“Have you heard anything from Darcy?” she asked Bryce, her voice strained.
Bryce only continued to stare in awe at her, his mouth open. Travis knew exactly how the kid felt, since he’d experienced the same shock and desire earlier tonight when he’d seen Meredith standing glorious and sexy as hell with bedroom hair, those long firm legs displayed in a short skirt, and her breasts ripe and luscious in a clinging top that immediately made him ache.
Who knew the prim mean girl could turn on the sex kitten—or dominatrix might be more apropos—so successfully?
He only hoped he hadn’t been as obvious as Bryce, whose eyes were practically bugging out of his face. Travis fought the urge to smack the kid.
Meredith repeated her question. Almost shaking his head from his stupor, Bryce answered, “No. Still haven’t heard from her. Do you think she might be here, though?”
“We can hope,” Travis said. “Did you and Darcy ever make your way up here before?”
Bryce looked uneasily over to Meredith before responding, and then at the floor as he answered. “Yeah. Last weekend. Saturday.”
“Between Saturday and Wednesday night, when you last saw her, did you guys go to any more of these events?”
“No. Just those two. Although…” He paused and thought for a moment. “When we came here last Saturday, we only found out about this level by accident. Darcy went to get some sodas and when she came back, she said the bartender mentioned another party on the top floor. He said mention Jasper and we’d get in. We did, just out of curiosity. But we weren’t here long. We’d danced for a couple of songs when Darcy said she wanted to go. She felt…creeped out. Said she felt like she was being watched. So we left.”
“And you’re only thinking of this now?” Travis’s tone was sharp.
Bryce shifted, keeping his gaze on the floor. “Yeah. But we were only here for like fifteen minutes, then went back to my place to watch a movie. Hadn’t thought anything of it until now. Being here again. Remembering Darcy’s comment…”
Hell, Bryce looked nervous enough to pass out.
“Grab a drink, Bryce. Nonalcoholic,” Travis added with a warning tone. “Then try to act like you’re just here to have a good time, maybe looking for some friends who you’re meeting up with. If you see that Matt guy, come and tell me immediately. Don’t try and talk to him on your own.”
Bryce swallowed noticeably and nodded his understanding. Travis bent down and spoke into her ear. “Let’s go find a table.”
He chose a table in the back corner where he could see the room and dance floor. Meredith slid into the chair next to his, and he made a point of pulling it closer to him, then wrapping his arm around her again.
She stiffened. “Do you think this is necessary?”
He thought about telling her about the guy up in the booth who had them under surveillance, but he didn’t want to risk it. He doubted that Meredith could do a covert glance without being too obvious. He chose not to embellish and answered only, “Yeah. I do.”#p#分页标题#e#
He needed to keep his eyes on the floor and the table at the back. Watching for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. But the scent from Meredith’s skin was making it difficult, as was the heat of her body against his. Damn it.
She wasn’t supposed to be able to have this effect on him.
He grabbed his drink from the table and savored a swallow.
He stared out at the floor filled with young, pretty girls who had imbibed well past the limit. He doubted many of them were even legal.
“I just wish I knew what this Matt guy looked like. Brown hair and tattoos isn’t a hell of a lot to go on,” she muttered.
“We need to be clear, Meredith. If Matt does show up, like I told Bryce, you let me handle him. You’re not to try and interfere. If you say or do anything that raises his suspicions, he’ll bolt. And trying to track him down again, in here, would be impossible. Okay?”
“Yes, I understand. I also understood when you said that the last dozen times. Sheesh. I’m not a moron. I’ll have you know that I was on the dean’s list at Texas A&M.”
He glanced down at her. “You mean before you dropped out and got married.”
Ever so slightly, she pulled away from him. He could sense the anger riding in waves over her. “Why do you always have to do that? Bring up all the bad things you know about me? Yes. I was stupid and fell for the first guy who made me think I was something special to him. If it makes you feel any better, I was quickly reminded how true love wasn’t meant for me when I found him two months later, bare assed with a blonde IHOP waitress on our new leather couch.”