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She smiles. “Thanks, bestie.”
I can’t keep what happened between me and Saint a secret from her any longer. “I did something stupid.”
She drops her phone and snorts into her bowl of popcorn. “What else is new?” I whack her arm and she laughs. “Fine, sorry, what stupid thing did you do this time?”
“Asshole,” I grumble. “I...may or may not have broken into my stalker’s house.”
Mack gasps and it’s her turn to slap me. “Briar, that isactuallystupid! What the hell were you thinking? And breaking in alone? Why wouldn’t you at least invite me? You need backup if you’re going to do something so dangerous and reckless!”
“I know! It was bugging me that I thought he might be S.T. Nicholson, and I made an impulsive, stupid decision to go see if he was home, and when I saw he wasn’t, I just...broke in.”
“Wait, you thought he was my boss? And how the hell did you even break into your stalker’s house? You’d think in his line of work he’d keep the place locked down.”
I shrug. “That’s what I thought. But his back door was unlocked.”
She narrows her eyes. “Doesn’t that sound a little convenient to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what if he knew you were coming? And he let you in.”
She might have a point. While I was in his house, I didn’t hear any doors open or close. I didn’t hear his car rumble into the driveway. Yet he appeared right behind me.
He knew I was coming. He let me in. Right into his trap.
And here I was, thinking I’d outsmarted my stalker for half a second. It’s absolutely infuriating how he’s always one step ahead of me.
“So did you find anything?” Mack asks.
“I found a shitload. A mask in his desk?—”
Mack gasps and covers her mouth. “Oh my god. Don’t you have a mask kink?”
“Not the point! The mask was the same one S.T. Nicholson wears in all his author photos and to all his signings. I read partof his latest manuscript on his laptop, and it’s so obviously about me. They’re the same person.”
Her eyes turn to saucers. “You’re saying my hot boss is your stalker? I’m your stalker’s PA?”
“That’s what I’m saying. Your boss—my favorite author—is a psychotic stalker. Anactualmurderer.”
Mack shakes her head, biting her lip as she tries to make sense of this. “So then what happened?”
“Then he caught me.”
Mack’s eyes bug out of her head and she chokes on her popcorn. “Oh my god! He found you sneaking through his house?”
“Yep, and then he . . . kissed me.”
“Hekissedyou? What the hell? Why didn’t you open with that?” She munches on handful after handful of popcorn in quick succession. “Oh my god! You made out with my hot boss!”
“Hello? Have you forgotten he’s still amurderer?”
She waves her hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I remember, but how was the kiss?”
I shut my eyes, not wanting to admit the truth to her. To myself. But I can’t lie to Mack. “It was the best kiss of my damn life,” I confess.
“Are you serious?” She beams. When I nod, Mack bites her lip, trying to reign in her smile. “Can I say something crazy?”
“I doubt it’s any crazier than what I just told you.”
