Page 45 of Grand Escape

“Hey, Adam. You got my texts?”

The words echoed in the open-air lobby, freezing me in place.

“Ad?”

I mentally shook myself from my stupor to find my brother standing in front of me. “Cal? What the hell are you doing here?”

He looked great, despite obviously traveling early this morning. His hair was perfectly cut and combed, and his face only had a hint of stubble. “You didn’t read my texts, did you?”

“No. You told me not to do work. To enjoy my trip.” Which I was doing until you showed up, but I didn’t say that part.

Cal gave me a big grin. “It wasn’t work. I decided to join you for the weekend.”

Just then, a very bleached blonde with fake eyelashes and wearing one of those striped warmup suits walked over from the bell stand. “Hi, I’m Chelsea.”

I couldn’t help but gape. What the hell was my brother doing?

“Well, we decided to join you. This is Sophia,” he said while tugging a brunette close to his side, “and her friend Chelsea.”

His voice was getting louder and louder, calling attention to us. I was afraid to look up for fear Tony was watching this whole nightmarish scene unravel.

“I was telling Soph what a good time you seemed to be having, and she said I don’t do that enough. So, I got right on my phone and booked us.”

My night with Rylan had already been too short, and now my asshole of a brother showed up with a fix-up for me. He didn’t have to say it for me to know it.

Cal finished proudly. “Then Soph said her friend Chelsea would be the perfect person for you to spend a few days with, so we booked her too. And here we are.”

“W-what about work?” I stuttered.

“Work? I get to take some time off too, you know.”

Speechless and reeling, I nodded.

“Ohhh, I love this place. Super chic, isn’t it?” Chelsea purred. Literally. Purred. She slid her hand up my arm, and my flesh crawled as she continued to mewl. “Soph said you’re a hottie, according to your pics, and I wanted to see for myself I.R.L. In real life. She wasn’t wrong.”

Uncomfortable, I stepped out of her grasp, but she only moved closer.

“Place is pretty damn nice,” Cal said, eyeing the lobby. “I did a mobile check-in, so they’re going to text me when the rooms are ready. Chelsea has her own room, but it’s cool if she doesn’t use it. Her parents are rolling in it.”

He winked, and I felt like the star of some godawful reality show.

All I could think about was getting them out of here. Today was Rylan’s day off, and she’d gone to Sam’s. I had no idea when she would be back or where she was at the moment.

A thought hit me, and I blew out a long breath of relief. Tony was also off. I recalled their chat about doing something today. Maybe she’d changed her mind and decided to go with him. Now I was here ... and so was Chelsea.

“Did you have breakfast?” I asked.

“No, I’m starving,” my brother said, always hungry.

My mind spinning, I said, “Let’s go to the restaurant.” With any luck, we could get a table in the back corner.

“Let’s.” Chelsea snagged my arm as Sophia snuggled deeper into Cal.

For a second, I saw a flash of red and blinked. Then I saw a whole lot of red in front of me, staring down at where Chelsea was linked with me.

“Morning, Adam.” The redhead glared at me as if she were ready to cut me as promised.

“Morning, Teddi.” I slipped out of Chelsea’s grip and pointed at Cal. “This is my brother ... and a couple of his friends. They surprised me this morning.”

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