Love & Redemption (17 page)

“Maybe. I have a bad feeling.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Shelley still hasn’t answered. I wondered if you could call her and see if she responds to you. I don’t trust Ken. I think Shell’s in—”

“She’s here.” Jenessa pointed down the hallway to the vending sign. “I saw her at the ice machine about twenty minutes ago.”

His tension deflated and Gavin leaned against the doorframe, relief flooding through him. “I thought maybe... Well, never mind. Do you remember which room number she was given? Maybe she just didn’t get my message. I want to check on her, make sure she’s okay.”

“Maybe you should wait ‘til morning.” Jenessa grinned and gave him a wink. “I got the impression she isn’t alone tonight.”

“Oh.” Gavin stood still a few seconds, unsure what to do. “Oh.”

“Oh?” She bit her lip. “Did you and Shelley...get close last week?”

“It’s nothing,” he lied, wondering why he felt so numb. Shouldn’t he feel something?

Jenessa patted his arm and sighed. “Will this affect your working relationship?”

No matter what, Gavin needed the job with Nick. He already gave up the diamonds and didn’t have any other options. “Of course not. Everything’s fine.” He forced a smile. “I worried because Ken’s married. He took off his ring to trick Shell.”

“I knew there was something I didn’t like about that guy.” She wrinkled her nose. “What a scumbag.”

There wasn’t much more to say than that. “Yep.”

“Well, if you want to try and warn her, she’s got the room next to yours. Two-twenty-five.”

Great...that was the room with all the female giggling. Maybe subconsciously he knew it was Shelley and hadn’t wanted to believe it. And lucky him—Gavin would hear every second of her romp with the scumbag sergeant. It would be a long night.

He turned down the hall, headed for his room. “You were right before,” he called over his shoulder. “She knows how to take care of herself.”

Chapter Seventeen

Shelley paced her room, turning off the standup comedian she’d watched to keep her mind occupied. Turning Ken away hadn’t been as hard as she thought it would be. Even though it pissed him off and he tried to press the issue, the choice had been easy.

She would wait to make love until she and Gavin were ready, if they ever were ready, happy with that decision. No longer would her desire for a man to love her force hasty choices about sex. Besides, Ken was a complete jerk. At least he gave her plenty of information. If it was one of the FBI agents Paul had corrupted, that could mean bigger problems for this case overall.

She really wanted to talk to Gavin about it, but he hadn’t answered his door when she first arrived at the hotel. Maybe she should knock again. It was getting late. He had to go to his room eventually. Jenessa said they ate dinner together and then he drove her to the hotel. Where could he be?

Although she didn’t have his cell number, she could call his hotel room. That would leave less possibility of someone catching her talking to him and tongues wagging about their involvement. Besides relaying what Ken said, she wanted to explain to Gavin why it was important they remain discreet around the other agents about their relationship. With her reputation, people would judge him. She didn’t want him to suffer professionally because of her past mistakes.

As she reached for the phone, a light knock sounded on the bedroom door. Her heart jumped with excitement. She hoped Gavin was on the other side. It was weird, but the few hours spent without him this evening felt like days.

Looking through the peephole showed him standing there. The sight left her giddy, and she nearly giggled. Schooling her face into a serious mask, she opened the door. “Agent Hart, how are you?” Glancing around the hallway revealed no one in sight. “Oh good, the coast is clear.”

She yanked him inside and closed the door, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling into him with a feeling of contentment. Gavin wore new musky cologne, a step up from bacon grease, and his smooth-shaven cheek rested on top of hers for a second before he stepped away.

“You’re okay?” he asked, turning to look around the room. “Where’s Sergeant Travers?”

“Ewww.” Shelley wrinkled her nose and walked to the bed to sit down. “Why would he be in my room?”

Gavin met her gaze, surprising Shelley with the anger in the set of his jaw. “Jenessa said you weren’t alone.”

“And you believed that?” Stunned was too mild a word to describe how she felt. “Did you think, despite our promise to each other, I decided to have sex with the first available dick to come along? Is that what you think of me?”

