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Laura paused in thought. “No, but he did sound familiar, like I’ve heard his voice somewhere before.”
She sighed in resignation. “He?
?s probably another reporter wanting an exclusive.”
Laura shrugged, returning to reading her magazine.
Nicole sat for a few more moments. She closed her eyes, just breathing and not really thinking. “I’ll be in the bath if anyone important should call for me.” She got up, retracing her steps to the door.
“I’ll be here taking messages like a good assistant should,” Laura called to her as she disappeared around the wall.
Nicole stopped by the table to grab the notes, glancing over them as she trudged up the stairs and coming to the very last message in the pile. Call Mr. Hammer. Urgent!
“What the hell?” she mumbled as she walked into her bedroom, kicking off her sneakers. She dialed the number, absentmindedly listening to it ring while she gathered her toiletries.
“Thank you for calling the Savoy,” a voice greeted on the other end of the line.
Nicole’s eyes widened as she hung up, staring at the phone. Who on earth would be calling her from the Savoy? She dialed the number again, waiting.
“Thank you for calling the Savoy,” the voice said again.
“Yes, could you connect me to Mr. Hammer’s room, please?” she asked hesitantly.
“Of course, madam. Please hold a moment.” The line was silent, and then the voice came on again. “Mr. Hammer is not answering. Please hold while I connect you to his voicemail.” The line was then transferred and a message came on.
“It’s me. I’m not interested in talking to anyone, or I would’ve picked up the phone. Leave me a message, and I might call you back.” The last was said in a joking tone. It was Reece Collins. He had called her.
She started doing her ‘Snoopy Dance’ around the room before stopping in her tracks. Reece Collins had tracked her down.
Beep! “Hey you. It’s me. Tag, you’re it.” She hung up the phone, smiling but wondering if he’d call her again because why would an international movie star be calling her?
She grabbed her bath towel and toiletries, heading toward the bathroom. She needed to relax in the tub for an hour, or two, or four and brainstorm. Some of her best ideas came from sitting in the tub and getting wrinkly.
She opened the taps, adjusting the water to a comfortable temperature and filling the bath with her favorite scent, Sweet Pea.
Disrobing, she stepped in and sank down, reclining against the back of the tub with her head resting on the rim as she fantasized about the next time she’d see Reece Collins. Would it feel the same as it had on the plane? Could he really be as nice as she remembered, or was her active imagination adding too much significance to the memory?
She relaxed completely, dozing off and on and waking only when Laura began a frenzied knocking on the door.
“Nicole, are you there?”
“Nope, I flew out the window,” she replied sarcastically. She thought she heard a male chuckle in response.
“Ha, ha, very funny. A package has been delivered to you. I’m putting it in your room.”
“What kind of package?”
There was another masculine sounding chuckle, accompanied by Laura’s loud shushing. Who was out there with her? “It’s quite a large package.”
She wasn’t expecting anything to be delivered. Who could be sending her something? “Does it say who it’s from?”
Her friend’s voice had grown a bit peevish. “Just come out and see for yourself.”
Nicole listened as her roommate’s footsteps descended the stairs. What was going on? She rinsed the soap from her body and dried off, wrapping the towel around her tightly as she skipped across the hall to her room. The light from the windows was fading as the sun went down, but there was still enough light to see by. Still, for the life of her, she couldn’t find any packages, large or small. She walked to the closet as the towel slipped a notch.
“Unless you want to show me everything the Good Lord gave you, you’ll pull that towel back up.”
Nicole froze, her eyes growing wide as she realized what her package really was. She wanted to turn around to be sure, but she decided to bluff her way through this predicament.
