The Billionaire's Kiss(2)

Wow, this guy didn't waste time. Callie had to do everything within her power not to run out of the bar, screaming "Creep! Creep!" at the top of her lungs. Instead she mustered a smile. "We could hang out here for a bit longer,” she said as innocently as possible. “After all, I wouldn't want to be one of those women who just gives in to her urges. I'd hate for you to lose any respect for me." The only urge Callie had was to slap him.

Gavin laughed. "Like I said before, people in this town only respect one thing: power. If I were hanging out on the street in cargo pants and a t-shirt, you wouldn't have given me the time of day. But you came over and talked to me. Now why is that? It's all about power and the perception of power."

Wardrobe be damned. If it weren’t her job to stall this creep, she'd keep her distance no matter what he was wearing. She imagined throwing her drink in his face and smiled. "And what power do I have?"

"The ability to give me what I want,” Gavin said.

"That's funny," Callie replied. "I was thinking the same thing about you." She leaned forward, suppressed her gag reflex, and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be back in a minute. And, don't worry; I always get what I want."

Callie skirted the edge of the dance floor and made her way over to the women’s bathroom. She wondered how long she could hide out there before Gavin decided to give up on her. She paced back and forth along the length of the bathroom, clacking her heels against the polished concrete floor. She hated everything about the club, the stupid throbbing lights, the cold, industrial aesthetic, the terrible, dead-eyed women and men obsessed with showing off their newfound wealth and status. Soon enough, she'd have to touch up her makeup to give herself an excuse for running off.

Callie pulled out her phone and checked for any messages. Rich was taking too long. If she didn’t hear back from him soon, she’d have to take drastic steps. She counted the seconds as she paced and wondered whether or not Rich had finished his job. She could feel the first pangs of a headache starting to pulse deep behind her eyes. She rubbed her temples and tried to calm herself. Why hadn’t he called yet?

She stepped up to the sink and placed her purse on the counter, grabbing some blush and patting her cheeks. Well, that killed about ten seconds, she thought. She looked down at her phone again. Rich should have been done. Callie looked over at the tall blonde next to her. The woman's dress was so tight that it looked like an anatomy lesson. Callie pretended to fiddle with her makeup and stole a glance at the blonde. She looked to be about forty, no ring on her finger, and enough makeup to hide the wrinkles starting to form around her eyes. Is this what I'm in for? Callie wondered.

While she waited, Callie looked at herself in the mirror. With this makeup and this dress, she should be out having a good time, finding a decent guy who would bring her out for a nice dinner and watch Netflix with her when she was too exhausted from work to do anything else. Instead, she was stuck playing the damsel in distress while Rich rooted through Gavin's place looking for a hard drive and any other evidence of Gavin's blackmail scheme. If Rich couldn't find the drive, Callie would have to go back to Gavin's apartment. She shuddered at the thought. When the blonde finally left, Callie took a deep breath and pulled out her phone. She was not going to enjoy this call.

"Hey, he asked me back to his place. Please, please tell me you found it," she said. "I don't think I can stand another minute with this creep."

"Not a trace. Has he said anything that might tell you where it is?"

"Just that he likes to keep things close to him,” Callie said.

"You think he has it on him right now?" Rich asked.

“God, I really don't want to find out,” Callie said.

"Oh come on," Rich said. "Have you any idea how many times I've had to use my sex appeal to get a job done?"

"Ummm," Callie replied. Rich was many things, but sexy wasn't really one of them.

"Yeah, that's right,” Rich quickly said. “Instead I have to climb through muck and sort through trash. Lean against the guy and pat him down. If he has the photos on a flash drive, you'll know right away. Well either that or..."#p#分页标题#e#

"Don't finish that sentence," Callie said.

"Ok. 'Is that a thumb drive full of blackmail photos or are you just happy to see me' has a nice ring to it though."

"You've got five minutes before we get back to his place. Please, for the love of God find the drive so I can run away from this creep as quickly as possible. Text me when you're out."