Page 1 of Release You

CHAPTER 1

The Cavalier Hotel

Nikki

I laid on the horn again, and the ten cars in front of me did the same. Oddly enough, that didn’t help. Up ahead at the end of the street, or what used to be the end of the street, a construction worker held up a stop sign. When I rolled down the window to get his attention, a puff of hot air mixed with exhaust fumes and dust hit me square in the face. Yeah, welcome to fucking Paradise Creek, Arizona, home of the biggest steak burrito and the worst years of my life.

I gripped the steering wheel and blew out a breath. No matter what this place threw at me, I could handle it. So what if the entire block was under construction? I needed to get to my hotel, take a hot bath, and mark one more day off the calendar. By this time next month, I’d be in Paris, eating crepes and sipping mochas with my sister. No more cons, no more spoiled millionaires.

I checked my makeup in the rearview mirror and climbed out of the car. Not two steps in, I stopped when a constructionworker who’d been drilling in the middle of the traffic circle blew a kiss in my direction.

“I loveyou,” he said.

I returned the sentiment with a meek smile. Maybe leaving my car wasn’t the best idea ever, but First Street was the only road into old downtown that wasn’t blocked. I strutted toward the guy holding up the sign. He had his back to me. His white T-shirt stuck to his torso and hung loose just above an ass that belonged on the spread of a fashion magazine. His over six-foot frame stood tall, covered in sweaty, sun-kissed muscles. I opened my mouth to get his attention, but he beat me to it.

“Russ,” he called out, his voice deep and full of confidence. “I need you on traffic duty.”

“Yeah, boss.” A stocky guy with soot smeared on the side of his face fell to the ground from the back of a crane. He froze when he saw me. After a couple of quick blinks, he flashed me a toothy grin.

I braced both hands on my hips. “How much longer? You can’t keep us here all morning.”

Hot construction guy spun around and treated me to a dark stare. As far as intimidating glares went, this one was pretty good, but I wasn’t his average girl. I’d been trained to handle men, all kinds of men. Okay, more like self-taught. But still. He pressed his lips together and stepped toward me, raking a hand through his hair, biceps bulging.

“Ma’am, get back in your car. This is a hard-hat area. It isn’t safe.”

“Ma’am?” I lowered my gaze, plastered a smile on my face, and read him quickly—I didn’t have time to deal with his remodeling problems—hot guy, tall, dark hair, darker eyes, and sexy full lips. Yeah, this guy was used to women drooling all over him. They did whatever he asked either because they were intimidated by him or because they wanted to get in his pants.

When I glanced up, I changed my tone to low and sweet. “Darling, it’s a million degrees out here. Please, I need help getting to my hotel.” I pointed to the other side of the road.

Russ sprang into action and grabbed one of the barricades blocking my access to the hotel. Hot guy put his large hand out and stopped Russ in his tracks. “Grab a sign and start rerouting cars out of here.”

“But she needs help.”

“I’ll take care of that.” He set his silly sign against the tailgate of his truck while muscles strained under his forearms.

The man could wear a T-shirt. I had to give him that. Wait. Was I staring?

Make them stare. That was my move.

I slid my hands up to my waist, “twins” out.

Russ coughed, as if he’d tried to swallow and it went down the wrong tube. He tipped his hat at me and scurried to the other side of the street.

Hot construction guy placed his hands on his hips and tapped a long index finger on his utility belt. Was he mocking me? “Ma’am.”

I cringed. The word was like a jackhammer hitting metal. At twenty-five, I wasn’t old enough to be a ma’am. I inhaled slowly, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

He smiled at the ground before he spoke again. “Like I said, it isn’t safe here. Get back in your car. Russ will show you the detour route.”

It’d been a long day. Hell, it’d been a long summer. I gripped my hip bone. All I wanted was to get to a shower and a bed and start working on a plan that would get me out of this godforsaken place before the end of the month.

“But my hotel is right there. A detour would take me away from it.” I couldn’t see the building, but I’d been down thisstreet a thousand times. The Cavalier Hotel was just around the corner. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Henry.”

His voice deepened when he said it, as if it was supposed to mean something to me. Well, it didn’t. Nothing in this town meant anything to me anymore. It hadn’t for a long time. I’d spent the last ten years making myself forget everything I went through when I’d lived here.

“Do you have a last name, Henry?” I let his name linger on my tongue.

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