Love, Lies, and Deception(55)

He paused and uncrossed his arms. “I trust you, Marissa, but I sure as hell don’t trust him.”

I knew what Kristian did at the airport was going to be an issue.

“I know,” I muttered, lowering my gaze. “I just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Alec came forward and tilted my chin up with his finger. “It’ll all work out. Now go call him and I’ll have my usual bagel with cream cheese. I might call Detective Michaels while you’re gone. I don’t want to wait for him to call us.”

Lifting up, I kissed him on the lips and smiled. “Thank you. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Slipping on a pair of sandals and grabbing my purse, I walked out of the room and headed down the hall. I walked past the usual maid I always saw on our floor, and was amazed at how beautiful she was. For a girl that cleaned rooms, she was very good-looking. I assumed that was a standard for working in a nice hotel.

After eating room service for the past couple of weeks, we started venturing out and exploring other options. There was a café right beside the hotel that served the best brunch I’d ever tasted in my life.

The girl at the counter recognized me and waved as I walked in the door; her name was Danielle and she had just graduated high school. She looked young with her blonde hair divided into two braids, one on each side, and she had the cutest smile. “Hey, Jaime, are you ordering the usual today?” she asked sweetly.

I smiled. “You know it. My boyfriend loves the Asiago cheese bagels and I can’t seem to get enough of the French toast.”

“Coming right up. How long are you here on vacation for?”

Noncommittally, I leaned on the counter and shrugged. “I’m not sure. My boyfriend and I just finished college, and we thought we’d travel around for a bit. I kind of like it here, so we’ll probably stay for another couple of weeks.”

“That’s awesome. Your food should be ready in about fifteen minutes.”

“Sounds good, Danielle.” There was a line forming behind me so I smiled at her and left to find a table.

As I waited for the food to be prepared and bagged up, I pulled out my phone and called Kristian. Things were a little awkward since he kissed me before I left, but thankfully, we hadn’t discussed it. It was kind of like it never happened.

Kristian answered on the second ring sounding in better spirits. “Hey, baby girl.”

“Hey, Kristian. What ya doing?”

He sighed. “Just hoping for some good news.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” I asked, wishing I could give him some.

“I was hoping you were calling to tell me you were coming home.”

“I wish I was, but we haven’t heard anything good from the detective. It’s always the same thing each time,” I informed him wearily.

“Are you okay? Have you been getting out and doing things at least instead of being holed up wherever you’re at?”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Yes, we’ve been getting out and getting some fresh air. It was scary at first, but now I’m a little more comfortable. It just sucks having to constantly look over my shoulder, you know.”

“I understand. Did you get the email from Mrs. Tatum yet?” he asked.

Excited, I bounced in my seat and held the phone closer. “No, I haven’t checked my email in a while. What were the scores? Did I win?”

He chuckled. “Let’s just say it was very, very close.”

“Like how close?” I pushed harder, grinning from ear to ear.

“Does me owing you two hundred dollars give you an answer?”

Squealing, I captured everyone’s attention in the café, but I reined it in and lowered myself in the chair. “Are you serious? Oh, I can’t wait to tell Alec. This is the best news yet. I expect that money when I come back, okay?”

I could tell he was smiling through the phone. “You got it, and it better be soon. I miss you.”

“How are things with Natalie?” He hadn’t talked about her in a while, and it made me wonder what was going on. He’d been so engrossed in my life that I hadn’t even bothered to ask him about his.

He grunted and clucked his tongue. “Well … at the moment things are a little hard, but I’m hoping it’ll start to get better. I’m supposed to go to Wilmington this weekend for my interview, and she told me she would go, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“I’m sorry, Kristian. I know you were looking forward to it.”

“Yeah, well … things change.” A beeping sound went off in the background and Kristian sighed. “Okay, Mare, I have to go. Call me later if you can, and if not I’ll talk to you soon. I’m sure Alec’s about to shit a brick right now with the amount of time you’ve spent talking to me.”

“Oh, he’ll be fine. I’ll talk to you soon though. Take care, Kristian.”

“Will do. Bye Mare.”

We hung up the phone, and about two seconds later, Danielle had my breakfast all ready to go. Quickly, I paid for it using cash and scrambled my way out the door and back to the hotel. When I walked in, the same woman from before was at the counter and glared at me the whole way to the elevator. I could feel her stare burning holes in my back when I waited for the elevator doors to open.