“Holy. Shit.” It really could be her and the photo was taken right in front of the Reno sign.
“Something important?” Terry’s deep voice pulled my eyes from the screen to his own curious stare. Was it possible I’d forgotten he was there?
“Nope. Nothing at all.”
I had to figure out a way to get out of the office without Terry tagging along, which was about as possible as getting the sun to stop shining so brightly. But I had to try. I wanted to get to Reno and find Molly. Without Terry and his weirdness. If he didn’t want me, then I had to move forward. And the first thing on my list was to find Molly.
“I just remembered I have an appointment to get to. No big deal, but I can handle it on my own.”
I kept my gaze down and grabbed my purse, phone, and keys, making a beeline for the door. When I reached it without interruption, I let out a small sigh of relief and headed to the elevator. It was a small miracle, if I believed in that nonsense, but if I did, I would have been really fucking disappointed.
Just before the elevator doors closed, an arm shot out and forced them open again. Terry stood there, as calm as could be, with an arrogant smile on his face.
“I don’t mind being surrounded by hormonal women for an hour or two.” He stepped inside the elevator and got right in my face. “I might start thinking you don’t want me around, Kitty Kat.” Both hands slid down my arms, the move so erotic, I shivered.
But he fooled me again. I thought he would make a move, but no, it was a fucking ruse to steal my keys.
“Whatever.” I felt stupid, again, and that pissed me off. And when I was pissed, I became petty. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I yanked my keys from his hand and high-tailed it to my car.
“You can’t escape me that easily, Kat.”
To prove I was doing no such thing, I slid behind the wheel and changed the seat and mirrors to the pre-sets while I waited for him to get in the car. Just because Terry didn’t want me, didn’t mean I was dumb enough to put myself in danger simply because my ego was bruised. It wasn’t the first time and since, apparently, I was terrible at learning lessons where this man was concerned, it probably wouldn’t be the last time.
“Seat belt.”
Terry buckled up, and I made my way out of the parking lot and merged into traffic while I tried to gather my thoughts. There was no way I could lose him and now that he was suspicious, he wouldn’t leave my side for a second.
“You wanna tell me where we’re really going?”
Hell no, I didn’t want to tell him anything because I was still seething with anger. No, it worse than anger and worse than humiliation at his actions, that he would use my attraction to him to deceive me. It was…he was…just, fuck that.
I drove for more than an hour in absolute silence. Jaws clenched tight and a death grip on the steering wheel, I got started practicing that Terry Manning didn’t exist because as soon as we got back to Glitz, that would be my new reality.
“I guess your silence means we’re not talking?” Terry laughed like it was all some big damn joke, but I guess to him it was. Or rather, I was the joke. “Fine,” he growled and pulled out his phone as if that was a threat that would work on me.
“Yeah, Jas. Kat’s driving us somewhere, don’t know where and she won’t say.”
A few seconds later, Jasper’s voice broke through the silence of the car. “What the fuck, Kat?”
“Your babysitter is with me so what the hell does it matter, Jas? Just mind your own damn business.” I snatched the phone from Terry and tossed it in the back seat. “That goes for you too, you know? You’re here like Jas and Ma wanted, so just…shut the fuck up.”
He turned to me and I could feel the heaviness of his frown, his stare on the side of my face. “What in the hell did I do?”
“That is not shutting up,” I growled and hit the gas a little harder.
Terry’s hand landed on my thigh with more force than necessary and I had to swallow down a gasp. “You can be mad at me all you want, Trouble, but I don’t shut up for anyone. Not even you.”
“Unless you want a hole in your hand, I suggest you remove it. Or are you just trying to steal the keys again?”
Shocked, he pulled back and stared at me but I didn’t care that my thigh still throbbed from his touch, or that my panties were a little wet from the way he growled those words at me, so forceful and demanding. “Kat, I—”
“Save it, Terry. I don’t care.”
“Seems like you do,” he taunted, a teasing lilt to his voice.
“Then I guess we’re both good at pretending we give a damn.” And that was all I planned to say about anything concerning anything resembling personal talk. “I’m going to Reno. I got a lead on Madison’s sister, Molly. She works there and rents a bed in one of the hostels.”
“That is not a good idea, Kat.” His voice was suddenly serious and sexy as fuck, but I was not deterred.
“I’m not asking. You’re welcome to stay in the car.”
“Fuck, Kat! We have enough shit to deal with. Why do you want to add more shit to the list? Ravager is in the fucking wind, he fucked up the fight, Emmett’s attack on Ashby property and we still don’t have an ID on that shithead. Plus, Madison. And some dickhead tried to run you down. Christ, woman, do you thrive
