Page 11 of The Midnight Delivery

It was a gamble, but one with a major pay off when he finally dialed the number. Meanwhile, I’d swiped left damn near a hundred times before I found what I was looking for. The fear I’d experienced earlier replaced itself with something unfamiliar to me. My muscles relaxed, and my chest was as light as a balloon. Growing up in Cedoria as a woman, I always felt a step behind, no matter what I did to be seen as an equal. Steve, Eye-fucker, and Derek left the gym, and left me alone with nothing but torn police tape and my thoughts. In that empty space, the final piece maneuvered itself into the puzzle when my phone buzzed to let me know I’d received a chat message from the dating app. And that’s when clarity hit me like one of the fighters in this gym would hit the heavy bags. Here in Orias, I was a step ahead.

“Hey,” read the message.

I rolled my eyes, and chuckled.Of course, what else would he say?I typed out “Lol,” and leaned back in Alejandro’s chair, twirling a strand of my hair. “Don’t you have anything better than that?” I sent, and waited.

“I have a lot of things better than that,” came the response.

Heat flooded my core. “Hmm. Like what?” I sent back.

“If you’re not scared to meet, then you can find out.”

“I’m not scared.”After everything I’ve been through, this is not scary, this is relief.

“Address?” came the question I’d been waiting on.

I didn’t know where Dustin was at the moment, as he hadn’t bothered to check in with me one time today. Yet, I couldn’t take the chance he’d come back to the hotel at the wrong moment. Nor could I afford to be stupid. This was a stranger I was chatting up, after all. I needed another place, and only knew of one that would be available. Plus, I didn’t think he would mind if I used it given the circumstances.

I typed out the address in another message, grabbed the set of keys that had been there all day undisturbed on the desk, turned off the lights and left the gym. I didn’t know if the doors locked automatically behind me, but I had to assume they did. When I got in the rental car, I checked my phone again.

“I’ll be there in less than thirty.”

My pulse quickened, and I could think of only one thing to help. “Bring wine.”

#

AJ’S HOME WAS WHATI imagined it would be. Off a country road, secluded by the lack of street lights to illuminate the way, it was perfect for what I had in mind. I imagined the man who didn’t want to spend time with his own family, wouldn’t want too many visitors. I parked around the side of the home and went the front door. After trying key after key until I found the match, I entered and flicked the switch on the wall beside the door. For a rough and tumble kind of guy, I almost thought I was in the wrong house by the décor.

The house was done in with energizing colors, fresh flowers and graphic paintings. The open-air concept had a distinct summery feel that could hold up during the rest of the year. It was pretty amazing that AJ had this type of depth to him, and also pulled at my heartstrings, because we didn’t get the chance to know him. Regardless of his choices in life, there was no reason for Tony to kill him the way he did. The images in my mind of the events surrounding AJ’s death, spurred me to action.

“How long?” I typed.

“10 mins.”

Damn, he’s fast. I hope he’s not too fast.

“Send me something to look at,” he continued.

I sucked in a breath and held it. I’m really doing this? I’m really doing this! I slipped my arms through the dark blue spaghetti straps of my white floral print sundress and pulled. My heart raced as I snapped a quick picture of my exposed breasts and hit the “send” button.Dustin would kill me if he knew. No, I thought.This isn’t about him, this is about me tonight, and what I want. And I want more.

I smirked as I tugged at my matching blue thong. It was already wet. I captured one more image and sent it to him, then went about making preparations. Time was short.

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