She took his hand. “I think we are.”
His touch sent vibrations through her arm that encompassed her entire body. Charley leaned into the car for support and let the sensations take over. Soft took on hard as their palms fit together-no different than before.
“Ahem.” Cael walked up to the cars and broke their connection.
“Cael!” Lily screeched and ran up to him, wrapped her arms around him. His folded her further in before she released him and stepped away.
Cael walked to Wyatt. “I apologize for the crash, but this team…” Cael waved to the rest of them. “They’re more important to me than my job.”
Wyatt nodded at him and smirked. “You didn’t quit, did you?”
“Took some time off.”
“I’ll have that taken care of.” Wyatt turned back to Charley. “You are one demanding resource.” He winked at her-the expression for which she’d waited.
“Did you guys have this planned?” Charley asked.
“Not that I know about,” Wyatt said.
She’d let that secret stick. “Gonna get stuff then, Cael?”
His smile mirrored hers. He turned to James who handed him bags, and as a group, they began the short walk to the hotel.
“Cael?” Charley asked as they walked shoulder to shoulder. “Do you know all the details about this project?”
“Yes.”
“Will you please take care to discuss it with Lily?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Does James know?”
“Yes.”
Charley noted a sadness in his eyes that mirrored her own internal thoughts on the subject.
Detached from the garage, the four-star hotel stood at three stories-an older structure nestled in the heart of downtown. ‘Posh’, Charley would say, despite the aged exterior.
As planned, the group staggered their check-ins, though their rooms had been pre-booked side by side. Wyatt and Charley took the lead, Cael and Lily two minutes behind and James alone.
“Wyatt and Charley Moreland.” Wyatt leaned to Charley’s ear. “Sorry, I took liberties for cover.”
She didn’t know what to say. She certainly couldn’t tell him how delightful it sounded and that her insides went all soft at the suggestion. Instead, she batted her lashes at the clerk while she snaked one arm through Wyatt’s.
11
Wyatt leaned against the hotel room window. The club, across the street below, with its black doors, stood out among the rest of the buildings. A long waiting area, separated into two aisles, provided direction to its entrance. Wyatt imagined many an impatient visitor waited between the two lines for the club’s opening.
A small child swung hand in hand with his mother and father-Wyatt presumed.
He tore himself away from the happy family as work invaded his thoughts. He could only hope the kids they’d found and returned-left on doorsteps, under bridges or worse-had a better future. He needed ‘Candie’ to break the ring and Charley to go up a level in the bureau.
Charley moved to his side. “It’s gaudy.”
He turned to her, eyes as bright and clear as his purpose. “Why do you say that?”
She explained how the black with teal accents didn’t match the buildings to the right or left-an odd combination she considered very female. She’d expected mahogany or deep walnut. Why Wyatt considered that funny, he didn’t know, but it also didn’t surprise him-the woman had her own set of logic.
Charley interrupted his thoughts. “We don’t have long before Candie arrives.” She motioned to the small table in the center of the room, tucked between the two beds they couldn’t move any farther apart. James’s laptop boasted blueprints of the club.
“Whoa. How many small rooms are in the back?” Lily said before Charley could ask the same.
“There are more than I imagined.” The team stared at Charley. “What? I haven’t been in those kinds of clubs.”
“We’ve heard that one before.” Cael got a punch in the arm for his comment.
Wyatt chuckled before he pointed out the obvious, followed by the questionable. “I’ve only been in the main dance arena.” He circled his finger around a large open area near the front. “It looks like there are two to three dressing rooms, and they all feed to the main area. Another five, smaller rooms are likely private for the more intimate work.” He looked up at Charley, insinuating what might go on within their confines.
“It’s all on one floor at least.” Cael tapped the screen. “That’s going to make it easier for us to keep track of Charley.”
“Is there a back entrance?” Charley pointed to what looked like a door on the plans.
“Yes, two of them. One from a hallway that seems to originate with the smaller rooms and one from the dressing rooms.”
“A private entrance for the most private of gentlemen and one for the staff to keep the front clear for customers.” Lily’s bright voice carried through the room.
Charley closed her eyes.
“I’m going in the ‘normal’ customer route.” Cael quoted with his index fingers.
Wyatt returned his attention to the monitor. “You’ll head in through the staff entrance, Charley. And I’m taking the gentleman’s route.” He shifted his shoulders in a shrug.
Charley’s slight tilt of her head exposed her neck as her hair fell and her eyes opened again.
If she didn’t already have two guys in her life, Wyatt might have considered his own pursuit-after the project’s completion.
He coughed into his fist, moved his gaze to the floor. “Are you nervous?”
“No. I just don’t like problems that involve kids.”
“What did you just say, Charley?” Lily asked.
Charley cringed.
Cael pushed Lily toward the second bedroom. Her eyes remained fixed on Charley. “What’s going on?” Lily tugged her arm away, but Cael dragged her the rest of the distance.
“Why doesn’t she know yet?” Wyatt kept his voice to a whisper.
Charley moved to the window. “It’s a very personal topic for her.”
“Does it help if I say I’m sorry?”
She leaned her back against the sill, smiled up at him. “Oddly, it does.”
Their eyes fixed on each other but broke apart when Cael returned through the door. He nodded in Charley’s direction.
Behind him, Lily wiped at one eye. Charley moved from the window, put her arms around Lily. Wyatt tried not to stare, though the shudder that passed through Lily hurt him. He couldn’t imagine what had happened but took comfort that she had people who loved her.
“Lil,” James said. “You okay?”
She nodded to him before she looked up to Wyatt. He broke her gaze, tried to blend into the background. He knew a private moment when he saw it. Instead, she took the distance between them in a few quick strides and stood inches from him.
She took hold of his jacket, smoothed out the edges and patted his chest before her hands wormed their way to his cheeks.
