Read About Last Night... for Free Online

then headed toward the main lobby, not a bit surprised to hear her trotting two steps behind him.
    "Wait, you can't go!"
    "Watch me," he growled.
    "I'm sorry—you can have the room."
    Derek lengthened his stride.
    "After all, you made the trip down here…"
    As he approached the lobby area, a buzz of voices rose above the saxophone Muzak, reminding him of bees. But then again,
    he did have honey on the brain. Good grief, he needed sleep.
    "And you're not feeling well," she rattled on. "Blah, blah, blah…"
    The buzz increased as he rounded the corner. He stopped abruptly at the sight before him, and she slammed into him from
    behind, jarring his aching head.
    "Oh, I'm sorry," she gasped. "I didn't realize—"
    "Can you be quiet?" He pulled her by the arm to stand alongside him, too distracted by the scene to worry about her tender
    feelings.
    The step-down lobby of the hotel was swarming with people, some in their pajamas sitting in chairs or lying on couches,
    others in lab coats, tending to the guests, others in security uniforms, hovering.
    "What the hell?" he murmured.
    "They're medics," Janine said. "Something's wrong." She walked over and knelt in front of a young man in a hotel uniform
    sitting in a chair looking feverish and limp. While her lips moved, Janine put a hand on the youth's forehead and took his pulse.
    The coat she wore fell open below the last button, revealing splendid legs encased in those black hose, and bringing to mind
    other vivid details about what lay hidden beneath the coat. She tossed the mane of blond hair he'd come to suspect was real
    over one shoulder, evoking memories of its silkiness sliding over his chest and face.
    Recognizing the dead-end street he was traveling, Derek shook himself mentally and strained to remember what she said she
    did for a living. A nurse? A nurse's aide? No, a physician's assistant. Except the woman seemed way too flaky to oversee
    someone else's welfare.
    She rose and patted the young man on the arm, then returned.
    "What's wrong?" he asked.
    Janine shrugged. "No one knows. Several employees and guests have come down with flulike symptoms, so they called for
    medical assistance."
    The remains of pink color shimmered on her full mouth … a mouth that had been kissing him not too long ago. His groin
    tightened. "Is it serious?"
    She shook her head. "It doesn't seem to be. My guess is a bad white sauce served in the restaurant, or something like that."
    Then she stopped and angled her head at him. "Wait a minute—when did you start feeling bad?"
    He shrugged. "When I got here, there was a mix-up on my reservation, so I hung around the lobby for a while until Steve
    arrived. I remember asking the clerk for directions to the gift shop to buy some cold medicine before I walked up to Steve's
    room."
    She stepped closer and tiptoed to place her small hand on his forehead. He flinched in surprise, but relented. Her eyes were
    the same deep color of blue as his mother's favorite pansies. The best part of winter, she always said. His pulse kicked higher.
    He had to get out of here, fast.
    "You're a little warm," she announced, her forehead slightly creased. "But not anything alarming."
    He stepped around her, his eye on the revolving exit door on the far side of the lobby. Outside sat a yellow taxi, his escape
    hatch. "Listen, I'm going to grab that cab to the airport. I'll see ya, Pinky. Have a happy marriage and all that jazz." And good
    riddance.
    "But wait, don't you want to see a doctor?"
    He shook his head as he turned to go. "Nope."
    She grabbed his arm. "Derek, what are you going to tell Steve … about tonight?"
    He took in her wide eyes and her parted lips and for a minute he wondered if she knew what kind of man she was marrying.
    She seemed so innocent. Then he laughed at himself—dressing up in naughty lingerie and coming to the hotel to please Steve
    was not the act of an innocent. Besides, for all he knew, Steve had changed and would be a faithful husband.