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It was more than a minute before the truck pulled out of theparking lot.
Likely because they’d argued about whether they should go atall. The woman who ended up with those two men would likely be driven crazy bytheir overprotectiveness.
She would also be loved and coddled and tied up and spankedand given so many orgasms, life made sense for once.
Nic took a long breath. It wouldn’t be her, and there was nouse in wallowing in that knowledge tonight. She had a spectacular weekend tolook forward to.
And she had a new book. Abby had given her a copy of thelatest Alexis Ann O’Malley novel. It was something called an ARC. She wasn’tsure. All she knew was that this sucker wasn’t even supposed to be out forthree months, and then she’d have to find a library that had a copy and get ontheir waiting list.
But no. She got to read it now. Tonight.
She turned and stopped because something wasn’t right. She’dclosed the bathroom door. She was sure of it. She remembered doing it.
Housekeeping was once a week. This wasn’t some fancy hotel.Most people stayed either by the hour or the week. If she wanted towels, shewent to the office and someone gave them to her.
So if the bathroom door was open it was because someone hadbeen in here.
Someone had been in her room.
Had she closed the door?
Yes. She’d turned off the lights and closed the door becauseshe wanted to deal with as little space as she needed to. She didn’t want towalk in and worry about someone rushing out of the bathroom. At least with thedoor closed, she might hear it opening. It was why she ensured all the closetdoors were closed as well. Why she checked the windows to make sure they werelocked and placed a chair under the door handle every night except the previousone.
When Josh and Grim had been here she’d felt perfectly safe.
She didn’t feel that way now.
A cold streak of anxiety rushed across her spine. Wassomeone in the bathroom? Were they waiting in there for her to investigate sothey could catch her?
It had been years, and she’d almost decided that theHolloway family had forgotten about her. She hadn’t searched for them online ortried to keep up with what was happening in Childswood.It felt like if she did that, she was opening herself to trouble.
The cops wouldn’t be hiding in a bathroom.
But the men her husband had owed money to might.
Or she was being paranoid and she’d only thought she’d leftthe bathroom door closed.
A knock caused her to jump, barely stifling a scream byclasping her hand over her mouth.
“Nicole? You in there?” a feminine voice asked.
Relief flooded through her. She wasn’t alone. She threw openthe door and Heather stood there looking solid and secure. There was somethingabout the woman that screamed competence. “Hey.”
Heather’s blue eyes widened. “Honey, are you okay? You looklike you’ve seen a ghost. Please tell me this place isn’t haunted because Icould believe that.”
Nic glanced back. “I thought I closed the bathroom door. Iguess I’m being paranoid.”
“I’ll go check it for you.” Heather walked in and strode tothe bathroom door.
“You don’t have to,” Nic began.
“It’s okay. I check my room every time I walk in,” Heatherassured her. “It’s not paranoia. It’s smart when you’re staying in a place likethis. Anywhere, really. It’s not like women at the Hilton are immune toattackers.”
Heather disappeared behind the door, the light coming on. Itwas only a few seconds before she reappeared. “Nothing. No one lurking behindthe shower curtain. I always check there. Always. Too many horror movies.”
“I’m sorry. I was sure I’d closed it.”
“I saw maintenance walking around earlier,” Heather offered.“Well, I saw a dude in overalls with a toolkit. And I overheard the managercomplaining about the fire marshal coming out next week to check that they’reup to code. It could have been that. They have the right to come into the roomfor maintenance.”
