Sins of a Siren by Curtis L. Alcutt

he attempted to pick up the cardkeys. She intercepted them. “I’ll hold on to
both
of these, thank you.”
    He smirked as they walked toward the elevators. “I didn’t expect you to give me a key to your room just because I paid for it.”
    She pressed the button for the eighth floor. “Bullshit! What man would pay for a room—an
expensive
room—and not expect some sort of compensation?”
    â€œYou’re right; I do expect something from you.”
    She crossed her arms. “I’m listenin’.”
    He checked his watch. “I expect you to hurry up and put that bag away so we won’t be late for our next stop.”
    The elevator doors parted and they stepped inside. “
Next
stop?”
    â€œYes. This is just the first leg of our journey.”
    The elevator swiftly carried them to the eighth floor. “When did this turn into a journey? I thought this was just a spontaneous moment?”
    He followed her out the elevator. Recessed track lights in the ceiling illuminated the plush, light gray carpet and eggshell-colored walls. “Our moment isn’t ove—” His cell phone rang. He flipped it open and looked at Trenda. “Hold on one sec.”
    She crossed the hallway and looked into the chrome-framed mirror mounted to the wall. She listened as he tried to answer a flurry of questions.
Sounds like Dimples is needed at the meetin’ after all.
    He told the person he was talking to, to hold on. “Hey, Mya, I have to run across town for a while.” He pressed the button to call the elevator, went inside his jacket pocket and removed a gold-plated business card holder. He ejected a card and handed it to her. “Meet me in the lobby at six so we can go to dinner. You can reach me at the number on the card.”
    Before she could answer, the elevator arrived. He put the phone to his ear as the elevator doors opened. He stepped inside, pressed the lobby button and rejoined his conversation. She hitched her bag up on her shoulder as he waved at her through the closing doors. She gave him a smirk, then walked down the hallway to room 8011. After entering the room, she placed one cardkey in her bag and the other on the coffee table. She placed the bag on the ottoman in front of the leather wingback chair, grinned and looked around the impressive room.
Walter, you just might have earned a piece of pussy.
    She picked up her bag and opened the door to the bedroom. A pair of mahogany nightstands flanked the king-sized bed. Twogold lamps sprouted from the wall over the bed. She opened her bag, removed her dirty clothes and put them in the clothes hamper in the closet. The adjoining bathroom was huge. She stood in front of the dual marble sinks and inspected herself in the large lighted mirror.
    I have gotta get some more clothes.
She returned to the bed and removed her cell phone and charger. She turned on her phone and plugged the charger into the outlet next to the bed. She attempted to check her messages and found her phone service was interrupted. “Shit! I forgot my bill was due last week.” She checked the cash in her wallet. “I had better get outta here and handle my business.”
    On the way out of the hotel, she spotted a sign in the lobby pointing to the laundry room. She also made note of the sign pointing to the pool and spa.
Damn! This joint is straight up five-star!
    Several hours later, after paying her cell phone bill and purchasing a few new outfits, Trenda returned to her room. She changed into a new pair of tight, bell-bottom jeans and form-fitting white blouse. Once she’d put away the rest of her new clothes, her phone rang. She answered without checking the caller ID, thinking it was Walter. “Hello?”
    â€œHey, bitch…remember me?”
    Piper’s heavy voice chilled her ear. She hung up and sat heavily on the bed. The phone rang again.
Piper
. Trenda shut the phone off, lay on her back and