Argeneau Family 12. The Renegade Hunter(54)

"You mentioned him a couple weeks ago," Beth said with a frown, and Jo forced a smile, glad that she had. The customer had laid off lately, but was a good cover.

"Yeah, well, he's here and—"

"Say no more," Beth interrupted, patting her arm. "Come on, follow me."

Jo glanced toward the lobby again, but then followed Beth deeper to a narrow hall leading off to the left. At the end there were several doors and an elevator.

"Which floor are you on?" Beth asked, leading her inside and inserting a key in the elevator panel.

"Top floor," Jo murmured as the doors closed. During the ride up Beth chattered easily about the bio class they had together at university. Jo tried to keep up with the conversation, but was a bit distracted with her worries about how she and Nicholas were going to get out of there. She would have asked Beth to stick around and quickly grabbed Nicholas so they could ride down in the service elevator, but Mortimer, Bricker, and Anders were covering all the exits. Basically they were screwed, she thought unhappily, but forced a smile as she said, "Thanks for this, Beth. I owe you one." >

"No you don't," she assured her. "You're always giving me free drinks at the bar. However, I am going to want to hear all about this new guy in class tomorrow night."

Jo smiled faintly, but her mind was racing, trying to figure a way to get out of the hotel without using the lobby or side exits. Maybe they could take the window washer's scaffold down, she thought as she recalled it passing the window earlier and waking her.

"Jo?"

She blinked and glanced to Beth who was peering at her with a small frown. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

Beth smiled wryly. "I just asked if you guys were only staying the one night or—"

"Not even the one night, I'm afraid," Jo said with a grimace. "We'll probably leave right away now that… er… my stalker is here."

"But you have pizza," Beth protested. "And you paid for the room."

"Yeah, well, we'll have to take the pizza elsewhere. I'm just not comfortable here anymore." Jo shrugged and grimaced, annoyed that she was unable to explain anything to Beth. She wasn't used to having to prevaricate with her friends. Sighing, she shook her head and then said, "The room's already paid for. We'll just slip out and…" She waved her hand vaguely.

"You really need to call the cops about this guy if he's getting this troublesome," Beth said with concern. "It was bad enough when he was just being creepy and hanging around the bar all the time, but now he's actually stalking you, Jo. This isn't good."

"I know," Jo muttered. "But for right now we'll just try to slip out without his seeing and following."

"I can help with that," Beth offered. "If you're quick about fetching your friend from the room, I can take you back down in the service elevator and then slip you out through the kitchens. There's a door into the parking garage for deliveries; that way you can avoid the lobby altogether and he can't follow you to the next place."

"Oh, Beth, that would be amazing. You're a life-saver." Jo shifted the pizza to one hand and hugged Beth with the other. "Thank you."

"No problem." Beth hugged her back and then glanced to the number panel above the door as the elevator dinged. "Here we are. Give me the pizza. I'll wait here and hold the elevator while you run and get your friend."

"Thanks," Jo said, handing it over. "I'll be quick."

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

Nodding, Jo rushed off the elevator as the doors opened and hurried up the hall at a jog, pulling the card key out of her back pocket as she went. She had it up and ready to slip into the slot as she slid to a halt in front of the door, but never got the chance to put it in. Before she could, the door was pulled open and Nicholas was there, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the room.

"Finally," he growled, pushing the door closed and whirling to pull her into his arms. "I was worried sick."

"I—" Jo began, but got no further before his mouth was suddenly on hers. Jo groaned, but reached up to push at his shoulders, only to clutch at them instead as he suddenly walked her quickly backward. One hand at the back of her head, holding her in place, the other on her behind, he urged her hips against his so that she felt his erection as they moved in a strange, rather erotic dance across the room until the backs of her legs bumped up against the bed.

"I need you," Nicholas growled against her lips as he tugged her T-shirt upward, his hands palming and squeezing her breasts.

"Oh God," Jo gasped, reaching to clasp his hands. She'd meant to pull them away and explain that they had to move, but he was squeezing and kneading, and when she opened her mouth to speak, his tongue slid inside and Jo found herself clutching at his hands, squeezing them even as he squeezed her. In the next moment, Nicholas pushed her away, sending her toppling onto the bed while he remained standing.