I slipped them on and pulled the waistband up…and up…and up farther until the elastic settled well above my belly button.
Awesome! High-waisted, shiny, booty-ruffled, ruch-gathered-in-my-asscrack panties.
They covered so much I didn’t need to wear shorts—though I would of course. I rummaged through the rest of the clothes and found a tube top that I was positive Myles had planned on me using as a bra. As grateful as I was he hadn’t attempted to guess my size, I felt a twinge of disappointment he hadn’t found one of those pointy, bullet bras to go with my shiny panties.
I opted to wear the t-shirt and cotton shorts. Both were too big. I had to roll the waistband of the shorts to keep them up, which meant the top five inches of the panties were exposed. But the t-shirt hid what the shorts didn’t and landed mid-thigh. I left my hair wrapped and headed for the door.
But before I could open it I heard Myles talking. Someone else was out there. I could hear two male voices. One belonged to Myles, one did not.
My heart rate quickened and despite the cool air in the room, my body went hot. I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead. I looked around the room for a weapon but my options were limited—as in, nonexistent. The TV was too big for me to pick up, the lamps were mounted on the wall, three pens sat on the dresser but that was it. I could climb out onto the balcony but then what? We were on the top floor, I couldn’t jump—or I could but I just wouldn’t make it. I was still scanning the room in the hopes something would magically appear when I heard Myles’s deep voice boom.
“For your trouble.”
There was a moment of silence, then the other man spoke, “Thank you, Mr. Barron.”
Perfect English.
That was weird.
Scary weird.
I heard a door close, then nothing.
Did Myles leave? Was this new man out there to take me?
What just happened?
There was a knock on the bedroom door, and I felt the scream bubbling up and barely covered my mouth before it slipped out, my hand quelling the sound to a muffled groan. I couldn’t move. Just like when I found Tamir in my hotel room back in California. I was paralyzed with indecision and fear. A smart woman would do something. But like a deer caught in headlights, I froze. Stupid-stupid me.
“Delilah?”
That was Myles.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. What if the other man was still out there waiting to take me? What if Myles had invited the other man in and the door I heard close was behind the man. What if…
“Everything alright in there?”
He sounded concerned.
Don’t trust him.
“Babe, you got two seconds to answer me, then I’m opening the door.”
Now he sounded worried.
I still couldn’t trust him, couldn’t trust his alarmed tone.
“Don’t come in here.”
“Okay, I won’t. What’s going on?”
God, why did he sound like he actually cared?
“I…um…” I stared at the door, praying a lie would come to mind.
“No one’s here, Delilah. Did you hear the door? Is that what freaked you out?”
Great, now I could add perceptive to the mental list I was keeping about all things Myles. The top of that list was devastatingly handsome. Something I was actively trying not to think about, however, he was so hot that even being scared out of my head I couldn’t miss it. I wanted to ignore it, as a matter of fact, I wished he looked like an ogre instead of a freaking movie star but that certainly wasn’t the case. He was also strong and tall and had broad shoulders and great forearms, and his biceps stretched the material of his t-shirt.
“Delilah?” he called again.
“Yes, I heard you talking to someone.”
He muttered a few curse words and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Was he mad I’d spoiled his plan? Were they going to ambush me when I went out into the living area?
“Ivy sent over some stuff for you. I haven’t gone through the bag but I see a hairbrush, toothpaste.” There was rustling on the other side of the door. “Bottles of hair shit, deodorant, a toothbrush—”
He had me at toothbrush.
“Who’s Ivy?’
“Ivy Lewis, Zane’s wife.”
That was strange. Why would a woman I didn’t know bother sending hygiene products?
“Why would she send me stuff?”
“Why?”
“Yes, why? She doesn’t know me.”
“Because she knew you needed them. Because she’s a nice person. Because she felt like shit for booking us into this swank hotel and not thinking about the state you’d be in when I found you. Luckily you were uninjured but she should’ve known better. Or alternately, when we got here I should’ve called the office and had them find someplace else. I didn’t and I apologize. It was a shit thing to do, making you do something you were uncomfortable doing.”
My hand was on the knob, all I needed to do was twist the lock and open the door. I wanted to. He sounded sincere, he sounded like he cared that I’d been horrified at the people staring at me. And I really wanted the toothbrush.
Was I really going to risk my safety for clean teeth?
Yes! Yes, I was.
I slowly opened the door. Myles took two giant steps back and held out a white plastic bag that wasn’t huge but it wasn’t small. The hotel’s name and logo were stamped on the front and it looked like it was stuffed full.
My gaze lifted and our eyes locked. His were intense but gentle. I wasn’t sure what mine looked like but my guess—and it’d be a good one—that mine looked startled because I was.
My breath started coming out fast. I wanted to shrink away and break the connection but I couldn’t stop staring.
“Tell me what you need,” he invited.
“What?”
“I don’t want you to be scared of me. What do you need me to do, Delilah?”
“I don’t know.”
As soon as the truth came out of my mouth I wished I could pull it back in.
“I’ll set this stuff on the table and move across the room. Will that help?”
“What?”
“Babe, you’re standing in the doorway looking at me like I scare the shit outta you. I get why, but I don’t like it. I’ll give you what you need but you gotta tell me what that is.”
I hadn’t been scared, I’d been enthralled by the way his light brown eyes had softened when he saw me. Better that he thinks I’m terrified of him than to know the truth.
“I was just startled when I heard the other voice. I didn’t know what was happening out here.”
The muscle in Myles’s cheek jumped and I wondered if he knew I’d been worried that he’d left me—or worse, had allowed someone into the room to hurt me. The gentleness in his gaze disappeared and not just because he turned slightly to drop to the bag on the table which meant he'd broken our connection. It happened as soon as I’d admitted I’d been startled. His soft and giving demeanor turned hard. Almost like he was disappointed in me, something about that made my heart clench.
Not only couldn’t I think about why his reaction affected me so much, but I also refused to contemplate why my belly bottomed out.
So what, he knew I didn’t trust him? I shouldn’t trust him and he shouldn’t trust me.