The heavy fall of rain against the weathered plastic tub is enough to lull me back to sleep . . . Almost. If I were vacationing somewhere in Hawaii, I could close my eyes and pretend it was a midmorning storm happening outside my window. But as my eyes slowly peel open and I take in my surroundings, I’m reminded that I’m not in Hawaii with lush green vegetation. No, I’m in the desert. Still stranded at the Last Chance Motel.
The sound of rain outside the motel window isn’t what wakes me. It’s the noise from my sexy as hell roommate showering. My ears strain to listen, but there’s no sound of singing.
What a pity.
I bet he has a wonderful signing voice. Lukis can do such marvelous things with his tongue.
Being stranded in this shady little motel in the middle of nowhere turned out not to be such a bad thing once Lukis became involved. Fate was looking out for me after all. At first, the thought of spending my birthday in this cheap motel room was anything but exciting, but after spending last night ringing in a new decade with Lukis, I’m more than satisfied. Thirty will be a fan fucking-tastic year.
I sigh, rubbing my head against the scratchy white pillowcase in the middle of the bed. One foot snakes out from under the covers, cooling my body the perfect amount as I lie back and listen to Lukis shower.
And think about what he looks like showering. If I wasn’t still tired, I’d get up and join him. I don’t normally make such rash decisions. I’ve only had a single one-night stand in my life, but this thing with Lukis feels like more.
Still weighing my options about making it out of bed, my phone rings, breaking my Lukis daydream. I plugged it in last night between one of our passionate love sessions — yeah, I called them love sessions, bite me — but it was kicked under the bed. I find it when I lean over far enough I worry I’ll fall.
More than likely, it’s my mom and dad calling to wish me a happy birthday, if they haven’t forgotten that as well in all the excitement of my sister having another child.
A millisecond before I slide my finger across the screen to answer the call, I stall. What if my father is back and ready to pick me up? This thing between Lukis and me always had an end in sight, but I’m not ready for it to be today.
The phone rings again, and I answer. There’s no time to dwell now.
“Hello.”
A masculine voice seeps from the line, but it doesn’t belong to my father. “Someone is excited to hear from me.”
“Antonio,” I hesitate, not sure what to say next. I promised Lukis up and down last night that I would not have any more contact with Antonio. Lukis said it’s much too dangerous for me to be involved.
And while Antonio doesn’t seem much worse than your average slime ball, I’m not taking any chances.
“I’m not waking you up. Am I?”
“No,” I say. Something unnerving crawls up my skin, and I tuck my foot back under the covers as if Antonio is watching. A snake lying in wait under the bed. “I am just getting up,” I lie.
“That’s too bad. I was enjoying thinking about you naked in bed.”
I swallow hard and stop moving. How would he know I’m naked? “I sleep in pajamas, silly.” I’ve never been great at playing it cool, and I’m only worse when I know the person I’m talking to is a criminal sleazeball.
Antonio doesn’t seem to catch on to my nervousness. Or if he does, he doesn’t care. “Not now, but in my dreams, it’s much more fun.”
“Oh.”
“A joke, Bella.” Antonio laughs for a few seconds. Rather than be amused, I pull the bed covers up around me trying to block myself from the room. “I called to invite you to dinner.”
“Dinner?” I’m not supposed to go anywhere with Antonio. Definitely not dinner. Lukis would shit a brick.
“Yes,” he keeps talking, unaware I’m having a mental freak-out about how to turn him down. Antonio knows where I’m staying and kills people for a living. Lukis didn’t tell me what he does as part of his “crime ring.” “Although it will need to be an early dinner. I have a very important business meeting planned for later in the evening. A colleague and I have to swap information.”
Most of his words get lost in the dinging alarm bells when he said “colleague business meeting” and “swap information.” Is this the reason Lukis is here watching him? What information are they going to swap? Lukis told me time and again, he needs to stay in the shadows and not be detected here. It’s limiting what he can accomplish. If Antonio even suspects he’s compromised, they will back out. Whatever is going on, Lukis wants it to happen without suspicion.
But Antonio doesn’t suspect me. Why would he? He’s looking to support a jobless girl who found herself stranded on the way to Vegas. I’m positive he hasn’t looked at me any deeper than my bra line. I can sneak in, figure out what information Lukis needs, and get back to him before anyone realizes what’s happened.
It’s the perfect plan.
The hardest part will be sneaking out of the motel room. It’s not like the Last Chance is a large area. You can see most of the rooms from where we are, including the pool and the dining room, which means if Antonio takes me to the motel restaurant I’m screwed. Lukis could see me in any direction.
“Bella? Have you decided? You’ll have dinner with me?”
Out of time, I decide to figure out the rest of it later. “I would love to have dinner with you. What time?”
“I’ll pick you up at four. We’ll go to the truck stop for dinner. The place is sure to be lovely.” His words are laced with sarcasm.
“Is it close?” Lukis mentioned a truck stop before he offered for me to stay with him. While I don’t want to eat with him at the restaurant, I also don’t like the idea of driving off to nowhere with Antonio either.
“It’s a little distance and dreadful place to eat. But it’s not the motel restaurant so it will do for us. I never like to meet my business acquaintances close to where I’m staying,” he says, sounding like a gangster.
