Page 60 of All Bets are Off

Anna isn’t anywhere to be seen when I step off the elevator into the lobby again. Now that I’m somewhat calmer, I find an employee to take me to the manager’s office.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Logan

It’s barely past seven o’clock in the evening, but the dark storm clouds gathering from the south make it seem later. Every so often, lightning flashes over the ocean, followed distantly by a low rumble of thunder. Seagulls keep swooping into my and West’s path, searching the sand for a crab or something else to eat. More than once we almost trip over one.

“These gulls are worse than pigeons,” West says with annoyance.

“I’ve had the same thought,” I say, jerking slightly when West unexpectedly slips his hand into mine.

“Is this okay?” he asks.

In answer, I squeeze his fingers. The stretch of beach we’re walking lies between the mansion and a long strip of hotels. The only people I can see are still far in the distance. Maybe that’s why West is brave enough to hold my hand, I think, then scold myself for being cynical. West is doing his best with the change in our relationship, maybe even better than I am, if I’m honest with myself.

“We haven’t gotten to talk much since you got home,” I say over the wind. “Did you speak to the manager of Garden Oasis about letting Anna go?”

West nods, blond hair whipping into his face and billowing up his windbreaker. “She was there, so I confronted her first.”

“What happened?”

West briefly describes their conversation. When he tells me Anna exposed her breasts to him, I slip my fingers out of his grip.

“Hey,” he says, chasing my hand and lacing them firmly with his again. “She was pulling out all the stops in a last-ditch effort to change my mind.”

“Did it turn you on?” I ask.

Stopping, West frowns at me. The clouds have completely blotted out the sun, casting a shadow over the beach. I shiver under my thin jacket as another rumble of thunder shakes the ground.

“That’s an unfair question,” he says.

“One that you’re not answering.”

“Youwatch a woman fling out her D cups and see how your body reacts.”

I’m about to snap back at him when he cups my face with his hands and kisses me.

Slowly, the tension leaks out of my body. “I guess maybe I’m a little jealous,” I admit, eyes meeting his.

“You think?” West tweaks my nose. Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, he begins walking again. “I don’t want Anna. God, she’s freaking nuts. Acompass?”

Leaning my head on his shoulder, I laugh. “Right?” It feels so good being with him like this.

“Do you think she’ll back off?” I ask.

“I let her know I was going to talk to her manager and that she’d better pack up and go back to Colorado unless she wants me to get the police involved.”

Surprised, I look at him. “You said that?”

He nods. “I don’t want her anywhere near you or your mom.” Tilting his head to the darkening sky, he adds, “We’d better turn around, or we’re going to get caught in a storm.”

We barely jog into the yard of the mansion before the torrent begins. Laughing, we race under the awning.

“Fuck it, I’m drenched,” West says, stripping down to his Calvin’s and draping his clothes over a chair. I follow suit, and we slip into the house together where the air conditioning on our wet bodies is fucking freezing. I start to race up the stairs but West grabs my arm and tilts his head toward the locker room.

“How about a hot shower?”

Grinning, I allow him to tug me that way. No one’s in the weight room, and the locker room is blessedly empty.

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