Hooker by J. L. Perry

it in the slightest. I actually welcome it. I want to continue seeing her. I want to see where this leads.
    There’s something special about her, and I’d be a damn fool to let her go.
    Excitement flows through me when the driver stops outside the hotel and I have an unfamiliar bounce in my step as I head into the lobby. The woman behind the front desk gives me a flirtatious smile as I pass. She’s pretty, but has nothing on my Jade.
    ‘Mr Weston,’ she calls out as I pass, heading to the lifts. I turn. She better not hand me her number. Coming around from behind the desk, she says, ‘I forgot, I have a note for you. Miss Davis left it at reception for you earlier.’
    ‘Thank you,’ I say, taking the envelope from her. I smile when I see ‘Brock’ neatly written on the front. Sliding it into my pocket, I head for the lift again.
    I stupidly forgot to get Jade’s phone number this morning. My common sense seems to elude me when I’m in her presence. Our lunch plans are still up in the air, so I’m gathering the note has something to do with that. Rupert’s been pretty obliging about us being together, so I’m confident he won’t stand in her way today.
    When the doors to the lift close, I press my floor number. I want to get changed out of my suit before I go and see her. I slide the envelope out of my pocket, smiling like a damn fool as I open it.
    My heart drops when I read what it says.
    My Dearest Brock
,
    I’m sorry. I’ll never forget you
.
    Jade
.
    She’s kissed the page underneath her name. It’s the same shade of red lipstick she was wearing the day she ran into me at the airport. My fingertip skims lightly over the imprint of her lips before I press the number of the floor she’s staying on. When the doors finally open, I find myself practically running towards her room. Rupert must’ve said no to her having lunch with me today. He can deny her all he wants, but I’m not giving her up without a fight.
    A hotel cleaning cart is sitting in the corridor and the door to her suite is open. I enter without knocking. I can still smell Jade’s sweet scent, lingering in the room.
    ‘Can I help you, sir?’ the cleaning lady asks.
    ‘I’m looking for Miss Davis. The lady who’s staying in this room.’
    ‘I’m sorry, she checked out earlier this morning.’
    Myhead starts to spin as I try to wrap my mind around what she’s just said. ‘What about the man staying in the room next door?’
    ‘He checked out as well. I’ve just finished cleaning that room.’
    I screw the letter in my hand into a ball, and clutch it to my chest. This can’t be happening. She wouldn’t just walk away from me like this. Or would she? I exhale a deflated breath as my shoulders slump. A crushing pain, like nothing I’ve ever felt before, settles in my chest.
    She’s gone
.
    *
    I spend the rest of the day locked away in my suite, a vast array of emotions running through me: shock, hurt, rage, confusion, despair. After leaving Jade’s room, I’d headed back down to the reception desk. I needed to make sure she wasn’t staying somewhere else in the hotel. I then tried calling all the other hotels in New York, to see if there was a Jade Davis staying there. That’s when I broke out the bottle of scotch—I needed to be numb.
    I pull the crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket, smoothing it out with my hand. I read it over and over, but the words won’t sink in.
    I try to make sense of what I’m feeling. Maybe it’s only because I’d never felt the sting of rejection before. But even I know that’s a lie. My feelings for Jade run deep—her disappearance was a shock to my soul. That fact is only cemented when I lay on the bed.
    Thescent of her still clings to the bedding, and like the pathetic pussy she’s now made of me, I clutch her pillow to my chest and don’t let go until I eventually pass out.

CHAPTER TEN
    BROCK
    Tosay I’ve had a crappy fortnight would be an understatement. I’m still consumed