“Yeah, yeah.” I patted his hand and stopped at Texas Harry’s door. “I’m going to check on him.”
“I visited earlier,” he said. “Told him all about your dancing skills.”
Oh, great. Just what I needed. I cracked open the door and saw that Tex was sleeping soundly, so I closed it again. I’d be back in seven hours for my med shift.
Mark and I walked quietly through the deserted common area and down the long tunnel together. When we came up the steps and into our hall of the hotel, Rylen’s door opened and my heart stopped as Linette walked out. My entire world tilted.
Her hair was mussed and her clothes rumpled. She halted when she saw us, and then a wicked glean filled her eyes as she focused on me. I literally could not breathe or school my face out of its frozen state of shock.
“First Lieutenant,” Mark greeted politely, albeit carefully.
“Mahalchick.” She squared her shoulders and walked past us.
It wasn’t until she was down the hall around the corner that I inhaled shakily and found my body could not move.
“Uh, that was . . . unexpected,” Mark said. I couldn’t respond. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’ll see you later.” I walked as stiff as a mannequin to my door, but didn’t open it. I waited until Mark disappeared into his room. Then I stood there in the silent hallway for what felt like an hour before I moved robotically to the door where Rylen, Tater, Devon, and Matt shared a room. I lifted a weak hand and knocked.
After a long moment, the door opened a crack, and a gorgeous face peered out. Rylen’s face.