Gavin winced, but stared her down. “You’ve been pushing me away since we got here, and then blatantly flirted with him while telling me to run along. He told me his plan to get you into bed, and you didn’t want to hear me out. You were too wrapped up in batting your eyelashes at him.” He shrugged. “You had dinner with another man—a date. What should I think?”

Shelley blinked back tears. He was right. It looked bad. At least, it looked bad for a woman like her. “For most agents, you’d think she was on to something and working the case. If Jenessa went out with him, for example. Did it ever cross your mind I was working Ken?”

“Why should I think that?” He hesitated as a look Shelley could only interpret as guilt passed briefly across his face. “You were flirting, Shell. Besides, Jenessa isn’t my problem.”

Folding her arms across her chest, she whispered, “So now I’m a problem?”

He shook his head. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, you’ve made yourself pretty clear.” Shelley stood and walked past him, heading for the doorway. “As you can see, my virtue remained intact. You don’t have to worry about me, Gavin. I’m nobody’s problem but my own. Goodnight.”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He planted his balled fists on his hips. “Why didn’t you answer my text message?”

“I never got a message.” Shelley reached for the doorknob, but paused. She’d be damned if she’d take all the blame here. He assumed she slept with Ken, but she assumed he trusted her enough to realize what she was doing.
Guess that makes us both asses.
“I told the agent to let you know where I went so you wouldn’t worry. You should have known I’d find you as soon as I was done with dinner.”

“How should I know that?” He didn’t make any movements to leave the room, and Shelley leaned against the wall, not opening the door. “As soon as you saw Ken Travers, I ceased to exist.” His voice became louder with each word, and his fists clenched so tight the knuckles turned white. “I couldn’t touch you, I couldn’t talk to you. You didn’t want anything to do with me. I left the room for work-related reasons, and when I came back you were on a date with another man!”

“I wouldn’t do that to you!” she screamed, raising her voice to match his. “You and Jenessa thought he was working for Paul, and I knew he wouldn’t be, not the way he feels about this city. But that doesn’t mean someone else isn’t. I thought he could tell me who it was. These guys look out for each other like brothers. He wasn’t going to just turn someone over without a little persuasion.”

“And how far did you go for information?” The ice in Gavin’s now-quiet voice was enough to induce shudders through Shelley’s body. “What exactly did you do to persuade him?”

The pain knifing through her was worse than when her father called her a whore. She fooled herself into thinking Gavin understood her—that he actually cared. Maybe she made a mistake tonight by not finding a way to talk to him first, but that didn’t give him the right to treat her like trash.

“Go fuck yourself, Gavin.” She turned away.
I don’t cry. I won’t cry.
She brushed at the single tear and yanked open the door. “Get out.”

***

Gavin tried texting Shelley again, even though she ignored his first two messages.

Please, I’m so sorry. You have to forgive me. I know I was wrong.

How could he have been so stupid? When he saw Ken wasn’t in the room, he should have just taken a few deep breaths, let himself feel relieved, and asked her what happened. Why the hell did he blow up and accuse her of having sex with the cop? He knew better. She wouldn’t do that to him.

While he had been a bit worried about it, it wasn’t because he didn’t trust Shelley. It was remembering what Crystal did. Those memories brought up all his past issues. Shelley fully admitted she played the field in the past and had a hard time with commitment. That had made him nervous when combined with thoughts of Crystal, who’d always done whatever she needed to in order to get her way.

But Shelley isn’t Crystal, and I’m a damn idiot.

His phone buzzed.
Finally!
Gavin fumbled to access the screen, nearly dropping it on the floor in his haste to read Shelley’s message.

Dude sry u screwed up with ur girl. U got wrong number. QUIT TEXTING ME!

Gavin flopped onto the bed and clapped his hand against his forehead. That explained why she never responded earlier. Too bad his new text buddy hadn’t told him sooner. Like when he sent the first text warning about Ken.

Damn it. What was he supposed to do now? Would she even open the door for him again if he went back and tried to explain?

So much for being a gentleman. In Shelley’s eyes, he had proven himself to be just like every other man she knew—probably worse than most.

He had to make it up to her.

