Page 35 of Renegade

He laughed. “Yeah, that’s about what I expected. Just remember, I came here as a warning and I’m not known for repeating myself.”

I rolled my eyes as I walked out the door, muttering, “Whatever you say, Grey. Whatever you say.”

Lauren

May 2010, Galveston

I paced in front of the bathroom mirror, unsure of whether I wanted to vomit or do a victory dance.

“Oh my god,” I groaned into my hands.Was I the type of woman who could sleep with a man I just met?

He’d been so perfect out there, but what if that changed the minute I slept with him? I shouldn’t have said that I liked him—I probably cursed myself by doing that. But, for a moment, I’d forgotten about my troubles with Monica and the fact that I was still missing a car.

A knock sounded from the door between mine and Sandra’s rooms before she poked her head around the corner. “Everything all right in here?”

She’d obviously spent her last few hours sobering up.

I shook my head and splashed some cold water from the sink faucet onto my cheeks.If the decision was making me queasy, wasn’t that a good sign that it wasn’t for me?

I sighed, “I met someone and he told me that he wants to take me back to his room…for sex.”

Sandra grinned and came all the way into the room. “Do tell.”

I told her about our walk on the beach and the dancing. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a date, but I could see a future with this guy. I don’t want to mess it up by sleeping with him so soon, you know?”

She shook her head. “Honey, you said he didn’t give you a real name. That should’ve been your first clue that he doesn’t see this going anywhere. Secondly, you’re in your own room right now. That tells me that you know you’re not a one-night stand kind of girl.

“If you really saw yourself going through with it, you’d be down there with him. Not up here, telling me. A wedding is not the place to meet the love of your life. It’s where you find someone to keep your bed warm for the night and then you both move on the next day. Is that something you could do?”

I thought back over the night and realized she was right. He’d been trying to get inside my panties from the moment I met him and judging by how good he was, this was definitely not his first time.

“Oh my god,” I groaned again into my hands, feeling more nauseated than ever.

Dr. Mulloy patted my back. “There, there. No use crying over dry panties. Let’s get you into bed. That way, you can leave here tomorrow with your dignity intact.”

I nodded and let her lead me over to the bed. I slid my still sandy feet under the covers and rested my face against the pillow.

Who knew?

Maybe when he saw that I wasn’t coming, he’d search the entire hotel for me. It’d be like a romantic movie. I’d felt a real connection to him—it wouldn’t be totally crazy if he felt one too, right?

Sandra wet a washcloth and placed it across my forehead. “You get some sleep. We’ll leave bright and early tomorrow so we can get back to the real world.”

I agreed and closed my eyes, suddenly afraid to voice aloud that I didn’t ever want to get back to the real world.

I wanted to stay in a world where Jack and I could dance on the beach and fall madly in love without any obstacles.

Chapter Six

Galveston, May 2010

I held up my empty shot glass, “I’ll have another.”

The bartender nodded and grabbed the bottle of tequila. I glanced down at my watch and scanned the bar for the tenth time in the last five minutes.

She was late.

And I was still pissed over Grey showing up in my hotel room with warnings.

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