Free Mine to Steal (Mine to Love) by T.K. Rapp

reach for her hand, “let’s get out of here.”
    “Sorry, Romeo. I have an early flight tomorrow, so I’m heading home.”
    “Is that an invitation, Kay-La?” I tease.
    “No. It was goodnight; and stop calling me Kay .” Her smile widens as she repeats her warning from earlier.
    “Only if you stop calling me Romeo.” I laugh.
    “You and I both know it pretty much fits.” Kayla laughs as she stands up and gives me a kiss on the cheek. She links her arm through mine as we walk outside the bar, feeling the night air. I can finally hear myself think again. Too bad Kayla can’t hang out for a little longer, though I’m not sure what we’d do.
    “You sure you have to go now?” I ask as I hold on to her waist.
    “If I don’t go now, you could get me in trouble. Besides, I like watching you get rejected. I think it’s good for that sexy ego of yours.”
    “You’re good for my ego,” I say as I plant a chaste kiss to her lips.
    She smiles and wraps her arms around my neck and I hold her close, thankful she made the effort to see me. “It really was good to see you. I hope it’s not a year before I see you again,” she remarks as she lets go.
    “I agree. Next time you’re in my neck of the woods, give me a call.” She turns away, but doesn’t get too far before I stop her. “Hey, you never told me if you’re seeing anyone?”
    “You never asked .” She winks before departing down the street.
    What’s with all these women and their cryptic answers? Rather than stand on the sidewalk and dissect the evening, I start walking back to the hotel so I can prepare for my meeting with Cavette in the morning. But the first thing I’m going to do is call Jett and figure out what doubt means.

Chapter 6
    The hotel lobby is buzzing , and I’m surprised to notice the bar is busy. Hotel bars don’t strike me as the type of place people would hang out at the end of the day. After last night, I certainly don’t need do have another, so I continue walking toward the elevators.
    Pamela is at her station behind the front desk and gives me a timid wave as I pass but drops her chin. By the way she tries to avoid eye contact with me, I think she feels weird about the note she left me. I’ve never had someone do anything like that, and find it sexy. When she peeks up again, I nod at her and throw in a wink. Her cheeks flush, and she smiles at the couple she is helping.
    As I stand in the elevator to get to my hotel room I think over the two extremes I’ve encountered today. On the one hand, there is Pamela who is beautiful and forthcoming in her intentions. Then there is the mystery woman from the bar who looked at me as if chewing glass would be better than talking to me. Women have to be the most confusing beings on the planet. All I need is one, and I’m not sure I’d be able to figure that one out.
    I flip on the light as I enter the room and plug in my phone before emptying my pockets. My bag is on the floor so I take it to the desk and bring out all the information for Cavette. I need to be prepared for tomorrow morning, but I can’t seem to get the woman’s words out of my head. I need to know her name. The file can wait so I leave it on the desk and sit on the bed to get comfortable.
    My phone is charging next to the bed, since it barely had any juice left when I got back here. I won’t be talking for long, but I find myself sitting on the floor next to the bed so I can hold the phone to my ear while it charges. I pull up Jett’s number and wait for him to answer in one of his usual obnoxious ways. On the third ring, he finally answers.
    “Please tell me you finally got laid.” There it is.
    “Jett, ” I roll my eyes in exasperation and sigh, thankful he doesn’t know about last night.
    “Damn, guess that means no. You do realize if you don’t use it, it turns into a vagina, right?”
    “You busy?” I ignore his comment and get to what I called for.
    “Nah, Hottie left a few minutes ago. She said