Page 27 of Hidden Dane
The manager handed him back the card as Dane said, “It will just be two of us. Could you possibly find a violin?”
“Yes, sir.” The manager put the receipt in the register. “I will personally take care of it.”
Dane smiled his thanks and hurried back toward his room when his phone rang. Ah, Brady. He answered quickly and hoped that nothing had gone wrong. “How are things in Paris?”
“Quiet,” Brady assured him. “I’m running online searches of the dark web to see if I can figure out who Ted’s buyer for the jewels might be.”
Right. If anyone was good at hacking, it was Brady. In Cairo, Brady’s scans had uncovered the hidden tombs in the Valley of Kings. He’d worked on his computer program for days, drinking only coffee in his hotel room. Brady often said he hung out with Uriel, because adventure followed him. That was probably true, but tonight he was just Dane, who wanted to charm his girl. “I appreciate it—make sure to enjoy the hotel room. Get room service, at least.”
He heard typing. “This might be interesting—so many times the thread disappears. I’ll tell you what I find tomorrow morning,” Brady said.
Dane glanced at Emily’s door. Soon they’d be together. He licked his lips and remembered her sweet kisses as he told his friend, “Good luck.”
He returned to his room and saw the floor lacked his dirty clothes. He would leave a big tip when they checked out.
Dane changed into his tailored gray suit and adjusted his thin blue tie—the hour almost over. He combed his clean hair in the bathroom and then slipped into the new shoes Emily had also bought for him for tonight.
Dressed to her specifications, Dane knocked on her door.
Emily answered, still in her bathrobe, though her blonde bob was shiny and smelled like jasmine. Her eyes lifted to his as she smiled. “Dane, there you are.”
Her skin glowed and she gestured for him to come inside. His heart beat faster, as if he should have brought flowers like he had on prom night. “You look like you spent all day in a spa.”
She checked her face in the hall mirror. “Is that a compliment?”
“Yes. I like your haircut—it suits you.” He remembered what Emily looked like naked underneath that robe and wondered if anything had changed.
She headed into the bathroom but kept the door open as she picked up a dress still encased in plastic wrap. “I wish I’d thought to write down the name of the person I took the clothes from on the train so I could send them back, cleaned and pressed.”
“They’d understand.” If she was him, he’d want to leave cash too. He saw her leg flash at the door and goosebumps grew on his body. “Are you ready?”
“Almost.” Yet her slender hand reached for lotion.
Either she was getting into that dress or she was about to walk out completely naked. His body hardened and he fixed his tie. “What are you doing?”
“I need to look perfect tonight,” she said in a sultry tone. “I’m almost done.”
He let go of his tie and took a deep breath. It was better not to get his hopes up. “Why? You’re just with me.”
“I don’t want you to leave me in the morning.” He heard the plastic of her bag rip.
He relaxed at her answer. They were heading out, but they’d be coming back. He poured water into a glass from the sink outside the bathroom. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Good to hear. I’m ready now.” Emily stepped out of the bathroom in a sparkly peach knee-length dress that made her skin glow and hugged her body perfectly.
It was like this dress had been made for her and only her. He instantly wanted to touch her. Dane realized his blue tie had the peach color of her dress embedded in it. Her eye for detail amazed him. “You’re beautiful, Emily.”
“Thanks.” She brushed her hand against her bare neck. “I didn’t want to wear the necklace—honestly my bra needs washing—yet I don’t want it out of my possession, so I’m doing my best with a regular bra. The jewels are scraping my skin. Does it look odd?” She turned to the side and gestured to her cleavage.
The necklace. At any point Ted might realize she’d faked him out. Dane had checked into the hotel with an alias and taken security precautions, though he was well aware they might be tracked down. His shoulders tightened and he took her hand. He would step in front of a bullet for her.
He eyed the smooth round of her chest. “I can’t tell from my view.” Changing the subject, he said, “You’re the only person in the world who never held my mother’s murder against me.”
Her blue eyes deepened with concern. “That’s not true-”
“I don’t want to talk about Michael,” he interrupted. Michael was his biological father but Dane didn’t know him. Michael had saved his life that day, but thinking of him as a father, that was something else.
His heart ripped as the memories replayed in his mind. He squeezed her hand a little tighter as Emily said, “He didn’t blame you though.”
