woman he’d never see again.
A beautiful virgin who’d made him smile, then made his heart catch even as he wanted to throttle any bastard who dared to hurt her—and that had all been within the first few minutes of seeing her.
Abruptly, he pulled away, his cock making a soft, sucking sound as it left the snug embrace of her vagina and he stood, hitting the lights.
She flinched as the bright lights came on but he ignored it as he strode into the bathroom.
He had to get his head together.
No. You need to get back in bed. There’s one more condom .
He was tempted to listen to the voice.
Almost even turned around.
But then he went to deal with the rubber and froze.
It had broken.
Sloane sat locked in her room.
She felt very much like an idiot.
She’d snuck away while he was in the shower.
She couldn’t help it.
She’d panicked.
He’d come storming out of the bathroom, face livid, fury all over his features.
The condom tore .
He’d thrown the words out like it was her fault.
It hadn’t taken any more than a few seconds for him to take a deep breath and now she wished she would have done the same thing, given herself a chance to calm down, but that look…
It had brought back a million insecurities from childhood.
That hadn’t been the face of a man who’d handle a child well.
Granted, it wasn’t like either of them had set out with anything like that in mind.
That was why they’d used the condoms.
He should feel a little better, at least.
She’d had an awful time with her periods ever since she was a teenager and she’d started on low dose birth control when she was in high school, so more than likely, she was protected on that front. He’d also assured her that he was healthy, had even offered to send her bloodwork from a physical he’d just had done.
She’d just stared at him.
Finally, he’d told her was going to take a shower. Then they’d…talk.
That was what he’d said.
Talk.
Sloane didn’t want to talk.
She’d made one crazy decision without thinking it through and look at what happened.
She had fabulous sex with a gorgeous stranger and the condom broke.
“So I’ll deal with it,” she said quietly, pressing her head against the glass. It wasn’t like she wasn’t able to take care a child.
A child.
Even as she thought it, something warm and sweet slid through her and she reached down, pressed a hand to her belly. It wouldn’t happen. She knew that. But even the idea of having a baby suddenly flooded her entire being with longing.
A baby…
Boone stood at the front desk, added another fifty to the one he’d already laid down.
“She was wearing a red dress. She would have just left in the past ten minutes,” he said softly. He leaned forward, not bothering to hide the menace in his voice.
She’d slipped out of the room while he was showering.
He couldn’t fucking believe it.
He’d needed five minutes—just five minutes—to get away from the bruised look he’d put in her eyes. If he’d just managed to get himself under control before he’d left the bathroom, maybe he wouldn’t be down here, trying to get water from a stone, but he needed to track her down.
Somehow.
She’d left and he still hadn’t gotten her name.
If he had to, he’d go back to the bar tonight and talk to the bartender, talk to others in the club. He’d already taken the last condom and tucked it into a plastic bag. If he had to, he’d get somebody at the DDX labs to dust it for fingerprints, although yeah, that would raise some questions.
It didn’t matter, though.
He’d track her down somehow.
“Sir.” The clerk swallowed nervously and gestured to the empty lobby. “Nobody has come through here. It stays pretty quiet in here.”
Boone rested his hands on the counter, staring hard at the skinny kid. After a few more seconds, he turned away, leaving the two fifties there as he walked away. So if she hadn’t left, then…he came up short just in front