Amy's Advantage Read Free Page A

absorb what he’d said,
he winked at her and turned to follow his unit past the security checkpoint and
out of sight.
    “Are you finished?”
    Amy’s entire body jerked at Jordyn’s question. She’d been
staring down at her plate, so lost in the past that she hadn’t noticed he’d
gotten up and moved to stand beside her. He was frowning again, but there was a
soft concern edging his eyes and words.
    “Oh.” Drawing in a quick, stabilizing breath to clear her
head, she forced herself fully back into the present. “Yes. Thank you,” she
said as Jordyn took her plate, set it with the other dishes already stacked on
the room service tray and put it all into the hall.
    “If you want to take a shower, I’ll keep an eye on Chloe,”
he said, coming back into the room.
    “I ¼ “ Amy let the
word fade, unsure how to answer him without giving anything away. At his
questioning look, she tried again. “It’s not ¼ I’m
not ¼ I mean my bag is in Aurora’s car,”
she said.
    “There’s soap and shampoo in the bathroom.”
    “I’ll just wait until I hear from Aurora or Ellen. We were
all staying here together.”
    There was a pause as Jordyn looked at her, and Amy was sure
he was trying to put pieces together that would never fit because he was
missing most of them. She intended to keep it that way.
    With a glance around the room, empty of all personal belongings
except Chloe’s old diaper bag, he added, “It looks like no one intended to
return.”
    Thinking fast, Amy explained. “Aurora and I were planning on
driving back to Austin tonight and Ellen always travels light.”
    Jordyn’s eyebrows rose slightly at her explanation, but he
didn’t question it. “Neither Ellen nor Aurora will be coming back here. I’ll
give you some privacy and get some supplies.”
    “Supplies? Supplies for what?”
    “You and Chloe.”
    Amy pushed off the bed. “We’re fine. The room’s been paid
for, so there’s really no reason for you to stay.” Flicking a straggling curl
off her face, she said, “Thanks for the help at the River Walk and making sure
Chloe and I got back to our hotel okay.” With a shrug, she gave him what she
hoped was a nonchalant, don’t-worry-about-us smile. “It was all a little
bizarre, but we’re all fine now. I’m sure you have somewhere else to be.”
    Her placating tone was hard to hang on to with such an
intimidating man scowling down at her and making no movement to walk out of the
room.
    “Sooooooo ¼ ” she
said, tilting her head toward the door. Not wanting to provoke the large,
dangerous man in front of her, she was doing her best to curb her normal
directness. “You’re free to go.”
    The man’s face could have been made of granite for all the change
in expression her statement wrought. He was really starting to exasperate her.
    “Look,” she said, crossing her arms and throwing her weight
to one hip and giving up on the subtle approach, “I don’t know why you grabbed
us in the first place, but I was going to let it slide, since there were
apparent maniacs on the loose and my daughter was in the middle of it. But now
you’re pushing things. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and my
child and we both need our rest, so I’d appreciate it if you left without
giving me a reason to call the police.”
    “You are free to go to sleep,” he said.
    “Ha!” she barked, throwing her arms in the air. At her
outburst, a whimper of sleepy complaint came from Chloe. Amy turned to see if
she had woken up, but after scooting deeper into the blankets, Chloe fell
silent again.
    “See?” she hissed at Jordyn. “You’re waking up the baby.”
When he made no move to respond to the baiting, she continued, “And there is no
way I’m sleeping in a hotel room with a strange man.”
    Jordyn’s eyes turned flint hard and his face settled back
into granite.
    For the first time, she started to worry about the man’s
true intentions. There might have been something to