He’s not pretending.
He doesn’t know who I am.
I’ve been obsessing over this man for weeks, and he’s completely forgotten me. I’ve been reliving the best sex of my life, masturbating while thinking of all the things he did to me, knowing I can’t possibly go and fuck someone else because it would never live up to that experience, and he has no idea thatIamme.
His phone starts to ringagain.
“Excuse me,” he says. “I’ve got to take this.” Without waiting for a response, he drops my hand and walks away. I can’t move. Can’t do anything but stare as he leaves the room.
Through the haze of my scattered thoughts, a small spike of anger pierces the fog. Am I so forgettable?
No. I won’t believe that for a second.
But then again, my alter ego, the mysterious blonde bombshell from Atlanta, sounds nothing like me. Acts nothing like me. And, given my current attire—the oversized tracksuit, my messy hair, and lack of makeup—she looks nothing like me either. Add to that the fact that he probably never contemplated a reality where the woman he met at Delirium was his daughter’s best friend, and really, making the connection when we only saw each other in a darkened room and I never took off my mask, is a stretch.
But come on. Nothing? I’m good in bed. Really fucking good.I know it.There’s no way he’s forgotten me.
“Diana?” Lizzie probes.
Shit. I’ve completely zoned out. “Sorry, what?”
“Don’t mind him. He’s often like that. He’s busy and preoccupied a lot of the time, but when you get his full attention, he’s wonderful.” Heat burns my cheeks at the comment.Don’t I know it. “On the plus side, he really doesn’t care who comes to stay as long as we stay out of his way.”
“Right. Noted. Stay out of his way.” I stare at the floor as I try to process what’s just happened.
“You okay?” Lizzie peers at me. “What are you thinking about?”
I glance up. “I’m really good in bed.”
Damn those inside thoughts slipping out.
Her eyes light up, her mouth opening and laughter spilling out. “Okay. You want a gold star for that?”
I meet her bemusement with a forced smile. “Yeah. Maybe I do.”
Lizzie nudges her shoulder to mine, but I’m hardly aware of her because nerves are exploding through me like popping candy as I try to wipe all thoughts of sex and gold stars and her naked father from my mind.
If I’m going to stay here, she can never, ever find out that I’ve slept with her dad, and he can never, ever find out that I’m the woman he slept with at Delirium. If this encounter is anything to go by, he’ll never even notice me. All I need to do is get my business off the ground, get some income rolling in, and leave.
No one will be any the wiser.
That should be easy enough, right?
13
DIANA
The following morning, I go in search of Lizzie, hoping against hope that I don’t bump into her father.
I grip my laptop tightly, bringing my mind back to my current, much more important issue: the fact that I have no money, no savings, and no idea how to get my business going so I can gain some degree of financial freedom before Lizzie leaves for her travels.
I find her curled up in a corner of the sofa, scrolling on her phone. She unfurls when she sees me, putting her phone down beside her.
“When are you going to Argentina?” I ask, glancing at my watch as though her flight is leaving this evening.
“The week before Christmas. Why?”
I plop down onto the floor at her feet, resting my laptop on the coffee table, trying to control the latent panic that’s humming in my system, threatening to overrun it. “So that’s when I’m leaving too, right?”
