Beth woke up to the sound of harsh ringing. She shot straight up in the bed. Or rather, she tried. She would have been successful if it weren’t for the two big arms curled around her, holding her tight.
“It's just your phone,” Alex said, his words rumbling through his chest against her ear. He pressed his lips to the top of her head before releasing her from his embrace.
Her phone was always interrupting her. Now it had roused her from the warm cocoon of Alex's arms. If she had half a brain, she'd turn the damned thing off or chuck it out the window. Instead, she snatched it from the bedside table.
At least it wasn't her mother this time.
“Hey, Isobel,” Beth said, pressing the phone to her ear.
“Hey yourself. Where did you get off to last night in such a hurry?”
Beth sat up, willing her sleepy mind to catch up with her body. “Um...” Alex's hand slid up her back, tempting her to lie back down.
“That's what I thought,” Isobel said with a laugh. No doubt it was what everyone thought. “Some people wanted to wait to see if you’d be coming down, but I said you could probably use the sleep.”
Beth blinked and looked at the clock on the side table. “Did I miss breakfast?”
“Well, yeah. But that was an hour ago. We were all just about to take off for the museum.”
“Oh, God, the MOMA,” Beth said. “I forgot all about it. I’m so sorry, Isobel.”
“Don't be. I don’t care if you skip it. I mean, I’ll miss you, but Spencer will be there and from the sound of it, things didn’t go so well between you two last night.” There was a note of apology in her voice.
“Are you sure you’re cool with me not going with you?”
“It’s fine. I swear. God knows I'd still be lounging around in bed if I could. All you have to do is make it to the rehearsal tonight.”
“Of course, I promise.”
More laughter. “Until then, stay in bed all day. Doctor's orders.”
“Are my parents there?”
“Of course,” Isobel said. “But don’t worry. I already covered for you.”
Alex's fingers curled around her shoulder. He slowly pulled her back down to the pillows. Beth only half resisted.
“How in the world did you do that?” Beth asked.
“I told them that I sent you out on another errand for me,” she said. “This one was out on the peninsula.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Alex's lips pressed against her neck, tracing a path up to her ear. Her toes began to curl. She gripped the phone tighter so it wouldn't slip through her fingers and clatter down to the floor.
“Um...Isobel, I have to go,” she said.
Another laugh. There wasn't any attempt to mask it this time.
“Of course you do. Have fun, but don't forget—six o'clock tonight.”
“Six o'clock. I'll be there. Promise.”
Beth hit the end button and tossed the phone to the other side of the king-sized bed. She curled her body up against Alex and pressed her lips to the base of his throat. Just for good measure, she flicked her tongue out to taste the little hollow at the base. He made a little sound of appreciation.
“What did Isobel want?” he asked.
“To tell me that I'd missed breakfast. And to remind me that the rehearsal is tonight.” Beth pulled her face up far enough to nuzzle her nose against his cheek. She bobbed down to kiss the corner of his mouth.
“That's it?” His voice was wary.
“Pretty much.”
“You were talking with her for longer than that.”
Beth pulled back far enough away to see his expression. It didn’t give anything away. “You still think Isobel has something to do with this, don’t you?”
“I can’t rule anyone out. I won't allow you to get hurt because you're blinded by your affections.”
Beth rolled to the other side of the bed and stood. He didn't make any move to stop her.
“Blinded by my affections?” she said. “The only person that I seem to be blinded by is you. I've known Isobel since I was six years old. She would never do anything to hurt me.”
Alex sat up. The sheet fell to his lap, leaving his chest exposed. Beth didn't want to gape at him. Really, she didn't. She was working on building up a good head of righteous rage, and the sight of his well-defined torso was dousing the flames.
But she was only human, and his hair was all ruffled from...well, she remembered all too well what had caused that ruffling. His eyes were turning dark again, narrowing with fever-inducing intensity.
It might have had something to do with her standing buck naked in the center of the room. Her cheeks started to burn again. She reached down and snatched his discarded button-down shirt from the floor. She pulled her arms through the sleeves and wrapped the front around her as quickly as she could.
His expression didn’t soften. Not one little bit.
“I don't think that is having the effect you were hoping for.” He patted the mattress next to him. “Why don't you come back over here?”
Beth shook her head, resisting the answering smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth. “I don't think so.”
He arched his brows. “I could make it worth your while.”
“No way.”
“Oh, I can think of lots of ways.”
Her blush burned. “Not while you still think that Isobel is trying to kill me.”
“I never said I thought that,” he said. “I sure as hell hope that it's not true. I just said that your safety is my main concern. Until this is over I will suspect everyone.”
Beth scrunched her nose. When he put it like that, it sounded so reasonable. She sat down on the edge of the bed. “Okay, there. Happy now?”
He crooked his finger at her. “A little closer.”
She shook her head. “Nope.” A girl had to have some backbone, after all. No matter how misguided it was.
“All right then,” he said. “If that's how you want to play.”
He was on her in less than a second. Before she could react, she was on her back, her hands locked above her head, his hips positioned between her legs.
“Much better,” he said. His mouth was so close to hers, so close that his breath washed across her lips, kissing her before he did.
The phone rang.
That was it. She was going to make it her life mission to smash every phone she saw. She would be doing the world a favor.
Except it was his phone this time. With great reluctance, he pulled away. “Sorry, duty calls.”
She groaned out loud as he sprung from the bed. He grabbed the phone and went into the sitting room. Beth crawled reluctantly from the bed. She could barely hear him in the other room. His answers were terse. One word, maybe two. He was on the call for less than a minute before he hung up.
“Munoz is on the move,” he said, heading for the bathroom. He flicked on the lights and a moment later, Beth heard the shower start up. A half second later, he came back out. “The guys in the van just intercepted a text message from a burner phone.”
Beth felt a lump forming in her throat. Her stomach dropped. She didn't want to ask. She didn't need to. The serious look on his face told her that whatever the message was, it wasn't any good.
“What did it say?”
“That if Munoz couldn't handle the situation, he would take care of it himself.”
Beth blinked. She sank back down on the edge of the bed, her knees threatening to give out underneath her.
“I’m the situation, aren’t I?”
Alex stopped mid-stride. “Yes,” he said. It was a simple answer to a simple question. But Beth felt like she had taken a swift blow to the gut.
“Does that mean he’s coming back to the hotel to shoot me himself?”
“I doubt it.”
“But we're still going to go downstairs and wait for something to happen?” Her voice sounded small, even to her own ears.
“Yes.??
?
He didn't rush to comfort her this time. But he didn't lie to her either. He treated her like an adult. One who could handle the burden she'd taken on.
And she could, she reminded herself. She might not like it. Hell, the fact that she didn't was probably a good indicator of her sanity. But she could handle it. She would handle it. The only other choice was giving up, and she sure as hell wasn't going to do that.
“We have to,” he said. “You're an easy target up here.”
Beth nodded. She understood. Everyone knew where she was. Hell, even Isobel had told her to stay in bed all day.
Had she known?
Beth immediately felt a traitorous shame at the fleeting thought. There was no way that her best friend was setting her up for an assassin to find.
No way in hell.
Still, Beth didn't waste any time showering and dressing before making her way down to the lobby.
***