Unbridled and Unjustified [The Double Rider Men's Club 11] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Elle Saint James Page B

ear.
    Declan looked at Ava. “Any place open this late at night around these parts ?”
    Ava smiled. “Just the convenience store a couple of blocks away.”
    He shook his head. “I’ve already been there to get you some hair color. It has no place to hide a vehicle from the road.”
    She brightened. “How about Beverly’s Place?”
    “Who?”
    “Beverly’s Place is a truck-stop diner a few miles down the road. It’s open all night long, is usually pretty busy, and has a big parking lot.”
    Troy nodded and spoke quietly into the phone. He hung up, snapped his phone shut and smiled. “Done. He’ll drop the car off there. My manliness shrivels at the thought, but our new ride is a silver Honda minivan. The keys will be under the car, right next to the front driver’s-side tire.”
    “Excellent. Grab all of our stuff, and let’s go.” Declan opened the door and peeked his head out. He was glad he’d taken the extra precaution. He saw the same sheriff’s car they’d just escaped from a few minutes ago turn off the road and pull into the motel’s parking lot.
     
    * * * *
     
    “Shit.” Declan’s curse startled her. He blocked their only exit from the motel room. Ava was now closely sandwiched between Declan’s back and Troy’s front. Not a bad place to be, but they didn’t have time to enjoy that currently.
    “What now?”
    “The sheriff just pulled into the parking lot. He’s faster than I predicted. I’m guessing he’s headed to the motel’s office to get our room number.” He paused for a few more seconds and then grabbed her hand and pulled her along to the SUV.
    Ava scrambled into the backseat alone while they both got into the front. Troy handed her a grocery bag as Declan started the vehicle and pulled slowly out of the parking lot in the opposite direction from where the sheriff car had headed.
    “Since we don’t have time for hair color, and I hated to cut or change the color of your golden locks anyway, we’ll just secure your hair underneath the Arkansas Razorbacks cap Declan found at the convenience store.”
    Ava rummaged through the bag and found the hat and a package of elastic bands to hold her hair. She swept her long bangs and all the strands of her hair away from her face and secured the whole mess at the back of her head with a band. Then she carefully put the hat on, covering the bulk of her golden locks , as Troy had put it.
    “How do I look?”
    Troy had been watching her transformation. He smiled. “You look beautiful.”
    Declan glanced at her from the rearview and smiled. “And slightly different with your hair up. There is also a pink T-shirt and a blue Windbreaker in there. Change into those, too. Hurry. I can see the diner.”
    Ava smiled as she unhurriedly shrugged the black cardigan off of her shoulders. She also took great pleasure in unbuttoning her shirt for the third time tonight. Troy watched her without comment, but he sent plenty of longing looks her way. Declan cleared his throat, stared at her in the rearview with another of his sardonic smiles, and pointed at the diner’s large bright sign looming ahead.
    Quickly donning the T-shirt and Windbreaker, she shoved her old clothing into the bag. Then she remembered her phone. She pulled it from the sweater pocket and was about to transfer it into her Windbreaker pocket when Troy asked, “Is that your cell phone?”
    “Yes. But it’s turned off. And the truth is, now that Marisol is gone, I don’t have any other numbers programmed with the exception of my building contractor Diego. Who’s going to be devastated tomorrow when he finds out all his hard work just blew up.”
    Troy held out his hand. “Still, we should toss it.”
    “Toss it? Are you sure we have to? I hate to lose it.”
    “Why? Is this your favorite cell phone?”
    “No, it’s just my last possession on earth besides the clothes on my back. Half of which I just shoved in a convenience-store bag.”
    Sympathy encompassed his