Page 16 of Royal Pain

I only wished it was under different circumstances. The shake was cordial but the look in her eyes was anything but. She’d wanted me as much as I’d craved her. Some people just had a tough time letting go. I suddenly wanted to learn everything possible about her, even if it would mean nothing.

I had my sources. That shouldn’t prove to be but so difficult to do.

“Good girl,” I said automatically, as if that was an appropriate thing to say.

Her eyes did a little flicker like she liked being called that.

God, I wanted so much to ask her for a drink, if for no other reason than being able to spend time with her.

However, two of her friends were headed in our direction. By the expressions they wore, I could tell they were eager to drag her back to the core of the event.

“I’m always a good girl. But I’m not certain you can stop Grandma over there.” She pointed casually toward one of thewomen crowding the stage, encouraging the boys to come forward so she could stick a little money in their thongs.

They didn’t seem to be bothered at all, dancing toward her as if the gray-haired woman was the hottest woman on the planet. I was fairly certain she was going to grab one or more of their crotches. Instead, she reached under her dress, ripping off her own thong. After swirling it in the air, she tossed it in one of the men’s faces.

“God. Some things you don’t want a mental picture of.”

Evangeline laughed. “I agree. I’ll do my best to keep down the music.”

We both looked at each other longingly for another few seconds. “I’ll leave you to your party.”

Maybe she wanted to ask if I’d stay. Maybe she didn’t. Staying wasn’t good for my reputation or my libido.

As I walked out, I noticed Raleigh was talking with Travis, the girl also quite animated. I headed toward them, my instinct telling me we had yet another issue.

“Dare I ask what it is this time?” I threw out.

Raleigh took a deep breath, even fanning her face. “You’re not going to like this.” She was holding her iPad as if the damn thing was a lifeline.

“Okay. Maybe not but if you think it’s something I need to see then I need to see it.”

I glanced at Travis who was doing his best to keep from laughing. Oh, this should be good.

“I was surfing the various social media sites as I do as part of my job,” Raleigh said.

“Which I appreciate. Did you find something?”

She was still sheepish, nodding to my question.

“Let’s see it. Whatever it is, we can deal with it.”

“I don’t know, boss,” Travis said, his voice holding far too much of a lilt.

As soon as she handed the iPad to me, she cringed.

“What am I looking at here?”

“Instagram. She has over two million followers. You should see her TikTok account. Whoosh. She’s a heavy social media influencer. On all platforms too.”

I glanced from Raleigh to Travis before really taking a serious look. Almost immediately, my blood boiled. They were pictures, recent pictures of the resort. While most were innocent enough, pictures of the beach and the pool area creatively done too, that wasn’t the point. Any level of guest, whether or not they were members, were required to sign a nondisclosure.

That included no pictures on any internet program. None.

Damn it, Evangeline.

Sighing, I was ready to give the computer back to Raleigh. Finding out the woman I was very interested in was working the event burned my ass. Evangeline hadn’t lied to me directly when asked what she did for a living, but she’d skirted around it enough that she knew better than to post a single picture.

“Look at the comments and keep scrolling. It only gets worse.” Now Raleigh was trying to keep from laughing.

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