“I did. But he ran away.”
“You think he’ll come back to the hotel?”
I shook my head. “I doubt it.”
The cab came and we got in and rode quietly to the hotel. I asked if she wanted to grab a coffee before going up to the room and she declined. As we walked through the lobby I watched her carefully to see if she made eye contact with the bellman. She did not. Again, I thought, very impressive. A natural.
We got to the elevators and I pressed the button. “So,” I said, “you want to raid my mini bar, maybe have a glass of wine?”
She smiled. “What a lovely offer,” she said. “But it’s been a long day. I think I’ll turn in early. Can I get a rain check on the nightcap?”
“Any time,” I said.
The elevator doors opened. She gave me her best little-girl-lost look and said, “Will you walk me to my room?”
I bowed. “It would be an honor,” I said.
“Cosmo Burlap—my knight in shining armor!”
She let me kiss her on the cheek before retiring. I slid the key card into the lock on my room, entered, and went straight for the mini bar.
“Already poured you a wine,” Quinn whispered, gesturing to the two glasses on the table.
“Thanks,” I whispered back. “But you know the rules.” I opened the mini bar and rummaged around for another bottle of wine.
“They only had the one bottle,” he said. Then he sighed and added, “How long have we known each other?”
“Not the point,” I said.
“Sooner or later you’re going to have to break down and trust someone.”
“Maybe so,” I said, “but not today.”
“Fine,” Quinn said. He took a sip from each glass and waited for me to select one. Quinn watched with amusement as I waited a full five minutes before picking up one of the glasses. Finally, I took a sip.
“Marriott stocks a good house wine,” I said.
Quinn picked up the remaining glass of wine and held it up in a silent toast. I did the same. We sat and sipped quietly until we heard the light tap on the connecting door to Alison’s room.
“Showtime,” Quinn said, silently mouthing the word.
He took his wine with him to the bathroom and closed the door. I waited for him to get settled, and she tapped again. I crossed the room and opened the connecting door.
“I can’t sleep,” Alison said. “I’m scared that guy might have followed us back to the hotel.”
She had freshened up and put on a red flannel nightshirt that had pink Vicky Secret hearts all over it. She showed as much leg as she could without revealing her own secrets. Normally I’d have made it easy on her and let her lure me into her bedroom so her goons could try to make good on the robbery. But I wanted to test her improv skills, since I was still considering her as a possible employee.
“You want to spend the night with me?” I said.
“No,” she said. “I want you to spend the night with me.”
“What’s the difference?” I said.
“I’ve already got all my girly stuff laid out in my bathroom,” she said. “Plus, I’ve got my iPod hooked up to some speakers. To set the mood.”
“I thought you were tired.”
