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wrong?”
    “Nothing’s wrong, but duty calls.” Inconvenient as it was, at least the conundrum of how the night would end was settled. He felt like a kid on his first date, all unsure if Ellie wanted him to kiss her or shake her hand or take her to her room and fuck her senseless. He was all for the third option, but mentioning it might be impolite.
    He took her hand, earning another brilliant smile that consumed him. He was a better man for it.
    The walk back to the Masquerade passed far too quickly, the night ending on someone else’s terms when Focker’s manager met him in the lobby. And Ellie, just like she had when he’d gotten the phone call, immediately gave him space.
    Only he didn’t want it.
    Before he could get her number—phone, room, anything—she’d disappeared behind the elevator doors. Focker’s manager—who should have been with the cover model if it was such an emergency—practically had Jax by the scruff.
    Jax brushed him off. Hard. “What the fuck, man?”
    “He got another threatening text. Party is canceled. He wants you posted outside his door until he leaves for his first event in the morning.”
    Jax stared at the long-closed elevator doors that had swallowed Ellie. Screw this. He didn’t have her room number. Or her phone number. And now this crap with Focker. “He got a text in the last ten minutes?”
    “Right after he called you.”
    Great. Jax would be a zombie by morning if he didn’t get any sleep. He was already twenty hours in without so much as a nap, though it hadn’t hit him until she had left him. “Give me a minute with the front desk to track down a guest.”
    “I don’t think you should make him wait.”
    Jax took a steadying breath in an attempt not to lose it on the manager. “Tell him it’s someone who tried to sneak in to the meet and greet earlier.”
    Focker’s manager grunted. “Did you report that?”
    “No, I handled it. Which is what I’m being paid to do, but I can’t be on twenty-four-hour shifts. Tell Focker I’m on my way, but I have tomorrow off.”
    “He won’t like that.”
    “He doesn’t have to like it,” Jax said. It was a fight to keep his tone even, but losing it would get him booted from a very well-paying job and would leave Focker down a man. That wouldn’t bode any better for Jax’s career than it would his conscience, but some things were nonnegotiable. “I’m no good to him if I’m falling asleep. We have a contract and he’s already fucking with it.”
    “Fine. I’ll deal with him. You’ve got five minutes.”
    That was all he needed. Jax made a beeline for the front desk. “I need a room number for a guest.”
    The kid behind the counter stared through pried-open eyes. Must be new to third shift. “I’m sorry, sir. That’s against our policy.”
    Maybe not so new after all. Jax withdrew a wad of cash. “Is it still against your policy?”
    The guy perked. “Perhaps I can send the guest in question a message?”
    “Yes, do that.” Jax crammed the money back in his pocket. He happened to know messages were hotel policy, and therefore free.
    Dopey frowned.
    “Ellie Montgomery from Colorado.” He stole the guy’s notepad from the desk in front of him and started writing. “Have room service deliver one of those all-in breakfast platters to her room at nine sharp. Include this note, and bill it to my room—the tip, too.” He showed his ID and waited for the clerk to look him up.
    “Very well, sir.” He accepted the note, then read it with a raised brow. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
    The note of sarcasm worried Jax enough that he pulled a twenty out of his pocket and tossed it across the desk. “Don’t get forgetful. I might not know where she is, but I can sure as hell find you .”

Chapter Five
    Ellie stretched and eased open her eyes. The brilliant desert morning sun streamed through her window to create a large, luxuriously warm square on the surprisingly plush bedding. It