Free Sloane by V. J. Chambers Page A

devil of a time trying to do
it in the motel room with Jeff, who hadn’t given up on begging me
to release him.
    I really didn’t know what I was going to do about
Jeff.
    Axel met me at the door in a tuxedo. He looked
surprisingly subdued. His suit had no flashes of plaid or pinstripe
or pink. He eyed me critically. “What the hell are you
wearing?”
    I looked down. “A dress. A really expensive fucking
dress, may I add.”
    He moved away from the door, letting me inside. “That
dress is hideous.”
    I picked up the skirts and examined it. It was made
of a shimmery black fabric. It was simple. I didn’t see what was
wrong with it. “I really don’t think it is.”
    He cocked his head. “And how would you know?”
    “Well, I have eyes.” I glared at him. I was barely
inside the door, and he was already being a dick.
    “It’s all loose and flowy,” he said. “You look like
you’re wearing a mumu.”
    “I have to hide a gun in this dress.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “A gun?”
    I rolled my eyes. “Saving Leigh’s life, remember?
This Armstrong guy is going to take some convincing.”
    Axel walked around me in a circle, tapping his chin.
“You need to hide a gun.”
    “Yes,” I said. “Don’t freak out about that.”
    “I’m not,” he said. “I’m thinking.”
    “Don’t hurt yourself.”
    He looked up, startled. Then he barked out a quick
laugh. “You’ve got a sharp little tongue on you, don’t you,
Sloane?” He gave me a mischievous grin. “I have to admit I like
that in a girl. I like women who keep me on my toes.”
    I blushed again. “This is not… a date or
something.”
    “Of course it’s not. I don’t go on dates.” He spat
out the word disdainfully. He went back to circling me.
    “Can you stop that?” I said.
    “I told you, I’m thinking.”
    I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. I did
not have the patience to deal with him. I really didn’t.
    He came around in front of me, and he put his hands
on my waist.
    “What are you doing?” I said.
    He ignored me. He dragged his hands higher, up over
my rib cage, then cupping my breasts.
    I slapped at his hands. “ Hey! ”
    He turned away and pulled his phone out of his
pocket. “Hi, Phillipa. I know it’s last minute, but I was wondering
if you’d be interested in providing a dress for my date
tonight.”
    “What?” I said. “There’s nothing wrong with this
dress.”
    “It needs to be sexy, but it needs to be able to
conceal as well.” Axel wandered further into his apartment, not
acknowledging me. He listened to the other side of the
conversation. “No, no, she’s probably a six. She’s not fat at all.
Would I go to an event with a fat chick?”
    I let out a noise of disgust. I hated Axel Whitman. I
despised him.
    Axel was still talking. “Well, I was thinking about
that silver asymmetrical number…. Yes, the one from the spring
collection…. Oh, I’d need it right away. If you want me to send…
Oh, you will?… Great.” Axel grinned. “Thank you so much Phillipa.
Yes, love to Megs.” Then he made a kiss noise.
    Seriously. A kiss noise .
    He hung up and whirled around to face me. “I’m
getting you a better dress. Something designer. Trust me, you’ll
thank me. You’re a lovely girl, but you have absolutely no idea how
to let anyone know that. You cover up all your best assets, and
black is really doing nothing for you. It makes you sort of fade
out, blend in.”
    “I want to blend in,” I said. “I don’t want to stand
out. If I stand out, people are going to remember me, and I’m going
to try to take a man captive and torture him for information.”
    He drew his eyebrows together. “Well, as long as you
take Phillipa’s dress off before you do any of the torturing. It’s
a loaner.”
    I sucked in air through my nose. “You really care
about clothes a lot, don’t you? Are you gay?”
    He chuckled. “Sloane, love, I’m Axel Whitman.”
    That wasn’t an answer, was it? But then, I