No need to wonder about the sudden vibe she was throwing off. I’d gone from roommate to competition in a heartbeat, and she would be out to destroy me at any convenient moment.
Rhett’s hand tightened on mine, a small squeeze of reassurance, and then he released me. “I’ll have a phone sent to your room with my number programmed in,” he murmured as he leaned closer. “You call me if you have any issues.”
I nodded, hating that there was a pang of unease in my chest at the thought of Rhett leaving me. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t grow attached to a rock star from Bellerose. All of this magic would be over for me in a few days.
It was time to stand on my own.
As gently as I could, I extracted my hand from his hold and took a tiny step away. The separation felt huge, but every part of me knew this was the right thing to do.
Okay, maybe not every part, but enough that I stayed my course and didn’t return to Rhett’s comforting warmth.
“I’ll check in on you later,” he assured me, and I swallowed roughly as I nodded. It was the best I could do.
When he turned to leave, I forced myself not to let my gaze linger on his broad shoulders and visible tatts. It was time now to deal with my current situation: cleaning crew, new boss, and a roommate who was probably figuring out how to stab me in my sleep.
But at least I wasn’t dead.
There was always a silver lining. And this time it was more than RhettSilver.
Though that was a nice one too.
ten
BILLIE
“Alright, Billie,” Dora said, snapping into work mode despite the sleepiness still filling her brown eyes. “We don’t usually start until lunch time—everyone sleeps late after a concert—but seeing as we’re all awake and tomorrow is a road day, it’s probably best we get started early.”
Kristie snorted. “I’m going back to bed. I’ll be down at twelve as planned.” She shot me a dark look before turning back to her boss. “Just make sure she doesn’t touch my stuff.”
She swung around to leave, slamming the door behind her. Dora rolled her eyes at the now closed door before she focused on me again.
“I don’t have a uniform in your size at the moment, since we weren’t expecting any new staff, but you can just wear that for today and I’ll get it sorted.”
Falling into the role I’d played hundreds of times over the years, I focused on the new temporary job in my life, giving Dora all of my attention. It was always the same; they went over the role, the rules, and what was expected of me.
“Hotel takes care of their rooms, the bulk of the stage crew handle sets and the larger items on the trucks, leaving us to focus mostly on the band themselves. We handle their special requests, and clean their tour buses when we’re on the road,” she said. “We stock up their fridges, take their laundry, and again, get them anything they’ve specially requested for the day. We leave tomorrow after the show, so today we will be getting the bus ready for departure. I’ll be there to make sure you’re cleaning to the standard expected, since I have no idea of your experience.”
“I’ve worked as a cleaner before,” I said quickly. “It was in a hotel. Maybe only three-star, but I never slacked on keeping everything as clean as I could.”
Dora didn’t really seem to care, despite her previous statement, since she didn’t even ask me what hotel. “I’m going to get ready now. You can either head into your room or just wait here for me.”
“I’ll wait here,” I said without a second thought. “I don’t think Kristie will take kindly to being woken again.”
Dora didn’t bother to deny it; instead, she just smiled and shrugged. “Nature of the business, unfortunately. When you work for rock stars, everyone is always trying to snag one of them. But we don’t ever sleep with them. It’s in the rules. In our contract.”
Her eyes dragged along the bare skin of my arms, exposed by Rhett’s shirt. “I’m not sure of the rules they want for you; I don’t think they’ve got a contract for you to sign. It’s my understanding this is just a temporary position? But, anyway, you don’t have to worry about Kristie. Her bark is worse than her bite.”
Somehow, I doubted that.
Dora disappeared back into her room then, and I cooled my heels in the corridor while trying not to think about the last twenty-four hours. It honestly felt like a lifetime ago I was evicted and ended up in a Ricci restaurant before ultimately finding Rhett. Things really could change in an instant, and the jury was still out whether this change was one that would fuck me up for a long time.
There had been a point when I’d expected to die from a broken heart… not to mention a broken body and soul. As dramatic as it sounded, I’d been destroyed by what happened with Jace and then Angelo and then the… the day I couldn’t mentally revisit, as I doubted I’d have the strength to drag myself from the depth of hell a second time.
Running into Jace was a shot I hadn’t seen coming, and I could only hope that our time together would be brief enough that once we made it to New York, I’d be gone and so would the pain and memories.
Yeah. Right.
When Dora returned, her brown hair was slicked up in a high ponytail, face makeup free, and she looked very refreshed. She wore plain black pants and a white shirt that had the Bellerose logo on it. Her shoes were sensible black sneakers, and I was glad I still had my own sensible shoes on.
