Page 9 of In The Dark
“Am I not a fucking psychic or what? I fuckingtoldyou tonight would be the best night of your life. And, look! You met someone! I’m so goddamn good.”
“Nothing is going to come from it. Thousands of people went through the line. I have no way—” I sit up. “Wait a minute. Do you still have that friend in park security?”
“Brennan? Yeah, we’re cool. Why?”
“I wonder if he could pull the tapes from the entrance gates and parking garage. I could find her license plate and figure out where she lives. What her last name is and where she works. I couldhappento drop by.”
“Slow down there, creeper. Women don’t want to be stalked. They want to be pursued. There’s a difference,” he says.
“Yeah? And what difference is that?”
“Hiding in the shadows seems like a big one. Showing up at their place of work unannounced is also a huge red flag.”
“I’m not hiding in the shadows. I’m using my resources. Taking her on a long, romantic walk, except she doesn’t know I’m there.”
“That is literally stalking.”
“Potato, poe-tah-toe. I’m not kidding when I say there was something special about this girl.”
“Special like her tits?” he asks, and I roll my eyes.
“I mean, yeah, her chest was nice, but it was more than that. It was like I was drawn to her, man. I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted to keep making conversation, and for as scared as she was…” I laugh. “I’m probably reading too much into it. It seemed like she lingered. And I liked it.”
“I need specifics on the lingering. Did she ask you questions? Did she touch you? Did you touch her? You havegotto get better at storytelling, Hunt.”
“You are so nosy.”
“You started it!”
“There wasn’t any touching except for the arm I put around her waist. And then she like, melted into me?”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Leo rubs his hands together. “If I’m not the best man at the wedding, I will riot.”
“I was thinking more like fucking her in my bed, but if you want to watch, I’ll leave the door open.”
“Kinky.” He grins. “It’s been a while since we shared someone.”
“There’s no sharing.” My tone drops to lethal. Possessive. I’m daydreaming about her long legs and her wide, blue eyes. “She’s mine.”
“Easy killer. I’m not stealing her from you. You don’t even know her name.”
“It’s Maxine. Max for short.” I groan, wishing I had been more proactive when she was around. I keep my phone on me in the house. It would’ve been easy to get her number to meet up when I got off work, but I was too caught up in how goddamn beautiful she was. Rendered useless by how soft her skin was and the hitch in her voice. “And I’m going to track her down.”
“If anyone can, it’s you.” He stands and stretches. “Let me call Brennan and report back.”
“If I like his answer, I will let you watch,” I say, and he lights up.
“I’ve always been motivated by incentives.” With a salute, he flings open the breakroom door and presses his phone to his ear. “Brennan? Hey, man. It’s Leo over in entertainment. Listen. I need a favor.”
He gives me a wink and disappears outside, continuing a conversation I can’t hear. I sigh and move to the couch, staring at the fluorescent lights above me and wishing my mom was around so I could ask for her advice.
She talked me through all my high school and early college relationship issues. She loved to tell me to get my head out of my ass and taught me how to treat a woman right.
Fuck.
She should be here.
I should’ve done more so she would be here.
