf all over you."
Behind Rango, Julie wrinkled her nose. She called over to the blond. "If she starts barfing, we're outta here."
How stupid could she get? From the looks of it, the blond was ten times more likely to barf than I was.
I gave Rango a hard look. "You want the book?" I said. "Fine. Twenty-thousand dollars."
His mouth fell open. "What?"
"Twenty thousand, and it's yours."
He snorted. "Twenty grand? You're shitting me, right?"
Was I? I gave it some serious thought. The guy had crushed my car. I needed a new one, and there was no way in hell I'd trust any replacement he offered.
"Take it or leave it," I said.
"Screw you," he said. "I'll leave it."
"Fine." I pointed to the door. "There's the exit."
Again, he leaned in close. "Oh, I'm not going anywhere, babe."
"Oh yes you are." Enough was enough. Whether I knew these idiots or not, it was getting painfully obvious that I needed help getting rid of them.
It was time to get the manager.
I turned and walked to the office door. I raised my knuckles and knocked.
Nothing happened.
Behind me, I heard a snicker. Rango? Or someone else?
Screw it. I knocked again.
Nothing.
From Rango's friends, I heard muffled laughter. I didn't even bother to turn around. Instead, I cupped my hands around my mouth hollered out through the door. "Rupert? Are you in there?"
No answer.
Damn it.
I leaned in close and listened hard. Other than the laughter behind me, I heard nothing. But I swear, I smelled something. Popcorn? I shook my head. No. That couldn’t be right.
From behind me, I heard Rango say, "Looks like Rupert's not home."
I whirled toward Rango. "That doesn't change anything."
Ignoring the hammering of my heart, I turned and stalked around the desk. With my head held high, I marched across the lobby to the double doors. I pulled the unlocked door open and held it wide.
I looked toward the group. "Get out. Or I'm calling the police."
Chapter 22
Around me, the lobby fell silent. Finally, after a long, tense moment, Chet pushed himself off the sofa. He reached for blondie's hand. "Come on," he said, tugging the girl to her feet. "You heard her."
Watching, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had never liked Chet, but at the moment, I could have kissed the guy. If he and blondie walked out now, the others would likely follow. One thing about Rango's friends, they weren't exactly known for their original thinking.
From my doorway vantage point, I glanced toward the front desk. Rango still hadn't budged. Instead, he stood, watching me with a set jaw and slitted eyes. I'd seen that look before, and it filled me with dread.
Damn it.
I stiffened my spine. So what? Without a crowd, I could handle Rango just fine. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. And maybe if I got really lucky, Rupert might wander out of his private sanctuary and actually help me out here.
Directly in front of me, Chet sauntered forward with an arm wrapped around the blond's waist. He leaned over to whisper something into the girl's ear. She giggled and shoved against him. "You are so bad," she slurred.
He gave her a demonic grin. "Come on, babe. You know you want to."
Her gaze slid to me, and I felt myself swallow. Whatever the thing was, I prayed they'd be doing it somewhere else. To let them pass, I held the door open wider and breathed a sigh of relief as Julie joined in the exodus.
Outside, it was drizzling now. An icy breeze hit my back, and I felt the chill of freezing raindrops pummeling my hair and clothes. I stifled a shiver and counted the seconds until these losers were gone already.
When Chet and the blond finally made it to the doorway, I stepped back to give them more room.
As it turned out, that was a huge mistake.
The moment the girl made it to the open doorway, she lunged forward and gave me a shove with both hands. Caught off guard, I stumbled backward. The metal door handle slipped from my grip, and my ass hit the wet pavement, hard.
Sprawled on the sidewalk, I looked up just in time to see the whole idiotic group of them, laughing from inside the hotel. With a string of curses, I pushed myself off the sidewalk and lunged for the door handle. I pulled. Nothing happened. And I knew exactly why.
Those fuckers had locked me out.
I pounded against the glass and screamed
out, "Hey! Open up!"
Inside, Chet and the rest of them were laughing like idiots. Through the glass door, Chet called out, "Sorry lady, we're closed!"
Desperately, I looked toward the front desk. I saw Brody standing just in front of it, but where on Earth was Rango?
A moment later, he popped up behind the front desk, exactly where I had been standing moments earlier. In Rango's hands was something all too familiar – my purse. I watched in stunned disbelief as he opened it up and dumped out all of the contents, including my cell phone, onto the front desk.
Meanwhile, the rest of them were still howling like drunken monkeys as they watched me through the glass.
I slapped my wet palms against the door. "You assholes!" I yelled. "Open up! I mean it!"
From somewhere behind me, I heard an unfamiliar male voice say, "What the hell?"
I turned to see an attractive man, maybe in his fifties, standing on the sidewalk. In one hand, he held an overnight case. In the other, he held the curved handle of a big black umbrella, which was open to shelter him from the drizzle.
He glanced at the hotel. "So is it, uh, closed or something?"
Just great. A hotel guest. As if this couldn’t get any more humiliating.
I gave him a pleading look. "Do you have a cell phone?"
With a perplexed look, he handed over his umbrella and reached into the pocket of his wool coat. He was just pulling out his cell phone when I caught new movement from inside the hotel.
Jake.
Chapter 23
I looked around. Where had he come from? The elevators? The restrooms? The stairwell?
Ignoring the idiots in the lobby, Jake was stalking toward the front entrance with his gaze firmly on me. His eyes were blazing, and his mouth was set. He wore jeans and a thin gray T-shirt emblazoned with the name of a local gym. I wanted to cry with relief.
Next to me, I heard a croaking sound. The stranger grabbed my elbow. "Come on," he urged. "Let's go."
I was only half listening. "Huh?"
"Come on!" The guy gave a little yank. "You see that guy?" His voice rose. "He's coming straight for us."
As I watched, a half-crazed sound escaped my lips. "Oh, I see him, alright."
Even in nondescript clothing, Jake looked larger than life and dangerous as hell. If I didn't know him, I might run too.
Jake Me Page 8