Page 15 of Save Me

Chapter 7

“Motherfucker!”Andie slammed the door shut.

It is not Eric Tam on the other side of the damn door. Of course, it’s not him. You’ve hit rock bottom and now you’re hallucinating. Doc Hotshit is long gone. He left you eating his dust instead of his cock.

“Andie? I know you’re not happy to see me… That’s okay. I just want to talk and your roommate, Juliet, told me you were here.”

Juliet wasn’t her roommate. She was crashing on Juliet’s couch. Roommates paid rent. She had no money.

Crap!This was not supposed to happen. Not like this. She was supposed to run into Eric in New York or Paris after getting engaged to an attractive, wealthy man. Someone who dwarfed Eric’s six feet. Maybe an NBA player. She would be wearing the perfect red dress with her hair and face expertly made up. Eric wasn’t supposed to show up when she was both homeless and jobless, dressed in a tank top and a pair of boxer shorts with the elastic shot.

“Can I come in?” he called through the door. “I can wait till you get dressed. Mike was concerned about you. Are you okay?”

Oh God, this was humiliating. Not to mention her brief glimpse of him was enough to confirm Eric was as tall and gorgeous as she remembered. He was even dressed neatly in a button-down shirt rolled up at the cuffs despite the crippling afternoon heat.

Damn him and that fucking effortless style. Why couldn’t he have gained weight or started losing his hair? You don’t have to open up. Being an immature brat was always an option.

“I’m not going away until you talk to me.”

Sighing heavily, Andie pulled away from the door and went to her bag to grab a pair of jeans. When she finally opened the door she was composed and wearing her cutest I’m-not-trying-to-look-good-outfit. And shoes. Being barefoot always made her feel more vulnerable. Well, right now her feet were covered in black leather steel-toed boots. It was as strong and confident as she could get on short notice.

Eric gave her a small smile. “Hi.”

She stared at him with what she hoped was a withering expression.

“Mike called me about the pills they found,” he said after an awkward silence. “I realize it’s been a while, but I was worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?”

This was either some sort of dream or a nightmare. “Are you serious? I haven’t seen you in years.”

He blinked and shook his head. “I know it’s been a long time. I’m sorry. But this is the first time I’ve been back in Vegas since I left. I did call and text when I was able to.”

She had wanted to be cool and casual about the amount of time that had passed before he’d reached out to her, but his reminder set her off. “That was months after you left. And those pills weren’t mine. I even went to the police to tell them so.”

“I know,” he said quickly. “They came to talk to us at the hospital.”

Andie backed away and sat at the small dinette table next to the kitchen.

“Why were you at the hospital?” she asked, wondering if he was thinking of returning to Vegas and getting his old job back. Did he expect her to see him again if he did?

Eric glanced around, looking adorably flustered at the lack of seating. The only other chair at the table was full of books, so he remained standing.

“I found a guy passed out in the bathroom of Lynx after hours last night. An overdose. We suspect it was Drek. He had a few more capsules of it in his pocket.”

Andie felt her stomach drop. “Oh. Is he dead?”

“No, I found him in time. Needless to say, the cops were pretty interested in the pills Mike found. He doesn’t think they were really yours by the way.”

She covered her face with her hands. “Doesn’t matter. I know Mr. McLachlan’s zero tolerance clause backwards and forwards. I’ve read it a dozen times since I got dismissed.”

“You’re on probation. You’re not fired yet.”

“I’m not fired up until the point I get arrested,” she said. “I’m not sure they believed me when I went to make my statement.”

“Calen and Mike are going to keep searching for other suspects. I just wanted you to know that. I’ll be staying around for a few weeks as well. And if you’d like another place to crash, you can stay at my hotel.”

She lifted her head up out of hands, prepared to blister his ears with swear words bad enough to make a sailor blush, but Eric forestalled her.

He held up his hands. “In your own room, of course. Far away from mine. On a separate floor. Whatever you like.”

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