“Come,” he said, taking her hand in his and leading her back to his car. “You surprised me back there, you know?”
“Because you thought I’d melt?”
“You did,” he chuckled, holding the car door open for her.
Jenna flushed. He was right—she had melted. Her hair had frizzed out all over the place. She’d gotten sunburned and sweaty. And she didn’t give a damn. Because he thought she looked gorgeous. She could see it in his eyes. She’d tasted it in his kiss.
And that’s all that mattered right now.
Afternoon was segueing into evening and wads of purplish-red clouds were now scudding in from across the Mojave as they entered an industrial part of the city. Jenna felt fatigue creeping up on her. With the low feeling came a sense of regret.
After watching Lex give of himself to those kids, after having seen him suffer on stage at her auction because he cared for them, Jenna was beginning to feel she was a flake. Truth be told, she’d wasted a good chunk of her life shopping and partying. Moving from one pseudoevent to the next. She was surprised Lex had even bothered to bring her out here, that he’d actually given her a second chance.
Why had he?
She glanced at his strong profile as he drove, and Jenna found herself wishing it was because he’d glimpsed something in her. More likely it was because he was interested in her connection to Candace—and his case—and he wanted to keep plying her for information.
He shot her a look. “Hey, what’s up? You’ve gone quiet on me.”
She shook her head, feeling a weird burn of emotion in her eyes. “It’s nothing.”
“Jenna?”
She looked out the window.
He drove in silence for a moment. “I’m sorry,” he said. “For what happened back there.”
“Oh, no, Lex…that’s not it.”
“You sure?” His eyes were vulnerable, and she felt a sharp stab of affection. It bloomed soft and warm through her chest. She tried to smile. “I was just thinking…about how I’ve wasted my life, my money. How I could’ve been doing so much more. Seeing what you did in one afternoon, how you create a sense of family for those kids…” Her voice faded as she thought of her own dysfunctional family, that stupid woman her dad had gone and married. About how she wished she’d had her real mom around. “It’s nothing.”
“Hey, you haven’t had a normal life, either, Jenna. Growing up in Vegas, imprisoned by your father in that—”
Defensiveness flared in her. “Imprisoned? Hardly. And my father has always been good to me.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head, pulling a face. “It’s okay. Lord knows I probably deserve some payback considering the hell I put you through at that auction.”
Lex turned down a deserted street. The sky was lowering, darkening over them, a strange kinetic energy filling in the air. The torn fronds of a lone palm fluttered in the hot, mounting wind. Litter scattered in squalls across the streets.
This section of town was a far cry from the glittering epicenter of Jenna’s existence. She began to feel nervous as they passed lowbrow gambling halls, dim bars, a few homeless people huddled in a corner, sharing a smoke. The streets seemed strangely empty for a Saturday evening, compared to the 24/7 buzz that was the Strip.
Lex swerved to the curb suddenly and slammed on brakes, his tires screeching.
“What is it?”
“I saw someone—” he rammed his SUV into reverse, backed up a block, fast. Across the street an older woman in a gypsy skirt walked briskly down the sidewalk, black shawl fluttering in the wind. She turned and abruptly vanished into a narrow alley.
“It’s her!” He reversed farther.
“Who?”
He turned the ignition off. “Jenna, I need to check something out. Can you wait?”
Nerves fluttered irrationally in her stomach. She glanced out the window at the darkening street. The first fat plops of rain were beginning to fall. “What is it, Lex? Who was that woman?”
“Someone I’ve been looking to question for months. Every time I come out this way, I seem to miss her, like ships that pass in the night. I won’t be long.”
Jenna sat in the SUV as he jogged across the road and disappeared down the same alley that had swallowed the woman. Craning her neck to see over the backseat, Jenna tried to peer down the alley and caught the flutter of the woman’s shawl as she vanished into a tiny storefront that had a broken pink neon sign over the door. Jenna could make out the first two words: Lucky Lady. The c was missing.
Hot wind gusted outside more fiercely. Bits of newspaper swirled off the sidewalk and danced up in a wicked little dervish. The sky turned a deeper purple. A man pushing a shopping cart wandered by, stared at her.