She had no idea.
Hailey
If this was one of the romance books that I secretly read between more serious books, I would have woken up romantically spooning with Tori, my panties wet with arousal. Then we would have shared a sweet morning breath-free kiss.
Unfortunately, this was my life, so I woke up with fuzzy teeth, a desperate urge to pee, and a famous movie star snoring loudly in my ear and hogging my blanket. She’d had her own blanket when we went to bed, but a quick look showed it was now on the floor. I wasn’t surprised. Tori was a restless sleeper. She’d been thrashing around all night.
I made my way to the bathroom, emptying my bladder and brushing my teeth before I returned to the bedroom. Tori pushed up to her elbows, sending me a sleepy smile.
“Why are you up so early?”
I frowned. “It’s seven a.m.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I usually start work at six,” I explained. “Sleeping until seven is a luxury for me.”
I didn’t mention that I’d slept better than I had in a long time, likely because she was there. Despite her snoring and thrashing, it was somehow comfortable having Tori in my bed. Maybe I was just lonely or something. It had been a while since I’d dated anyone.
“Do you know you snore?” I asked, picking up her blanket from the floor and tossing it on the bed.
She winced. “Oh yeah, it was the dairy. I’m lactose intolerant and it makes me congested.”
“You ordered a latte with milk yesterday,” I reminded her. “And you ate cheesy potatoes and biscuits with butter. And candy with milk chocolate.”
“Yeah, none of that really agreed with me, but to be honest, it all tasted so good I decided to risk it.” She winced, her hand going to her belly as it made a loud, ominous sound. “Speaking of which, I need to go to the bathroom.”
“I’ll go make coffee,” I said, hightailing it out of the room.
After a very long time in the bathroom, Tori came out to the kitchen, looking a little queasy. “Sorry about that.”
“Why are you sorry? Everybody poops,” I said lightly. “There’s even a book about it.”
“There is?”
She looked so shocked I had to laugh. Then again, it wasn’t every day that two total strangers spent the night together without having sex and then talked about their bathroom issues.
“Yeah, you’ve been missing a lot while you’re living in your fancy mansion.”
Actually, I’d seen the book in the library, but I liked busting her chops.
“How do you know I have a fancy mansion?” she asked.
“Educated guess.”
The phone in her hand started beeping.
“Your mom again?” I asked, even though it was absolutely none of my business.
It just didn’t set right with me that her mom had ripped her off like that. I didn’t even know the details, but I saw the devastated look on Tori’s face when she mentioned it. I didn’t need to be an intuitive to figure out it was bad.
“No it’s Pepper. She’s my assistant and I guess the closest thing I have to a friend.”
She paused to tap out a message, then looked up at me. “She wants to know if she should send us anything.”
“She knows you’re here?” I asked in surprise. “I thought you were in hiding.”
“She has a tracker on my phone,” Tori explained. “But it’s okay, she’s actually the one person in my life that I trust.”
