Page 9 of Forgotten

“Ah, perfect,” he said, and when I cocked my eyebrow at him, he grinned. “I was just thinking maybe you and I could catch up when you got off. Maybe grab a bite to eat. Is there an all-night diner around here somewhere?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Not near here. We’re in the business section of town. Everything here shuts down at nine, if not earlier. Except us, obviously. And a few restaurants, but by now, they’re closed.”

“Damn,” he said.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was you asking me on a date,” I said.

It was kind of testy the way I said it, and at first, I felt bad about it, then I decided that I didn’t. He deserved a little testiness. The last time I’d seen him, he broke my heart. While we were dancing around all that, he was reverting right back to being his charming, flirtatious self. I wasn’t going to let him do that without reminding him that we’d tried that already.

And why it hadn’t worked.

“What if I was?” he asked.

“Heh,” I said, settling behind the computer as he went around the desk and stood in front of me. “Wouldn’t your wife be upset about that?”

“Wife?” he asked, then held up his hand. No ring on the ring finger. One on the pinky, and another on his other hand’s index finger. But none on the ring finger. “No wife.”

“Girlfriend then?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said. “Single, as usual.”

I nodded knowingly. That tracked. Jesse was known for keeping his options open… and his bed full.

“Well, me too,” I muttered.

Why did I say that? Was I trying to flirt with him or not?

At war with my own mind, I typed in his name, messing it up several times because I was so flustered and having to retype it. At least he couldn’t see the screen, and it just looked like I was very busily typing away.

“Well, if you’re single and I’m single, then no one can say anything to us just hanging out for a bit. What do you say?”

“I…” I began. Then I looked up into those deep blue eyes and made a decision.

For eight years, I had been trying to get over this boy. For eight years, I’d had to wake up and take cold showers to forget dreams I had about nights with him. For eight years, I had wondered what life would have been like, even for one day, if we had just gone to that hotel room that night instead of him performing. If he had just skipped out, and we had run off together. What would that night have been like?

Maybe I could find out.

“You know,” I said, “I could probably hang out for a bit. I have to be up early for a thing here, but I can catch up for a bit. Where do you want to go?”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t really know Tulsa. Anywhere you like?”

“Not around here,” I said. “The kitchen here is still open with some late-night stuff. We could order a couple sandwiches and find a place to sit and chat.”

He smiled again, but this time, a familiar flicker of danger was behind those eyes. Danger for me, that was. Because Jesse was never not in control.

“How about you just bring them up to my room?” he said. “I heard it’s a suite, and pretty big. Probably couches and stuff, so we can be comfortable.”

I gulped, probably louder than I wanted, and looked down at the screen. Indeed, he was in one of the massive suites on the topfloor. It had been booked at a major discount, at the last second when someone from the wedding party canceled. Whoever had booked this for him got extremely lucky.

But he was right. That room would have tons of space to sit and relax while we ate. It also had a huge floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Tulsa, and a mini-bar that put some actual bars to shame.

Italsohad a massive king-sized bed, too.

“Sure,” I said, feeling my heart thumping in my chest and trying desperately not to let on how red I knew my face was getting. “Here’s your key card. Head on up, and I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “Good to see you, Charlotte.” He looked down at my nametag and cocked an eyebrow. “April?”

“My middle name,” I said, feeling light-headed. “It’s what I go by here.”

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