Shit.
I sucked in breath, tamped down my irritation, arranged my features and pulled open the door.
She looked right into my eyes with her unusual light brown ones. The rest of her would make a less badass woman quail. She was built, all h*ps and tits and a tiny waist. Fashionable clothes, the fit, style and colors suiting her. Perfect skin that didn’t often get touched by the sun or she wore SPF makeup.
She was everything that was not me.
She said not a word. I didn’t either but she knew I met her daughter and I’d be all kinds of stupid not to see the resemblance so I decided not to play dumb.
We checked each other out for a while and finally, I spoke.
“Hey.”
Lame, yes, but what else did you say?
“You’re Sylvie,” she replied.
“And you’re Chelle,” I returned.
She lifted up her chin, exposing a long, slim, elegant neck.
I tipped my head to the side. “How did you find me?”
She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Only one nice hotel close to Tucker. He wouldn’t put you in anything but the best he could find. The best of the best isn’t close and he wouldn’t have you anywhere that wasn’t close.” She shrugged. “So here I am.”
She knew Creed. That wasn’t a surprise, they’d been married. She also knew how he felt about me. That, also, wasn’t a surprise, he’d told her.
But she called him Tucker.
Weird.
“And they gave you my room number?” I asked.
“For two hundred dollars,” she answered.
Seemed she paid Creed loads of attention and not just about me.
Time to move this on.
“Okay, Chelle, what can I do for you?” I asked.
“You can let me in,” she replied.
I shook my head but did it gently and dipped my voice low. “I don’t think –”
She lifted up a slim, elegant hand, slim, elegant gold bangles clanking as she did so and dipped her voice low too. “I’m not here to be ugly, Sylvie. I promise. I just want to talk.”
“About what?” I pressed.
“About things I’d rather not say in the hall.”
Goddamn it!
If I didn’t let her in, I’d seem bitchy. That said, I totally didn’t want to let her in.
I had no choice, really, and that sucked.
I stepped back, opening the door as I did and moved aside.