Page 81 of Bruised MC Bear

10

Sonya

Fourteen hours left.

Fifteen, tops.

Yes, I was counting down the hours to this scandalous fiasco of an interaction between Vincent and me.

I didn’t have to deal with him for at least five of those hours, while Angel and I were at the spa, or when it came time to help get her into her wedding dress. Maybe eight hours, if I could keep any conversation between us strictly professional during the wedding ceremony, at the reception, and for an hour or so of the rest of the night, as we were also going to attend the hotel’s costume party tonight. My rental car was already down in the underground parking, so by late tonight, I’d be all packed up. If I were smart, I’d get far away from here and start the ten-hour trek to Rock Springs tonight.

Angel begged me for two more hours to sleep off her hangover, and of course, I agreed. We would definitely have to skip the massages, and get them to double up the hair and makeup girls as they worked on us, but that was no problem with me. I could use some extra winks too. After Axe had taken her back to his room to rest, I refilled on coffee in the hospitality suite.

“Did you lose something?”

Vincent was back. I spun around to remind him to keep his distance, and saw the earring he held out between his thumb and forefinger. My hand swung up to my right ear. Crap. That was my earring. Instinctively, I reached over to my left ear too. Dammit, it was gone too.

“Yes, it’s mine. Thanks for noticing it … I didn’t realize they’d fallen off. Did you find the other side too?”

“No, but I can look. We’d better make sure now, before housekeeping comes up. Wait, are you sure you didn’t misplace it in your room, or somewhere else yesterday?”

“I’m not sure.” I thought back. “I really don’t know. The last time I saw them both on me was at airport arrivals. Shit.”

“Let me ask my driver to look inside the limo. You check your room, and I’ll go back and search mine. Housekeeping can hold off on vacuuming until tomorrow.”

“I could have lost it last night at all the clubs Angel and I went to for her bachelorette party.”

“True, but let’s take a look around here first, and figure out the rest if it’s not on the floor.”

“Okay.”

We parted ways and went to our respective suites to look. My earrings weren’t family heirlooms or anything, but they were my go-to favorites. I could wear these anywhere. The round aquamarine gemstone was encrusted with diamonds on the perimeter and mounted on white gold studs. They went with pretty much everything in my closet. This sucked. The first place I checked was the sofa, then my bed, and the bathroom. No luck. I went back to check around my pillows, and to be thorough, I pulled all the sheets back. Nothing. I was sliding the sofa to one side when someone knocked on my door.

I pulled it open. Vincent was standing there with the second earring.

“You found it! Thanks so much.”

“Thank my driver. He had found it last night, and sent me a text to let me know, but I only just looked at my phone. Sorry for the confusion.”

“It’s okay,” I told him, unable to look away from his eyes. They were so sincere. “Don’t be sorry. You just saved me a few hours of turning this city upside down … so thanks again.”

He leaned to one side, and glanced behind me at the chaos I’d just created in the living room. “Need some help getting your sofa back in place?”

Maybe gratitude came over me, or lust, or both, when I gripped the collar of his polo shirt, popped up on my tiptoes and kissed him hungrily. So much for staying away.