***

Shelley took some cleansing breaths, struggling to maintain focus on her breathing and not give in to the hurt she felt. It was a lost cause. She should have just screwed Gavin in the hotel room that first night and let him leave her like every other man. It hurt less that way.

The clock read a quarter to midnight. That meant it would only be nearing nine o’clock on the west coast. Maybe Carlie was still awake. She’d wanted to check on her anyway, and she needed a distraction.

Connecting to Nick’s new number from her contact list, Shelley took a few more deep breaths, hoping her voice would sound normal. The last thing she wanted was to explain her relationship issues to Nick.

“Shelley?” Nick answered. “Everything going okay in New York?”

“Other than the fact I pissed off the sergeant we’re working with by not sleeping with him, I think we’re good.”

Nick chuckled. “Good for you. Carlie will be proud.”

“She’s why I called. I was wondering how she’s doing and if I could talk with her.”

“No problem,” he answered. “She’s doing better each day. She’s looking forward to re-opening Carlie’s Creations later this year. It’s all she talks about.”

Shelley walked across the room and spread out on the bed. “I’m looking forward to it too. I know you want me to work for you, Nick, but I just want to be a waitress.”

“How about a waitress with a secondary function?”

“What do you have in mind and how much does it pay?”

He laughed. “We can negotiate payment, but the job would be bodyguard for Carlie anytime I leave for work. I didn’t want to move back to Sayle, but she was adamant. Now I worry all the time whether Paul will come after her.”

That was one job she’d do with pleasure. “Bodyguard services for my best friend are free.”

“Good.” The sound of a door creaking in the background came through the phone line. “I’ll get Carlie. She’s been anxious to hear from you.”

There were jostling noises and then Nick said, “Wake up, sweetheart. You want to take this call.”

“Shelley?” Carlie’s sleepy voice mumbled into the phone. “Are you okay?”

Darn. Why did Nick wake her? Shelley didn’t mean for that to happen. “I’m doing good. How are you?”

“The pain’s a lot better. I’m excited to see how well this worked when it heals.” She sounded her usual chipper self now that she was awake. “I’ve been having trouble with motion in my left hand, and the graft will hopefully help that. They had to cut the scars and use some skin from my thigh to do it. That’s what hurts the most.”

“But everything’s healing, okay?” When Shelley had no options about contacting Carlie, she did her best not to worry, but it was good to talk directly to her friend.

“I’m fantastic. The doctor says with therapy, I should be ready to go by the time the shop opens.” Carlie paused for a moment. “You’re coming back to work for me, right, not joining Nick full time?”

“Of course I am. I’m not cut out for this job. I wish I could come home now.”
And leave Gavin and his accusations behind.

She closed her eyes, fighting against the emotion. She’d called Carlie to get her mind off Gavin, not cry over him.

“Nick tried to keep it from me, but I heard about those children dying. It was that awful drug Terrance used on me, wasn’t it?”

How could Shelley worry about Gavin when children were dying? She was ashamed of herself. “It hasn’t been confirmed, but I think so.”

“Maybe Nick should come out there and help you and Jen.”

“No, Carlie. I’m here so he can be there.” Which was why she would face Gavin tomorrow and be completely professional. They had a job to do. Catch the S.A.T.O. members and then get her life back to normal. It didn’t matter if she was destined to be single her entire life. That was the price she paid for making mistakes in the past.

“Fine,” Carlie said. “I know you’ll do everything you can. So let’s talk about something else. That just depresses me.”

Shelley didn’t know what else to talk about. “How’s Muhammad’s soup kitchen?”

“It’s fine, and a boring topic. How about you tell me about Gavin? You spent a whole week with him. How’d it go?”

Groaning, Shelley flipped onto her side and curled up. “I was calling you to avoid thinking about him.”

“Why?”

Knowing she was stuck for it, Shelley quickly explained what had gone on in the past week and the events since reaching Queens this afternoon. “He didn’t have any faith in me. I can’t believe he thought I’d sleep with Ken!”

A breathy laugh came over the line.

“What’s so funny?” Shelley snapped.

“It’s quite the vacation Nick and I planned for you. Your parents, Stephen and Terrance, and now Gavin. Trouble follows wherever you go.”