But I miss her. She was always so… Ollie. Over-the-top and not afraid to give it to you. The best agent a girl with two identities could ask for.
I call back, knowing she won’t answer because of the time, but I leave a message letting her know I’m spending today working on the lyrics for a song that is inspired by my flight here. I can’t decide if I’ll focus more on the moving past it aspect of the song and name itWatch Me Glow,or the burn in hell aspect and name itSecondhand Love.I guess I’ll see where the lyrics take me.
I set a reminder alarm on my phone to call my mom at two o’clock, which will give her a chance to get up and have her coffee. Linda is a happier woman after caffeine, and I’d rather talk to that side of her. Which reminds me, I need to look up a new surgical case I can say I was working on. Maybe Cassie will have something for me.
When my phone battery hits fifteen percent, I decide it’s charged enough to get me down to the counter and ask about room service or a local restaurant that will be open this early.
Lifting my clutch, I almost jump out of my skin when something lands on my foot.
“What the hell?” I all but shriek, looking down at what just took ten years off my life. “Paper?”
Who knew paper could be so damn scary?
I bend over and pick it up, noticing it’s been written on. So, someone washere last night? I brought someone back to my hotel room?
Your bag wasn’t opened by anyone. I only stuck my hand in your pocket to get your hotel key. You went to sleep, and I went back to my room. -S
“Who the fuck is S?”
Panicking, I race around the hotel room to make sure everything is the way I left it. I rip open my lockbox and find my bodice and mask untouched.
So… they really brought me back to my room and left?
I need to find out who S is and make sure they don’t know anything they’re not supposed to.
“No,” I tell the guy behind the counter. “You don’t understand. Whoever this person is,” I wave the notepad in front of his face for the fifth time, “was in my room. They left me this note, and I don’t know them. They could be a killer!”
“Ma’am, nobody was in your room without your approval.” His voice is so calm you’d think he was talking to a toddler. “The security on the doors is top-notch.”
Is he trying to sell me a padlock? I don’t want to know about the quality of the locks; I want to know who the fuck was in my room last night.
“I could have been taken advantage of,” I hiss at him. “My lawyer is going to have your head.”
My threat does not affect him whatsoever. His eyes never shift from whatever he’s doing on that stupid computer in front of him.
“Lawyers won’t be necessary.” A body appears beside me, causing me to jump to the side. She’s tall, dark, and dare I say, handsome?
Can you say that about a woman? Am I crazy?
She has at least a half foot on me, so my eyes trail upward from her chest to meet her deep green gaze. Amusement dances behind her features.
“It was me.”
“Shit, you’re tall,” I blurt out, unable to engage the filter in my brain. Then, I shake my head and pull myself back to the current conversation. “Wait, what were you?”
I’m staring at her like I know her from somewhere, but unable to place her. She has her long, dark hair in a braid that tumbles down around her neck, the base resting at her collarbone. She surveys me, like she’s taking note of my physique. Or maybe she knows things about me. That part has me concerned.
“I’m five-eleven.” She looks like she’s trying not to laugh at me.
Awesome.
“And the person who was in your room last night.” She pokes her finger into her chest as if to gesture to herself, and her lips form an amused, tight line.
Okay, so the things she knows about me could be bad depending on how much I blabbed while I was under the influence of Jack, Jim, and José.
Again, awesome.
“You’re… S?” My eyes roam the notepad and examine the handwriting. I guess it does look a bit feminine. I didn’t notice that before. “You had your hand in my leggings?” I point at that specific part of the note.
