“So you’re not giving Lord Ashton Lavington a blow job in the closet of Club Quake?”
“God no. Ash is gay. He was in there with a dude, and fucking Camilla Carlos was stalking me when the door to the closet popped open. He begged me to help him, so we shoved the guy out of the way, and I got down on my knees so that it looked like he was there with me. His family would disinherit him. I thought you would be happy, Cole. This is exactly what you wanted,” I tell them both from under my blanket.
“Ash is most certainly not gay. He’s bi, everyone knows that,” Hope argues, and I pop back up, making sure to keep my tits covered.
“Really?”
“Yes, he and Alex used to have a thing. It was one of the worst-kept secrets, but they were discreet enough that there was never any photographic proof. Apparently, it blew up big time at some point.” I feel my stomach lurch. That definitely impacts the odds of the guys letting me explain.
“Fuck!” I groan, and Cole is finally able to get a word in over Hope.
“Well, you certainly made a splash. The headlines are huge. There’s speculation as to whether or not you’re going to be the next Lady Lavington, especially with your fortune. It would be completely acceptable for him to marry you considering I think their family home is basically falling down around them because they’re so busy keeping up appearances. Or that’s what Camilla Carlos speculates. Fuck, Jacinta, I wasn’t actually serious when I said get caught blowing a celebrity!” Cole is practically yelling toward the end, and Hope is staring at him with surprise.
“Ah, dude, you need to calm down. She explained what happened. We’ll send out a ‘no comment’ statement and let people draw their own conclusions. It will blow over soon. Now, how about you get out so Jacinta can get dressed? We’ve all got a plane to catch.”
Hope pushes Cole out of my room and closes the door before throwing herself on my bed. “Wow, that dude is seriously high strung. I’ve never seen him act like that before.”
I groan and throw myself backward again, pulling the blankets up. “Batman,” I mumble, and she stops her bouncing.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” she asks quietly.
“I said Batman.”
Hope shrieks and pulls my blanket back. “Just so that I’ve got everything straight… Cole was Batman?TheBatman who fucked you so good you were still feeling it the next day?”
I put my hand over my face since she’s still got my blanket. “Yes. I had no clue until I met him at the board meeting.”
“But he would have known who you were. Your costume wasn’t hiding anything.”
“Yup, used my name and everything. I don’t know how these things keep happening to me.”
“Was what you said about Ashton the truth? Because that blur on the photo didn’t leave much to the imagination. It looks like his royal scepter is quite impressive.”
I push her out of the way and climb out of my bed, going into the bathroom. “Yes, I really thought he was gay, and yes, his dick is huge. I was a little drunk, and I seriously had to stop myself from having a taste. I mean, there was the other guy, and I thought Ash was only into guys, and, well, there’s Alex and Shane and Jace.” I’m babbling now, and I need to stop before I say anything stupid.
“Didn’t the fact that he was still hard with your hand on it tell you anything?” I hear her call out with laughter in her voice.
“He was rolling on X! I figured it was because of that,” I tell her as I pee, clean my teeth, and brush my hair. Hope throws some sweats into the room, and I grab them and pull them on.
When I go back out, she’s perched on the bed, a small frown on her face as she looks at her phone screen.
“Hand it over. I need to see it. Fuck, I hope Dad hasn’t seen it.” I look at the picture and curse the advent of decent camera phones. There, in living technicolor, is me at Ashton’s feet looking like I’m giving him the blow job of his life even though my hand on his dick is blurred out. In the next photo, both of us look startled. The headline reads “Is the Lord’s Lady Actually a Tramp?”
“Fuck.” I hand Hope back her phone and pack all my shit into my suitcase.
“What did Cole mean when he said he wasn’t serious about you getting down on your knees?”
“Come on, let’s go. I’ll fill you in on the way to the airport. Or Cole can if he’s coming with us since it’s his idea. But you have to swear not to tell everyone else.”
Hope looks skeptical but agrees. She grabs her suitcase from her room, and we head downstairs, Riku and Simon joining us at the elevator with Charles and Franklin, Hope’s security.
“Good morning, ladies.” Riku greets us pleasantly enough, but he won’t look me in the eye. “There is a fair amount of press in the lobby, so we’re going down to the parking garage and getting in the car there. It’s parked just outside the elevator doors. Please hand your luggage to the guys. They will take care of it as you two get directly in the car. We’ve scanned for press, and there don’t seem to be any down there, but that might change in the time it takes us to get down there. I’ll ride with you in the limo, and the guys will go ahead to make sure we have a clean run to the jet. The rest of your family should be on board or boarding as we arrive.”
The elevator doors open to reveal Cole standing there with his own luggage. He nods good morning to the security and moves to the side so we can all get in.
The ride down is quiet, and I chew on my lip, worrying over Riku’s less than enthusiastic greeting. Maybe I’m worrying about nothing. I mean, heison the clock. Hopefully, when he hears the full story, he’ll understand.
* * *
