Restraint - Adriana Locke Page 0,17

have her number?”

It doesn’t take long before his laughter fills the phone again.

“You don’t have her fucking number? This is gold. She just played you.”

“She did not,” I fire back, annoyed at his amusement in all this.

“Yeah, she did. Blaire is my fucking hero right now.”

“I haven’t needed her number,” I insist. “I ran into her at the Landrys, and we had dinner. I haven’t had to call her because she’s been with me, asshole.”

Oliver’s laugh dies down. He takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly.

“As the smartest of the Mason family, let me point out one piece of the puzzle that you’ve not yet put together,” he says. “You might not have her phone number, but the Landrys do. And I might have told Graham that you would call him today about Wade being a closet hippie.”

I shove off the desk. Whether it’s my imagination or whether the sun really did choose this moment to shine brightly into the room, I don’t know. But the warmth radiating in from its rays is impossible to deny.

Returning her card is the practical thing to do. It’s the right, moral thing. And asking the Landrys to contact her for me—she’s practically their family—would only make me look good in their eyes too.

It’s genius.

I grin. “Ollie, I really hate to say I appreciate you, but I appreciate you, man.”

“Hold on. I’m going to put that on the calendar right next to the words Holt Got Played.”

“You are such a dick,” I say with a laugh.

He chuckles. “So, you’re good then? You’re calling Landry? And you’ll remember to bring up the project and not just your own personal one?”

“Yes, sir, I will.”

“Good.” Papers shuffle in the background. “Are you coming to the office today?”

I slip my hand into my pocket and feel the lace slip across my fingers. My brain tries to imagine the scarlet fabric on Blaire’s smooth skin. My blood heats my flesh, and I’m forcing a swallow as Oliver sighs at my pause.

“Yeah,” I say, “but it might be later.”

“Well, I’ll be here for another hour or so. Told Gramps I’d come over and watch golf with him this afternoon.”

“You have fun with that,” I say.

“I will. You should come too.”

I pull my hand from my pocket. “Gonna have to take a rain check.”

“I bet you are. Let me know what Graham says.”

“Will do.”

“Later.”

“Goodbye.”

I slip my phone in my pocket and take one final look around the suite. If Blaire hadn’t lost her credit card, maybe I could have left whatever we shared last night in this room. But she did. So now I have an obligation to return it.

“It’s the gentlemanly thing to do,” I say to myself.

I snicker as I head toward the door.

Gentlemanly, my ass.

Eight

Blaire

“That will be sixteen dollars and eighty cents—including the delivery fee,” the voice on the other end of the phone says.

I reach my free hand up to balance the towel wrapped masterfully around my head and sit on the couch. Towel secured, I yank my purse to my side.

Despite the long, hot shower I took immediately after getting back to my room, I can still smell Holt on my skin. A tingle fires through my body every time I move. Every raise of my hand, bend of my neck, stretch of my legs is another reminder both of Holt and of muscles I haven’t used in an embarrassingly long time.

“That’s perfect,” I say, pulling my mind back to breakfast. “Let me grab my card.”

My abdomen rumbles as I lift my wallet from the depths of my bag and flick it open with my thumb. I tell myself it’s from needing nourishment and has nothing to do with the rich, almost tobacco-like scent of Holt that just whispered through the air. The rumble turns into a tumble as the bottom falls out of my stomach.

“Shit,” I mutter as I balance the phone against my shoulder.

My driver’s license, building identification, and various other useless cards snap as I pull them forward one by one.

Where is my card?

I only brought one with me since I didn’t plan on doing much but working in the room. Each snap of plastic is louder. Every nook that comes up empty adds to the ball of weight forming in the center of my chest.

I toss the wallet to the side and begin sorting through my bag. The phone nearly falls from my shoulder.

Out comes a gummy bear wrapper and earbuds. Next is a backup battery for my phone and