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She sighed. “I can’t talk about it right now,” she said, lowering her voice. So, what, she didn’t want Wyatt to overhear? Or was it that she had visitors? “I promise you that everyone is fine,” she added. “But, well, there’s something you should know. I’ll come see you at o-Verve tomorrow, okay? Take care, hon.” Then she hung up.
I stared at the phone, unease trickling through me. I wanted to call her again and demand answers, but there was no sense in it if she didn’t feel comfortable talking about this “something” in front of Wyatt.
What could possibly have happened while I was gone? Could it have something to do with Heather? Had she come clean to Melinda about Junior’s father and told her that Dane had threatened to expose Heather’s secret? Possibly. I wouldn’t put it past the heifer to confess everything to her mother while crying fake tears—feigning regret and self-hatred—and then making Dane out to be a cold, dangerous bastard. Especially since she could claim I was in on it.
I turned to the door, needing to warn Dane. But then I halted. There was no sense in getting him all wound up about Heather again when I might be wrong. For all I knew, this could have nothing to do with her at all. This could be a completely unrelated matter. And I knew the whole thing would play on my mind all evening.
The phone in my hand began to ring. Simon. I answered with a smile, “Hey Dad.”
“Sorry I missed your call, sweetheart, I was in the shower.”
“No worries. How’re things with you?”
We chatted for a while and, satisfied that he was indeed fine, I ended the call on a promise to visit him soon. Hungry, I headed downstairs to the kitchen and ate dinner alone—such fun.
I also stuck the magnet I’d brought from the museum onto the refrigerator. A magnet that, like the one from the zoo, Dane had bought me with a put-out look on his face.
Deciding to finally have that bath I’d earlier yearned for, I returned to my room, and went into the attached bathroom. I stripped naked while I waited for the water to reach the right level. That done, I scooped my hair up into a high messy knot and sank into the hot water.
Leaning back in the tub, I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes. The heat together with the scent of the lavender bubble bath was heavenly. It wasn’t until now, as the stiffness began to seep from my muscles, that I realized just how tense I’d been.
I lazed there for a while, not asleep but in a sort of hazy state that gave me an escape from the questions that had pricked at me since my conversation with Melinda. A state that was free of thoughts and stress and worries.
A sound snapped me out of it, causing my eyelids to flutter open. I stilled at the sight of Dane striding into the room. The fuck?
I hadn’t locked the door purely because it hadn’t occurred to me that he’d ever so boldly enter. He’d never done it before.
I sank deeper into the bubbles—many of which had melted into the water, so there wasn’t much to conceal my body. “What are you doing in here?”
He crouched beside the tub, casual as ever, and braced his arms over the edge. He’d rolled up his sleeves and opened the top few buttons of his shirt, just as he often did in his office. “I came to find you,” he replied.
“I’m kind of having a bath right now.”
“I noticed.” He dipped his fingers into the water and frowned. “It’s barely lukewarm, how long have you been in here?”
“A while.” I was about to suggest he leave, but then he rested his warm hand on my thigh where it peeked out of the water; his fingertips whispered over the sensitive skin of my inner thigh—it was such a simple touch, and yet I almost shivered.
“Chris called me. He said he tried calling you but didn’t get an answer. He wanted to know why we’d decided to cancel the reception.”
Huh? I gave my head a little shake. “I’m confused. Who told him that?”
“The hotel employee he’s been coordinating with over the reception plans. The employee said you called the hotel claiming you wanted to cancel it.”
I knifed up. “What?” Feeling cool air dance over my breasts, I realized they were now above the water level. I sank back down into the tub. “I didn’t call the hotel.”
“I know that. The employee thought the whole thing was odd, especially since you’d been communicating through Chris and Miley up until then, so he called Chris to check if maybe you’d made the call while drunk and upset.”
“Motherfucker,” I muttered. “It had to have been either Hope or Heather.”
