Hot Ticket by Deirdre Martin

Author:Deirdre Martin [Martin, Deirdre]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780425209783
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Published: 2009-04-23T17:30:43+00:00

Sunday, 6:45 A . M .

Tierney made a point of not looking at David as he slept before creeping out of his hotel room for the final time to make her way down to the lobby to start work. Much to her horror, it was still snowing. The airports and train station remained closed, and people were still being advised to keep off the roads, which were virtually impassable. She had no doubt Chicago would be declared a disaster area by the end of the day.

The sight of Marius behind the concierge desk gave her a start. As far as she knew, neither of them was responsible for working the overnight shift. Had something changed? Had she been so preoccupied with David that she hadn’t kept abreast of Willy Nugent’s latest directives? Suppose Nugent had been looking for her and hadn’t been able to find her?“Hey,” she said to Marius, assuming a facade of calm. If she’d screwed up, Marius would let her know in no uncertain terms. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Marius sighed, “so I thought I’d come on down. Got nothin’ else to do.” He shook his head mournfully. “The sad truth is, I can’t fall asleep unless I’ve got my woman wrapped around me. I’ve missed her bad the past two days, snoring and all.”

Tierney nodded appreciatively even though a lump was forming in her throat. Normally, she liked hearing bits and pieces about Marius’s life. This morning, it made her feel melancholy.

She glanced out the window. It was still dark, but the early morning sky remained illumined with snow. “I don’t know if I can take another day of this.”

“You and everyone else.” Marius stepped out from behind the desk so he and Tierney could exchange places. “By the way, where have you been hiding?”

Tierney began fussing with the pile of paper on the desk. “What do you mean?”

Marius’s dark eyes zeroed in on her. “I mean, we were all given sleeping assignments, and Julie in reservations told me she was paired with you, but she hasn’t seen you in the room once.” He raised his eyebrows. “You got something you want to tell Marius?”

“No.” Fierce heat rushed to Tierney’s cheeks. So spending time getting to know David had taken its toll: she knew nothing about room assignments! She made a mental note to tell Julie to mind her own business, then turned back to Marius, knowing her blush had betrayed her. “It’s a long story. A long-running thing.”

“It’s one of those hockey boys, isn’t it?”

Tierney gasped. “How did you know that?”

“You said long running. Those Herd boys are here every year, stirring up trouble.” Marius looked perturbed. “Why’d you want to get mixed up with one of them for? Those boys got rocks in their head, and they don’t even have their own teeth. If you want an athlete, old Marius can hook you up with one of the Bulls like that.” He snapped his fingers.

“I’m not ‘mixed up’ with one of them, all right?” Tierney fought back tears.

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