“Not the car I thought you’d buy with your first millionaire paycheck. Bit showy.”
I grinned. Otis was many things, but his true superpower was his ability to throw open the windows and blow the dark clouds out of my brain.
“How about I get your stuff for you? We can say you’ve left the country to become a stripper.”
“Tempting.” I raised a finger. “Or we say I had a headache and needed to rest.”
He sighed. “Boring. But fine. Be a minute.”
He vanished, then reappeared almost immediately. “They just asked for the check, so shoo. See you at the hotel?”
“Take your time,” I said.
Otis leaned in and gave me a wet peck on the cheek. “I have a feeling he’s a third-date-kiss kinda guy.”
Judging by the heart-shaped gleam in his eyes, we’d need a truckload of ice cream when they broke up.
After walking the pier for a good five minutes, I realized something important: I had no idea which hotel Otis had booked.
I was just pulling out my phone to call him when I saw them.
Like any respectable young woman would, I dove into the nearest alley.
John was handing Vivian her bag. They hadn’t seen me. Yet their footsteps were coming closer.
“You seem tense. I can call Giovanni to open the bar?” Her voice drifted toward me, even as I crouched next to a garbage bag.
“I’m tired,” John said. “I think I’ll head home.”
“I’ve missed you. You’ve been so occupied lately.”
I peeked around the corner just in time to see her heels click gracefully over cobblestones without getting stuck even once.
I’ve missed you.
That didn’t sound like a farce.
A sharp flash of memory hit me—John curled around me by the fireplace. His hands under my sweater in the shed.What would Vivian say if she knew about those moments? Whatexactlywas their arrangement?
And then, a cold, creeping thought:Had John lied to me?Had he played me—charmed me—just for fun?
Itcouldhave been just a story. And hewasa storyteller. Even if I’d seen better. Was he an unreliable narrator all along?
I watched them walk together. Not touching exactly—but close. Familiar. Like people who’d been together a long time.
My chest tightened. I shut my eyes, shame flooding through me. I’d let myself believe something wasreal.
Just as I turned to leave, I thought I heard my name.
“I can’t lose my focus right now.”
My heart jumped into my throat. What was he talking about?
They slowed. Vivian placed a manicured hand on his arm. “I don’t think you should be doing this. I thinkhe’sbeing cruel.”
He?Who the hell washe?
I leaned forward, trying to piece it together, but it made no sense.
