Here's the latest in this story again mistakes may be present due to the haste of the writing … hope you all enjoy :) Thank you for the kind reviews especially from my dedicated readers please review so I know how I'm going :) Its longer and this may seem like filler but trust me I'm building up to some D/L action soon ... Please R & R :)
Chapter 12 – 'Did she think she was married to a pimp?'
His eyes widened. Lindsay. What was she doing here? Reining in his exasperation, Danny had no choice but to wait until she caught up to him.
'What are you doing here?' she wanted to know.
Damn it, couldn't she ever stay put? 'I could ask you the same question.'
He was doing it again, avoiding answering her question. 'I came looking for you.' She told him. She looked at him accusingly. 'You were supposed to be right back. That man makes me uneasy.'
He hoped she hadn't inadvertently said anything to put Quinton off. He fell back into character. A part of him hated all this but he had no choice. 'That man can make us rich.'
'How?' Danny still hadn't given her any details.
'I'm working on that.' He answered vaguely.
Why were direct answers so difficult for him? Determined to get at least one, she pressed on. 'Where did you go just now?'
She was acting more and more like herself, even if she didn't know it, he thought. It was the worst of all possible worlds.
'To answer the telephone. You were there when the bellman called me away.' A thought occurred to him. He brushed her hair aside from the bump. Was it turning colours now? 'Are you feeling worse?'
She pushed his hand away. This had nothing to do with her amnesia.
'No I'm not feeling worse, but I am feeling confused as hell.' What was going on here? She waved a hand toward the front of the hotel. 'The desk clerk just said you didn't take any call.'
He'd learned to think on his feet a long time ago. If he hadn't he would have been dead by now. He wasn't about to tell her that he'd taken the call in Flack's quarters.
'Then he's mistaken. Maybe what he meant was that I didn't talk to anyone. And I didn't. When I got to the telephone, there was no one there.' He shrugged casually, then hooked his arm through hers, gently ushering her away. 'I guess they must have hung up.'
She wanted to believe him – she really did. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something vital here. 'Then why didn't you come back to the table?'
'I went up to our room.'
He saw Flack, the bellman who'd come to get him earlier, over by the bar. With a barely perceivable movement Danny nodded to him. The latter looked relieved. 'I realized that I left my wallet upstairs.'
She frowned. Why was he deliberately lying to her? 'Your wallet? I saw you put wallet in your pants this morning before we left for the hospital.' She remembered seeing him pick it up from the bureau. But if she was right, what did that prove? That he lied about inconsequential things? Or was there something larger at stake?
Danny shook his head. There was pity in his eyes as he kissed her forehead. 'Your confused, honey,' he assured her. 'My wallet was on the bureau when I came upstairs. Just where I left it. I had to get it. I can't have Quinton paying for the champagne.'
That really didn't make any sense. 'Why? He obviously likes playing the grand host. It goes along with the image he is trying to project.'
Without knowing it, Lindsay had hit the nail on the head. 'Maybe, but you have to spend money to make money. Quinton expects me to pick up some of the tab. Its part of the game.'
She wasn't interested in any games. She was interested in something making sense for a change. Nothing, since she'd opened her eyes this morning had. 'What about what I expect?'
'I wasn't aware that you expected anything.' Danny wanted her out of the way. And safe. He was still naïve enough to hope for both. He should have known better. This was getting really difficult. But he'd made his decision and had to stick by it. Too much was at stake. 'Do you want to go upstairs and lie down?'
'Is that an offer?'
Even as she asked, she knew it wasn't. He was like a different person when he was around Quinton – or talking about him. Just what of an attraction does that man hold for Danny? What was it she wasn't understanding here? Danny and Quinton didn't appear to have anything in common.
Danny shook his head. 'It's a suggestion.'
She sighed as they made their way through the crowd. It seemed to have swelled in the past half hour. 'You mean alone, don't you?'
This really wasn't going to go down well once she recovered her memory. And he was going to play it for all it was worth. Maybe they'd both share a laugh over it. Eventually. Anticipation had him smiling despite his annoyance.
'How else can you get some rest?'
'I don't want rest, I'm restless.'
What was the use? Lindsay waved her own words aside. 'Never mind. Lets get this over with.'
She made it sound as if she thought this was the last they were seeing of the other couple. But it was just the beginning. Payoff- if it came – and it had better – wouldn't be for at least another two to three days at the earliest if he didn't miss his guess.
Danny lowered his voice as he inclined his head toward her. 'I want you to be nice to Quinton. He could represent out future.'
She didn't know him well enough not to draw the logical conclusion at his request. Anger froze in her breast. 'Just how nice are we talking about here?'
It took him less than a second to realize what she was asking.
'Not what you're thinking.' He snapped before he could stop himself. Did she think she was married to a pimp? This was getting to be messy. 'I just want you to be pleasant and smile at the man when he looks at you. I'll do the rest.'
Lindsay wasn't as easily convinced of that as she might have been earlier. 'Unless you get another phone call.'
There was no danger of that. 'No more phone calls,' Danny promised. He'd done what he needed to do, now he had to be in Quinton's face until it was over.
He kept his arm around Lindsay's shoulder as they approached Quinton's table. 'Sorry.' He addressed Quinton. 'The call was unavoidable. Business.'
Lindsay stared at Danny as she took her seat. What was he talking about? He had just told her that there hadn't been anyone on the line. Why was he lying? The look in Danny's eyes warned her not to contradict him.
Quinton took the explanation in stride. As Danny sat down, Quinton filled his glass for him. The bottle was close to empty again. It amazed Lindsay that Quinton was showing absolutely
No signs of inebriated. What was the man made of? Quinton eyed Danny. 'What kind of business did you say you were in again, Messer?'
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