I gave a relieved chuckle. “I could say the same about you.”
“Touché. Although you were the one who approached me and put the moves on me at the bar last night.”
“And you made me work for it.”
Hannah shrugged. “I was hoping your friend would help Rachel get out of her mopey rut. Some harmless flirting never hurt anyone. I definitely didn’t set out to pick up a sexy foreign touristand spend the next night showing him the sights.”
“So I’m an anomaly?”
“You’re a lot of things.” Hannah sighed and sat back, resting her head on my shoulder again. “An anomaly. A distraction. And by this time next week, a memory.”
Silence descended between us. I didn’t know what to say to that. Because it was true. There was no way that this between us would be anything more than a memory aweek from now. The lies I’d already told her didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want to add to my sins that were already weighing me down.
So I said nothing. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and brushed my lips across her head. We rode the rest of the way to Hannah’s mysterious destination in silence.
But unlike countless dinners with “the right people,” the silence with Hannah wasn’t uncomfortable.It felt good to snuggle and just be.
After a few minutes Hannah jerked and sat upright. “You missed the turn. Sir? You need to turn around. The museum is back there.”
“Oui, mademoiselle,”Étienne replied as he changed lanes.
I met his eyes in the rearview mirror. I knew exactly what was going on. The second SUV had to scope out our location before they’d let me enter, but I couldn’t exactlytell Hannah as much. So I let Étienne take the fall for his poor navigating skills.
We made several turns that I’m sure led us further from the location, but Étienne needed to give the guys time. Judging by the way Hannah was twitching in her seat, she was annoyed by the delay.
“Relax.” I patted her knee. “We’ll get there in one piece. I have the utmost confidence in Étienne’s driving capabilities.”
“It’s not that. I just…we don’t have a ton of time to do what I wanted, and if we’re much later, they won’t be able to keep the doors open for us.”
“Ah, I see.” Not that I could do much about it. When it came to security, I was lucky the guys were giving me this much leeway.
“If I were driving, we would’ve been there ten minutes ago.”
My lips quirked at her adamant statement. Someone had issueswith control. I could relate. “Tell me more about our destination. It’s a museum, you said? Is there more than one erotic museum in Las Vegas?”
Hannah laughed lightly. “Probably, but we’re not going to another erotic museum. And that’s all the information you’re getting.”
“I don’t need anymore because it looks like we’re here.”
We pulled up to a nondescript brick wall with a metal rolling gateblocking the entrance. Étienne pushed the button on the speaker and a voice barked. “We’re closed.”
Hannah leaned forward. “Tell them Hannah Banana is here.”
“Hannah Banana?” My lips quirked as I attempted to hold my laugh in.
“Shut up. It’s my childhood nickname. Toby wanted to use it as a kind of code, I guess.” She fiddled with her hair, then finished under her breath. “And probably to embarrassme in front of my date.”
My shoulders shook with my silent laughter, but sure enough once Étienne gave the secret code, the gate rolled back, and our SUV pulled through. I couldn’t really see much but after only a few meters, our vehicle stopped and my door opened from the outside.
“Hannah Banana?” A stocky blond guy craned his neck to see past me. “Who the hell have you hooked up with?”
“Seriously,Toby?” Hannah huffed as she not too gently shoved my shoulder, urging me to get out. “Is that the way you’re gonna greet us? Where the hell are your manners?”
For the first time in my life I found myself shoved to the side while my girl literally climbed over me to get to another guy. I stared in stupefied amazement as Hannah gave Toby a bear hug and let him twirl her around.
I had a feelingthe twirl was for my benefit, as the second her feet touched the ground, Toby slung an arm around her shoulders and narrowed his eyes at me. He surveyed me from head to toe and, judging by his smirk, found me wanting. Which immediately had me wary.
He jerked his chin at me. “Hey. I’m Toby. Just one of the guys who’s gonna fuck you up if you don’t treat my girl here right.”
