Page 53 of Slumming It

Vivian was looking more miserable with every passing moment. "But they don't care about you.Ido."

"Yeah, well if you really cared, you'd stop grilling me, okay?"

"But I'm not theonlyone who's worried," Vivian said. "Do you know, Mom called here twice, looking for you?"

"Oh come on!" I said. "That can't be true. I talked to her myself."

"Iknowyou did," Vivian said. "Because she said you were acting all funny like someone had taken you hostage or something."

Damn it. Thatdidsound like Mom. And now I felt completely under siege. "Don't worry. Everything's fine."

"Oh, yeah?" she said. "Then why didn't you text me back?"

I winced at the memory.Shit.That text to Vivian – the one I'd started in Reese Murdock's car – I neverdidsend it. I hadn't even finished composing it, partly because I didn't have a good answer to any of her questions.

Istilldidn't – or at least none that I could say out loud. I took a deep, calming breath before saying in the steadiest voice I could muster, "As you said yourself, I was gone for barely an hour—"

"Yeah, but—"

"Andyou sent me what?Fivetexts? Do you know how distracting that was? And now you're all mad that I didn't reply?"

"I'm not mad," Vivian said. "I'm worried."

"Well, don't be," I told her. "I'm twenty-three freaking years old. I should be able to go on a date without being hounded."

Vivian's eyes filled with tears. "I wasn't hounding. I was just making sure you're okay."

"Fine," I snapped. "I'm okay, just peachy. But Iwon'tbe if you don't let it drop." I leaned closer to say, "And just so we're crystal clear, even if Iweregonna sell my body – which I never would, by the way – thelastperson I'd be selling it to is Reese Fucking Murdock. And do you wanna know why?"

Vivan's voice trembled as she asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm done with him. Period." And with that, I pushed back from the front desk and turned away, heading not out of thehotel, but deeper into it, shoving my way through the swinging double doors that led to the main hallway and most of the hotel rooms.

All I wanted to donowwas retrieve my own clothes and get the hell out of here before Reese Murdock returned.

As the doors swung shut behind me, Vivian called out, "I'm sorry, okay?"

I was sorry, too. But I couldn’t say it, not now when I was choking down a stupid sob. So instead I kept on walking and gave a silent prayer of thanks when I heard the bell on the front door jingle with the arrival of somebody new to claim Vivian's attention.

If she wanted to be nosy, she could grill that person instead of me.

I felt like a jerk for thinking it – and an even bigger jerk when I considered that Vivian would be dealing with a customer when she was obviously upset.

But I'd meant what I'd said. I was done with Reese Murdock, now and forever. In fact, I wasn't just done. I was double-done. Period. End of story.

There was just one tiny problem.

Turns out, he wasn't quite done withme.

Chapter 19

Reese

More than thirty hours after I'd left her on the roadside, I found my quarry in room number seven. Her housekeeping cart was parked just outside the room's open door, and she was facing away from the hallway as she changed the sheets on the room's sagging double bed.

Why she was doing this three hours before midnight was anyone's guess and none of my concern. I didn't give two shits how they ran the hotel as long as I got what I came for.

Payback.