too cloying nonetheless—everything about him made her want to back away.
It’s a role, Alexandra. Play it. You’ve played much harder.
She smiled at him. “I have to admit, I’m a little glad for the company. It’s been a rough day.”
“I have a booth over there.” His fingers trailed along her back as he pointed to where he’d been sitting. “Why don’t you come hang out with me, and we’ll see if we can get you cheered up.”
She gave him a falsely grateful smile. “That sounds great, actually.” She slid the vodka tonic toward him. “Here, you drink this one. I’ll keep drinking mine.” There was no way she was getting drunk around him. She’d stick to water.
He winked at her. “Let’s go have some fun.”
She didn’t cringe as he slid his arm around her shoulder and led her to the booth. “Yeah, let’s have fun.”
2
An hour later, Lexi was definitely not having fun.
Evidently, she wasn’t the only one who’d picked this bar because the booths gave a semblance of privacy. Vodka Tonic next to her, actual name Caleb, had evidently chosen it for the same reason.
They were on their third round of drinks—at least he was, she’d been nursing or dumping hers as often as possible—and he’d become more handsy as the minutes passed. And his wallet was nowhere nearer to her than it had been when she’d joined him in the booth.
His cologne wasn’t nearly as bad as his conversational skills. She already knew that his watch cost more than a thousand dollars—something that evidently impressed most women, or so he said. She knew that he worked with a bunch of pricks—again his words—at an insurance sales office in Idaho Falls, and that said pricks couldn’t open a door without his help. She knew this hotel was kind of crappy and that he would’ve been driving a BMW now if his two ex-wives weren’t demanding such unreasonable alimony.
She should be thankful that Caleb was so busy talking about himself that he hadn’t asked a single question about her. That’s what she needed.
But every second she spent with him pushed her closer to releasing the scream building inside of her.
This shouldn’t be so hard for her. She was acting, it was a role, but every time he touched her, her skin crawled. Every laugh that came out of her mouth was so obviously fake, she couldn’t believe Caleb hadn’t caught on.
When he slid his hand under her skirt—again, the third time in five minutes—she knew this wasn’t going to work. She might actually be sick.
And she was no closer to achieving her goal than she’d been when she’d first sat down with him. Even though Caleb liked to talk about his money, he kept a very tight fist on his wallet.
He smiled at her, unperturbed by the fact that she’d forcibly removed his hand from her thigh. “How about I get us one more round, and then we take this upstairs to my hotel room where you can pay me back for all the drinks I’ve bought you tonight.”
She stared as he gave her a wink as if he hadn’t just implied she was a prostitute.
There had to be another way to get to Oak Creek. Maybe she could ditch her car for a few days and hitchhike. Come back for it once she had a little bit of cash. It wasn’t optimal but—
A shudder ran through her as Caleb’s hand ran so far up her thigh his fingers actually touched her underwear this time. She jerked back.
Yeah, this wasn’t going to work.
“You know what?” She grabbed his hand and yanked it back out from under her skirt. “I had a good time, Caleb. But I’ve got to go.”
He laughed and inched closer. “Don’t play hard to get. We’re finally getting to the fun part. I know you don’t want to leave now.”
“Sorry, but I’m going to have to. I just remembered I have a . . . thing.” She slid away from him until she was at the edge of the booth. “Thanks for the drinks.” That she hadn’t drunk. “And for the . . . company.”
Caleb didn’t look like he planned to give up this argument easily. Lexi used what weapons she had at her disposal and knocked over one of the glasses on the table straight into Caleb’s lap.
“Fuck! The hell?”
As he frantically wiped at his crotch, she slid the rest of the way out of the booth and made her escape. Shit. If Caleb followed and made