"People are judging me."
A woman ran over to Chloe.
"Chloe! Oh my God! I love you!" the woman grabbed Chloe in a hug. "I love your show and your Instagram." She turned to look at me and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Is that—"
"He's just a ghost," Chloe chirped. "Nothing to see here."
The woman gave her an exaggerated wink. "I totally feel ya. Selfie?"
"Do you want me to take it?" I offered.
"It’s a selfie," Chloe said. "The people in it have to take it."
They made duck faces for the pictures.
"You look so chic!" the woman gushed. "Very New York." She seemed like she could carry on for hours, but I didn't want to be there all day.
"Chloe. Can we?"
"Sorry! It was great to meet you."
Chloe seemed tense as the car stopped in front of the tower. She looked around almost nervously.
"I don't think Hartleigh is out here," I told her. "Besides, I have Eddie to keep her away."
Eddie was passed out at the security desk when we walked in.
"So much for that," Chloe said.
When we walked into the penthouse and discovered Liam was lounging on the couch with Milo, Chloe asked, "Did you have a nice boys’ night?"
"Look who's back! You guys are all over the internet," Liam said, jumping up to greet us.
"Dana's going to be mad," Chloe said, biting her lip.
Liam chuckled. "She's a Holbrook. They're always up in arms about something. They're even more uptight than Jack."
"I don't know if we've formally met," Chloe said, offering her hand for Liam to shake.
Liam swept her up into a hug. "You're basically family now! Also, I ate all your soup muffins and the leftover cookies. Jack can tell you the way to my heart is food. Especially sweets."
"You like sweets!" Chloe said excited. "Jack doesn’t really."
"I love desserts," Liam said solemnly. "Crème brûlée, anything chocolate, cookies, cake. I will eat it all."
"You're lucky your teeth haven’t fallen out," I remarked.
"I eat a lot of fish, and I've never had a cavity," Liam said. "And I floss."
Chloe and I spent a quiet night together after Liam left. Simply lounging next to her as she ate popcorn and watched Christmas movies made me the happiest I'd been in a long time.
Unfortunately, real life had to intrude. The next morning was another bake-off challenge. Chloe woke up early, and before she left, I grabbed her hand.
"If Dana gives you trouble, tell me."
49
Chloe
