Page 69 of Slumming It

After confirming it, I breathed a long sigh of relief and slumped deeper in the booth. But then, it suddenly hit me – therealreason for his apology.

He wasn't sorry.

He wanted the money back.

It was the only explanation that made sense. Yes, I realized that to Reese Murdock, two-thousand dollars was mere pocket change – and I meant that literally, considering where he'd been keeping the cash.

But his reputation spoke for itself. He was known for being a ruthless negotiator – too ruthless, in fact, with a keen sense of his opponents' weaknesses. I tried to think. What wasmyweakness? Being too nice? Too simple? Too much of a small-town yokel?

Either way, I understood his logic, as twisted as it was.Why pay the other party if you don't have to?

As my theory took hold, I let out a bitter scoff. What did he think? That I would insist on returning the cash just because he'd tossed out a casual sorry?

Damn it.Whether I wanted to face it or not, I almost felt like I should. My whole life, I'd been raised to play fair, and this seemed like the honest thing to do.

Crap.

That's probably why he left the booth – to give me time to marinate in my own misguided sense of decency. But I was no fool. If I returned the money, it would make me a total sucker. I could practically see it. He would pocket the cash and silently laugh as he scored another win for himself.

After all, just because he was being nice to menowdidn't mean he was a nice person. But apparently, he was counting onmeto be.

Yes, thathadto be it.

And now I didn't know what to do when he returned. With a conscious effort, I sat up straighter and stiffened my spine. There was no way I would be returning the cash – or at least, not without a better sorry than I'd received.

Take that, Mister Billionaire Bigshot.

From above, I was still watching him as he moved toward the bar, getting more attention as he went. But then, he stopped. He looked toward the main entrance and kept on looking even though I saw nothing to garner such interest.

I felt my eyebrows furrow as he started moving again – not toward the bar, but toward the main door, as if planning to leave.

But surely he wouldn't.

Would he?

Chapter 27

Emily

I was still watching Reese Murdock when a shrill female voice hollered my name from somewhere behind me. I froze.I recognized that voice.

I didn't dare turn to look even though she had yelled loud enough to be heard just fine above the music.

She called out again. "I should've known it wasyou."She sounded louder – or maybe just closer. Either way, this was very bad news.

With growing dread, I finally turned to look. Sure enough, there she was – Morgan Fairfax along with her trusty sidekick, Nikki the Skank. Morgan was marching forward, jostling bystanders as she moved ever closer to my booth with Nikki trailing in her wake.

Desperately, I turned away and looked once again toward the main floor, looking to catch sight of my so-called date, preferably coming to my rescue. After all, hehadmade that promise.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly a promise, but he'd been clear enough. In my mind, I could still hear what he'd told me just a few moments ago.If someone bites, I'll bite them back.The way things looked, I was about to get chomped, bigtime, but Reese Murdock was nowhere in sight.

My heart was racing as I uselessly scanned the crowd.Had he slipped out the front door?

Had I been ditched yet again?

Reluctantly, I turned to face Morgan, who was now looming over me like a vulture over a bite-sized carcass. I felt myself swallow as she glared down from the lone gap in the circular booth.

Hoping to hide my panic, I remained seated as I took in her appearance. She wore a tight, slinky blue dress along with a diamond pendant necklace and matching diamond earrings.