Page 24 of Filthy Hot Escort
“Good.”
Kelly slipped a keycard from her pocket and handed it to her. “I’ll leave you alone and then come back at the end of the time to get you.”
“Thanks, Kelly.”
Skylar waited until Kelly turned the corner, then leaned against the door and took a deep, cleansing breath. Time to put fantasies of Jay back in the neat, tidy box where they usually went. Then she’d toss it into the trash once and for all.
Her mind calmed, her breath slowed, and she finally felt ready to face the reporter. She swiped the key card, entered the suite, and let the door slide shut. She stepped deeper into the room to find a man standing at the far window. The room was lit in a way that he was in silhouette, gazing at Manhattan through the floor-to-ceiling window.
“Mr. Bauer. So nice to meet you.” She straightened her shoulders and pulled herself up straight, ready to represent the charity with dignity, grace, and intelligence.
“Miss McKenzie.” The man turned from the window. As he stepped into the light, his dark tux transformed into a deep red. He gave her a wry grin. “I believe we’ve already met.”
“Jay?” she asked in a stunned voice.
He cocked his head and grinned. “I used my first initial that night. Like the guests at the Masquerade Party, the gold maskers don’t give out our real names.”
Whatever she’d been expecting when she entered this room, seeing her escort wasn’t it. How had he snuck into the hotel suite? And where was the reporter? Could Jay have bribed Kelly? She bit her lip, her legs trembling, her hand reaching back to grab the door handle.
“Planning to run again, I see,” he said dryly.
Somehow that cocky expression he wore and the sardonic tone he used froze her in her tracks. She’d been alone with this man before, had felt safe then, and knew she was safe now.
Skylar let her hand slip back to her side. The door remained shut. “No. But I have questions. And I want answers.”
Jay shrugged. “As do I. But first . . . shall we sit?”
14
Jay moved to the table along the far side of the suite and held out a chair for Skylar. He stood behind it and watched her as she stood still, taking in the space.
Taking in what sat on the table.
The black feather from that fateful night.
“What is this?” she demanded.
“The feather? A memento. You can have it back if you want, although, to me, it’s a true treasure.” He patted the seat of the chair, but she only crossed her arms in response.
“No. I meant, what are you doing here?”
A shrug. A flash of naughtiness in his eyes. A quirk of his mouth. “I tried to tell you downstairs, but you ran off.”
His tone gave no indication that he’d once seen her breasts, her belly, or her bare hip bones. That he’d once lavished her pussy. Once made her groan with need and desire. But the gleam in his eyes spoke volumes. She found her breath catching in the back of her throat, her pulse quickening, her core going wet.
She couldn’t do this again.
She’d spent three months trying to forget this man. If she slept with him tonight, as he seemed to want, whether he charged her or gave her a freebie, she’d never get him out of her mind. She hated that she had no control over her dreams. Her fantasies. But she did have control over tonight.
“You didn’t try to tell me anything. You offered tofuckme. On the stage, I might add,” she said. “But I’m here on business and nothing more. So whatever you paid Kelly to bribe your way in here, the cost wasn’t worth it because you’ll need to go now. I’m expecting a reporter at any moment.”
“A reporter.”
“That’s right.”
“For an interview.”
“Why else would I meet a reporter?”