Page 11 of Tormented Bastard
Odette glanced over at me as she set a plant on the porch, her gaze on me. “What can I help you with, city girl?”
It appeared I had a new nickname. “I was wondering if I could use your ladies’ room.”
She just stared at me for a moment, her gaze raking over me from head to toe, then nodded once. “That’s fine. Help yourself.”
“Thanks,” I said with a smile.
The bathroom looked like the guest bath of someone’s home, complete with potpourri in a dish on the edge of the vanity. Minutes later, my feet thanked me when I slid on a pair of old-school Vans, giving them a break from the out of place Louboutins. Present Eden was thanking past Eden for having the forethought to bring some shorts and a tank top. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and threaded it through the back of my baseball cap.
The image in the small round mirror was not the professional look I envisioned when talking business with Chase. I wanted to look like I had my shit together and that he didn’t faze me one bit. He didn’t have to know it was a damn lie, but my work uniform was my armor of sorts. And now, vulnerability trembled under my skin. I blew out a breath. “When in Rome…” I murmured.
I thanked Odette on the way out, but she came around the front desk and stepped in front of me, her arms crossed over her ample chest. “You’re not one of those investigative journalist people, are you?”
I tilted my head to the side. “I’m sorry, what?”
She waved a hand in front of her. “You know, one of those journalists looking to dig up a story that’s best left alone? Chase is a good boy and he doesn’t need—”
I held up a hand and shook my head. “No. I assure you, I’m not one of those journalists. I would never do that to Chase.” I paused and looked down at the floor, shifting my bag on my shoulder, before meeting her stare again. “I’ve known Chase for many years. My business with him is just that. Business. But I can promise you that I’m not here looking for any type of dirt or story to sell about him. Or his past.”
Odette nodded slowly but continued her scrutiny of me. “Okay, I believe you. We had enough of that a few years back when he first moved here. And every so often, we get some city slicker in here that wants to dig for secrets. I don’t mind city people, mind you. Plenty of them come here in the high season to ‘unplug’ as they say. But most just end up working by the pool on their laptops and those bud thingees in their ears.” She shook her head as though it was the most ridiculous notion in the world.
I averted my gaze from hers, hoping the fact that I was one of those city slickers who worked on vacation wasn’t written in neon across my face. Hell, my whole point in being here was work related. “Um. No, I’m not here to dig up secrets.”
“Good.” She smiled. “Not that you’d get past that brick wall and security gate he’s got at that house of his.” She frowned. “I don’t know how he doesn’t get lonely out there on the far end of the island. Nary a neighbor around.”
Huh. Now we were getting somewhere. “I know what you mean,” I said, playing along and hoping the next thing I said made sense. “It’s a lot of house for one person. Especially out there. On the far end of the island.” Maybe she’d be kind enough to tell me which end of the island she meant.
“It really is. I’ve never been there but from the pictures on Google, it’s a beautiful place. But too much for one guy to ramble around in. Of course, we all thought he might end up with that bartender down at the Red Parrot. But she moved.” She shrugged. “Turns out it was just a…”—she snapped her fingers—“friends with benefits, I think they call it.”
“Hmmmm…” What the hell was I supposed to say to that? My gut churned, and the feeling that was suspiciously like jealousy wanted to spew out. It was ridiculous. “Right. Okay, well, thanks again for letting me use your ladies’ room.”
“You’re welcome, dear. I hope you make it to the mainland before they close the bridge.”
I nodded with a smile and left. I needed to get on the road and figure out which end of the island I should try first.
Back in the truck, I pulled up a map of the island. Sandy Seas was a twenty-mile-long barrier island. According to the map, the entire east end of the island was a state park. The lighthouse was right in the middle—I could see it from where I sat—and the west end of the island was a scattering of private homes. A smile spread across my lips. Thank you, Odette. She’d given me just enough to give me a starting point.
“Nice try, Hanover. But I found your ass.”
I dropped the vehicle into gear and pulled away. My ride to the far end of the island was slow but beautiful. There was no racing off to anywhere on the two lane road that ran parallel to the ocean. But the beach houses, local seaside restaurants, and sand dunes dotted the landscape, and my body relaxed in spite of the stress that had me in knots.
Stress in a six-foot-two, unfairly gorgeous, abs for days, male package.
I wouldn’t relax until I had secured a “yes” from Chase Hanover’s lips. Lips I couldn’t think too much about outside of the concept of talking.
The farther I drove, the less civilization I saw. The road became a mixture of pavement and gravel and was in the middle of palm trees and other sorts of tropical vegetation. The road ended and curved right, so I followed it about a half mile down until it simply stopped with nothing but palm trees and Spanish moss-draped oaks on my right and a crushed-shell driveway to my left.
I rolled the window down and poked my head out into the salty, hot air, looking around for something that would give me some sort of indication that there was anything out here at all. But there was nothing. No address, no mailbox, nothing. The only sounds I heard were a few birds and the crash of waves in the distance.
“If I end up dead out here, I’m coming back to haunt you, Odette,” I grumbled and turned down the unmarked road into the unknown. Chances were I’d be fine, right?
The driveway crunched beneath my tires, and rays of sun poked through the canopy of trees overhead, casting shadows over the hood and the road in front of me. It was quiet and peaceful out here with the salty smell of the sea in the air. It made me miss the peace I never truly found in the concrete jungle.
A white brick wall with a security gate came into view. It was no ornamental gate. It was a solid panel of what looked like shiplap that obscured the view of what was beyond. It almost felt like a gate and security wall in the middle of nowhere. In reality, the town was just a few short miles away, but the feeling that I had left civilization behind was strong.
By design, I was sure of it.
I stopped at the small screen just outside the gate and started to press the talk button on it when a loud buzz sounded and the gates started to swing open slowly.
