Page 69 of Rastor

"Nothing."

I paused. "Alright."Somethingwas off. The way it sounded, she was driving. Maybe that was it. I pushed aside the distraction and asked, "Got any plans for tonight?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Because I've gotta be honest. I couldn't wait to see you."

At this, she perked up. "You came back early?"

"You might say that."

She laughed. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I'll be landing in a couple hours. I've got to be back in Vegas tomorrow morning, but I remembered you had tonight off, so–"

"So you want to get together?" She was smiling now. Even through the phone, I could tell.

It made me smile, too. "Yeah."

I wanted her in my arms and in my bed. I wanted to screw her silly and hear her moan my name as I did all kinds of obscene things to her. Last night, I'd actually masturbated in the shower to naked thoughts of her hot, tight body, and the things I'd be doing to it the next time we were together.

I wanted that to be tonight.

But there was something else I wanted – to tell the whole world she was mine. She wasn't my secret thing, to hide in my house until I wanted her in my bed. And she wasn't a groupie, a hanger-on, or a quick fuck for a night or two.

She was the girl I loved, and it was time to start acting like it. "But listen," I said, "no more hiding out in secret. You're my girl, and from now on, I'm doing things right. How about I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds good. But hey, what should I wear?"

"What kind of night are you in the mood for?" I asked. "Casual, formal?"

"How about casual?"

"Casual, it is." I lowered my voice. "And Chloe?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't care what you wear. I'm dying to see you."

A few hours later, she was in my car – and not the rough-looking one that we'd taken the other day. I was driving one of my sports cars thatneverblended. It was fast. It was flaming orange. And so far, I hadn't seen another one like it in Rochester Hills.

The car got attention, and tonight, that was fine by me, because I wanted the whole world to take a good, long look and see that Chloe was mine. If I had my way, she'd be mine forever.

From the driver's seat, I gave her a sideways glance. Whatever had been bothering her earlier, I saw no sign of it. I chalked it up to traffic or whatever and focused on the fact that she was right here, within arm's reach.

She was dressed in jeans and a clingy white blouse that looked innocent and sexy all at the same time. She hit me with a smile that went straight to my groin. "You know," she said, "I just realized something."

"Yeah? What?"

"I've never seen anyone fly home just for one night. Especially to seeme." She hesitated. "I mean, it's not like you came homejustto see me. It's just that you came a long way for a short time." She cleared her throat. "You know?"

I turned off the road, and into a nearby parking lot. I pulled into a random spot and cut the engine. Chloe looked around. We were just outside some strip mall that had a bunch of offices and a takeout pizza place.

Her gaze landed on the pizza sign. "So, uh, is that where we're eating?"

I laughed. "Not a chance." I liked pizza as much as the next guy, but I hadn't flown across the country to take my girl to some cheap pizza joint.

"Then why'd we stop?" she asked.