Half Empty (First Wives, #2)(20)

He took a piece of toast from the table and ate half in one bite.

Once he washed it down, he headed for the door. “Tell Miss Trina I’m going out to retrieve her broken phone. I’m sure I’m leaving her in capable hands.”

Once he escaped the henhouse, he felt the weight of the women inside lift. It was good for his ego, he decided . . . to have so many women not falling at his feet. It had been a good long while since that had happened. If ever.

The sun outside was a bright contrast to the day and evening before. The storm had blown through and left fresh, albeit humid, air behind. He hid his features with dark sunglasses as he walked down the still, quiet streets.

Some debris left over from the storm littered the sidewalks, and sand made tiny drifts along the buildings. He managed a glimpse of the sea as he ducked around until he found the phone store.

The clerk recognized him when he entered.

They greeted and shook hands. “Where is your friend?” he asked.

“We had a little bit too much fun last night at the place on the corner.” He pointed in the general direction of the bar they’d closed the night before.

“Those tropical surprises have a kick.”

“Sure do.”

He produced the phone and turned it on. “I did a direct transfer overnight. It looks like everything is there, but if it isn’t, just have Ms. Petrov download it from the cloud.”

“I’ll do that.”

Wade placed the phone, and her old one, back into the bag. “What do I owe you?”

“She already paid.”

Oh, yeah . . . he’d forgotten. “I guess that’s all, then.”

The clerk stopped him before leaving. “One more thing.”

Wade smiled, expecting some kind of comment on his music or recognition.

“There was a hiccup during the download.”

“Oh?”

“Some kind of tracking app kept kicking an error message.”

“Okay.”

“It was strange,” he went on. “The icon wasn’t something I’d ever seen before, and it kept flashing, but so fast it would have easily been missed.”

Wade shrugged. “What kind of tracking app was it?”

“That’s just it, I don’t know. I saw it flash a map, and then the airport in Miami, then it brought up a map of London and flashed the name of London Heathrow.”

“Probably just a glitch.”

The clerk shrugged. “It also kept flashing text in a different language. Something Slavic, I think, which was what caught my attention.”

Wade smiled. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“It seemed to be causing some havoc rebooting. I finally got it to work without an issue, but it wasn’t easy. When I looked in her app menu, there wasn’t anything there. Almost as if it was a virus running in the background. But since she said she dropped her phone in Miami, I assumed it wasn’t there by accident. If the app clogs up the phone, you might tell Ms. Petrov to remove it and download it again.”

Wade nodded. “I’ll do that.”

Instead of heading straight back to the hotel, Wade stopped at a small diner and ordered a big, greasy breakfast. For him, nothing combated a night of drinking better than a big meal. He doubted the women were done getting all the details out about how he and Trina had met, and he doubly doubted that Trina would want to watch him eat. Poor girl was bound to be ill all day after the night they’d had.

He smiled. Not because she’d gotten drunk, but because even though she didn’t know him that well, she’d felt comfortable enough to do so in his presence. That sadness he’d told her friends that had lingered in Trina’s eyes had slowly faded in just a couple of days. When she smiled, something bright pierced his breastbone and lit him up. Maybe it was the chase, the fact she didn’t fall all over him. Or maybe it was just her.

He liked her and really wanted to see her again.

He’d have to make her posse of friends like him if he was going to get anywhere. Not to mention the reason he’d been chasing the sorrow from her eyes since they met. Who was the man she’d been married to? Why the hell did he commit suicide and leave her to pick up the pieces? Trina’s friends, he could manage . . . women had a hard time resisting his charm when he turned it on. But the man talking to angels? That might prove more difficult.

Trina’s warnings about bad timing weren’t going to stop him.

No way.

He took her phone from the bag and typed in his personal number. When he typed in his name, he did so with a little extra. Wade, You Owe Me A Dance, Thomas.

That should get her attention.

He put the phone away and finished his breakfast.

Before he left the restaurant, he called the pilot and asked how quickly they could fly home. He figured his welcome back at the hotel would be limited, and there was no reason to hang around to keep Trina smiling now that her friends had found her.

Of course, he would make sure she was okay with him ducking out before taking off. He felt he owed her that.

On his way back to the hotel, his phone buzzed in his back pocket.

“Where the hell are you?” The roughness of Jeb’s voice had Wade smiling.

“Miss me?”

“Seriously. How am I supposed to sit still when I don’t know where you are?”