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“Oh. Not sure I need it,” I say, intentionally not looking at his face.
“Chloe,” he says simply.
I feel like I have no choice but to look up and I’m afraid my eyes might be saying more than I intend for them to say.
He leans forward. “If you wanna give me a card, I’m pretty sure I need it.”
Heat floods my face. “I don’t have any business cards with me, and I’m engaged to be married, so even if I did have cards, I’m afraid they’d be given out for business reasons only.”
“That’s a shame,” Derek says, though heat and humor are both still lit in his eyes. “Shame for me. Not for the fiancé. Lucky man to have your loyalty.”
My expression drops as a hundred thoughts about Adam flit through my brain.
“Hope that man shows you every day that he feels how lucky he is to have it,” Derek tacks on.
Face burning, I manage, “Thanks for the drink. Have a good night.”
I hurry back to my friends, not taking Derek Steele’s business card, also not looking back, because it feels like his eyes are still on me.
Two Hours Later
“Pizza,” Alannah calls out.
“Big Mac,” Coraline counters.
“Donairs!” Jeffrey casts his vote.
Maddie took a cab home half an hour ago or she’d probably have a fourth idea.
Cor and Jeffy are coming back to Alannah’s for a sleepover. And Cor has been trying to give me ‘the stare’ all night long. I know she’s dying to get me alone. I figure I’ll just tell her Alannah wanted to borrow my diamond ring as a social experiment.
I pipe up. “We never agree on post bar food options, so we almost always wind up in someone’s kitchen with me drunkenly cooking for everyone. Let’s skip the rest of this dance. What’s in your fridge, Lan? Or do we need to hit the store on the way home?”
She twists her lips. “Probably not much. What are you in the mood for, Chlo?”
“It’s your night, so why don’t we go with what you’re craving?”
Coraline and Jeffy don’t look happy.
“I like the way you think,” Alannah says. “But I want everyone happy.”
“I know!” I grab Alannah excitedly. “We’ll swing by the all-night grocery store and I’ll grab naan bread and the fixings to make all your…” I twirl, pointing at the others, “drunken post-bar food fantasies come to life.”
All eyes light up.
“Naan bread pizzas. I’ll do yours with hamburger, pickles, and thousand island dressing, yours I’ll add some tzatziki and whatever meat and vegetables you want, and yours the traditional way.”
“And this is why we invite Chloe to the meetings,” Jeffy says, sagely.
“Finish up our drinks and I’ll order us a rideshare,” I suggest, reaching for my phone.
I’m both appeased and unhappy at the same time.
Appeased because I got a preliminary report from Kenny an hour ago on both Adam Hallman and Chloe Turner. He’ll have more information for me in a day, then even more a few days after that because I want an extra-deep dive. But I’ve got enough for the moment. Enough to know I’m moving ahead with a plan.
I’m unhappy that Chloe is drunk. It means I’m not making my move tonight. Because I want her one hundred per cent sober when I rock the foundation of her existence.
I had Shep and Mel watch her group all night. Two other men tried to approach Chloe on the dancefloor; they stopped it. I think her friend, the Black woman in her group, glommed onto it after the second one as she kept her eyes pointed at my men suspiciously after that.
