I ring the bell and wipe my suddenly clammy hands down the front of the jeans I changed into after the show. The bird squawks and whistles. Well, if they were asleep before, they aren’t now.
It only takes a few seconds for the door to open.
Shayna’s hair is mussed. Her lace panties might as well be see-through, and that wife-beater could just as well not be there, with her not wearing a bra.
I avert my eyes and check out the door frame.
She lets out a big sigh. “What do you want?”
I look her directly into her eyes, careful to keep my gaze up high. “I need to see Ronnie.”
She slides her hand up the side of the door, leaning against it. “No can do.”
“Not here?” Where the fuck is she at this time of night?
She shrugs. “Not my business where she chooses to stay the night. She’s a big girl.”
“Dave’s?” Ugh.
Shayna inspects her fingernail. “Couldn’t say.”
I turn away from her and head to the car. “When you see her, tell her that she and I need to talk.”
I’m halfway down the walk when Shayna says, “You know, Jack, I’ve been wondering something about you.”
I turn to face her, still ensuring to keep my gaze above her shoulders. “What’s that?”
She bites her pinky nail and gives me this look. In the glow of the front porch light it almost seems like she’s hitting on me. “You like white meat as much as you like dark meat?”
“White meat?” What the fucking hell?
Shayna shrugs. “I mean skin tone.”
Holy fuck, she is hitting on me. That bitch. I can’t believe she’d do this to Ronnie—ah, man.
This is Shayna.
I shake my head. “You know, Shayna, it has nothing to do with her shade of melanin, but everything to do with who she is. And you forget that I know what you do for a living. Nice try, though. She ask you to do that?”
Shayna drops the sex-pot persona and grins. “Nope. But I had to make sure you’re worthy of my girl. She’s flying to Oklahoma in an hour. Hurry up; maybe you’ll catch her before she gets through security.”
I take off for the car at a run.
“Hey, Jackass!”
I stop. “Yeah?”
“We know Dave was a plant. Not cool. So. Not. Cool.”
Shit. That’s why she’s so pissed.
I jump into my car and race toward the airport.
Blue lights flash in the rearview.
Fuck.
I pull over and dig out the appropriate documents. Maybe if I’m ready, this will go fast.
The officer comes to the window and taps it with his flashlight. “License and registration please.”
I hand him the requested items.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
Considering I’ve broken just about every traffic law on the books since I left Shayna’s, I have no fucking idea. “No, sir. I don’t.”
“You were exceeding the posted speed limit by thirty miles per hour. Are you injured and on your way to the hospital?”
I shake my head. “No. I’m trying to catch the love of my life before she gets on a plane and leaves.”
He cocks his head and blinds me when he shines his light right into my face. “Seriously? That’s your excuse?”
I grip the wheel. “It’s the God’s honest truth.”
He glances at my driver’s license. Then he bends down, taking a closer look at me. “Jackson Tremaine?”
I smile and salute. “That would be me.”
He chuckles as he writes in his notebook. “I sure wish you’d have just told me the truth. Don’t lie to an officer of the law. Everyone knows you’re not the kind of guy who chases after a woman. You leave a wake of broken hearts everywhere you go.”
Great. Of all the cops that could’ve pulled my ass over, I get the one who reads gossip rags.
It takes a total of seventeen minutes before I’m free to go. I slam my fist on the dash. “Fuck.”
I turn the car toward home. No way I can get all the way out to LAX and catch her now. She’s probably already at the gate.
When I let myself into my house, Bull’s waiting. Happy to see me and wanting to play, he grabs his toy and spits it at my feet.
I flop onto the bed. “Sorry, Buddy. Not tonight.”
He jumps onto the bed. His toy hangs over my chest while his expressive eyes question what could possibly be so bad that I wouldn’t want to play.
I slide my hand over his head, scrubbing behind his ears. “I fucked up, Bull. Bad.”
He whines. Then he drops the slobbery stuffed animal on my belly, jumps off the bed, and runs out of the room.
I pull in a deep sigh and choke on it. “Fuck, Bull! What the hell?”
The air is rancid with dog shit stink.