The more she explained, the less sense it made. “You’ve got the wrong guy and the wrong address.”
“No, I don’t. This address was listed in your profile, and the scary security man in your living room confirmed your identity when I arrived.” She lifted her chin. “You’re Cade Westbrook, and you hired a professional cuddler from Sunshine Cuddle Services.”
“The hell I did. I don’t have that app. Never heard of it.” I crossed my arms, eyeing her for any weapons. The unicorn costume was baggy, and she could easily have a knife strapped to her person. “How did you even get past the front desk?”
“It was trickier than you’d think,” she said with a sniff. “But your little cover with the company name helped keep our appointment discreet.”
Cover? Everything she said was complete nonsense.
I hadn’t slept, felt a killer headache coming on, and all this talk about a fake appointment was starting to piss me off. The last thing I needed today was a crazy stalker sneaking into my bed and playing mind games with me. She needed to leave.
“All right. You’ve had your fun. Time to go.” I circled the bed and grabbed her arm, pulling her off the bed. She barely blinked while I dragged her out of the room.
“I’ll be telling my supervisor about you attacking me.” She stumbled in her attempts to keep up with me down the hallway. “He’ll block you from ever using the app again, and we aren’t afraid to take legal action for the violence.”
I didn’t slow. “Tell your pimp whatever you want as long as you leave.”
“He’s not a pimp!” she cried, suddenly digging in her feet. “Wait! My things are in that room.”
We stopped long enough for her to dart into the guest room and grab a small duffle bag, which she clutched to her chest while I marched her to the elevator.
I punched the call button hard enough to sting my thumb.
“Change clothes in the elevator so you don’t draw attention,” I ordered while we waited. “When you reach the bottom floor, use the side exit to leave. Don’t go back through the lobby.”
“Um, but you have an elevator attendant.” She frowned, fiddling with the zipper. “I’m not changing in front of Samu?—”
“He only rides in the elevator when escorting someone up. You’ll be alone.”
A pause, then her throat cleared. “Can we just talk about this for a minute? There’s clearly been some sort of mix-up.”
I glanced pointedly at her unicorn outfit. “I’d rather you be gone before anyone else sees you here.”
If rumors got around that I hired unicorn hookers, the press would be all over it.
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ding.
The elevator doors slid open, saving me from having to explain.
I moved to shove the unicorn girl inside but stopped short with a viselike grip on her upper arm. Three people already stood in the elevator—one of the younger bellhops and two workers dressed in bright yellow coveralls.
Witnesses.
My attacker sent a little wave to the bellhop. “Hey, Samuel.”
He nodded, smiling. “Miss Darling.”
“Oh, please call me Ellie,” she said with a sweet smile.
The building staff had been trained well, because he didn’t even blink an eye at her ridiculous unicorn outfit—while the two in coveralls openly gaped at it.
Great. So much for my pristine reputation. The staff would have a field day with this.
The blonde worker finally picked her jaw off the floor long enough to paste a trembling smile on her face. Her gaze bounced between me and my grip on Ellie’s arm. “Hello, Mr. Westbrook. We’re Aurora and Paul from Steve’s Cleaning Services. Uh, is everything okay?—”
The man dug his elbow into her side, making her double over. He cleared his throat and looked everywhere but at us. “Apologies for the interruption. We can come back later if now’s not a good time?”