“That sounds reasonable,” I answer, even though it sounds not reasonable at all. How did I get wrapped up with two crazies?
“I’ll pick you up at four. Make sure you wear something suitable for the truckers,” Antonio says, laughing as he ends the call like he made the funniest joke in the history of jokes.
The bathroom door opens. I missed the water turning off over my phone conversation. Lukis steps out into the main room with his lower half covered only by a towel.
Pity to waste such a view.
“Who were you talking to?” Lukis asks as I hurry to stuff the phone back under the bed.
“My uncle.” The lies slip right out of my lips. I’m getting better at the subterfuge. “So, what are your plans?” I ask to hurry and get the attention off my fake phone call.
Lukis unwraps the towel, and my tongue flips out to run across my lips as the towel falls to the floor. “Sadly, as much as I’d like to fill that mouth of yours, I have to do more surveillance today. Antonio has to be getting close to the drop point. Gambo wouldn’t stay out here for this long for fun.”
“Oh, I don’t know. The modern décor and overall pretty personality of the Last Chance isn’t enough to draw him in?” I ask with a smile on my face.
From the way one eyebrow jerks, he is not up for jokes. “No, I don’t think we’re at the place Antonio Gambo sets up shop. And because things have to be getting close to a conclusion, I prefer if you didn’t leave the room today.”
A lower lip juts up and out. “That doesn’t sound fun. The only thing this place has going is the pool.”
“Trust me, it’s safer. Now that I’ve learned your lips really are made from sugar, I want to keep them stuck to your face.”
Aww. He’s so sweet when making such sexist compliments.
“I think what you said was supposed to be sexy, but you messed it up.”
Lukis smiles. “I didn’t mess up. You don’t know the things Antonio and his cartel have done over the years.”
The way he says it makes my stomach crawl, and I wrap the orange comforter higher around my shoulder. “What kinds of things?”
His head shakes. “You don’t want to know.”
He’s right, I don’t want to know, but considering I agreed to go to dinner with him, I probably should. Lukis dresses, pulling on a pair of stone-washed jeans and a black T-shirt from the same bag he carried the guns around in.
When he walks back by the bed, he leans down and takes a second to rub a spot on my ankle through the bed covers. I don’t understand how a man could be so many things. Hard and cold, quick to answer and rude, sexy and sweet, and then there’s the quick moments as this one where he’s almost tenderhearted. The grin on his face reminds me how he was last night. The gentle stroke of his finger on my ankle isn’t meant to turn me on but a quiet gesture between two lovers. It clenches my tummy and makes butterflies sprout to life — all feelings I should not be having after only spending one night with this man.
“Are you naked under there?” he asks, breaking the mood in his own special Lukis way.
“The rule was, I had to stay in the room today.” I pop out my foot he isn’t touching and rub my toe against his forearm.
Lukis smirks, one side of his lips a smidge higher than the other. “If you’re telling me you plan to stay around the room all day today naked. I approve.”
He pulls on the comforter, exposing my naked breasts to the room. “Lukis!”
The door rattles as someone pounds on the other side. Lukis and I freeze, both our eyes wide. I hurry to pull the comforter over my shoulders.
The playful attitude gone, he looks me in the eye saying, “Stay here.”
I roll my eyes because where else am I going to go. I hope to god Antonio isn’t here to check in on me. This will end badly for everyone.
Lukis walks to the door and opens it, keeping the gun on the edge of the table within his peripheral and sticking only his head outside. “Horrible timing, man,” he says, stepping back and opening the door.
An older guy, with his hair sticking up in every direction and wearing a pair of blue overalls, passes a bright orange lunchroom tray to Lukis through the opening. “Sammy promised me a tip.”
Lukis places the tray on the table and pulls a few dollars from his wallet, giving them to the old man before closing the door in his face.
“They have room service?”
He stands between the desk and the bed, blocking my view of what’s happening. “No, they don’t have room service at this dump, but with enough money, you can bribe anyone to do anything.”
Lukis turns back around holding a large plate with four pancakes stacked on top of one another. Syrup is drizzled over the side and at the top, a tiny baby blue colored candle sticks out from the middle of the top pancake. The small flame flickers and dances around the top as he walks to the bed.
“Had to pay more for the book of matches,” he says, sitting on the bed beside me as I scoot over to give him more room.
“This is for me?” I ask, sitting up and putting my back against the headboard.
Lukis holds the pancakes in front of me at chest height. “It’s your birthday, isn’t it? Make a wish and blow out the candle before you get wax in your syrup.”
With a smile, I close my eyes and wish quietly before blowing out the candle. “How did you know it’s my birthday?”
Lukis pulls out the candle and sets my plate of pancakes and a fork on the nightstand beside the bed. “I looked at your license, remember?”
That’s right. He did. And I’m still angry about that. It’s just that it feels like it happened so many days ago. A lifetime or two. But it was only a matter of a day. How can you get to know someone so quickly you feel you’ve known him all your life?
“Eat up and if you spill any on your chest, I’m in charge of cleanup.”
I roll my eyes but laugh. This playful side of Lukis is one I could get to know better.