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I raised an eyebrow. “That’sThe Hunt for Red October, and you definitely don’t look like Sean Connery.”
“No?” We stopped at a light, and she made a flicking motion with her arm that might have been writing or wielding a sword. “Bond. James Bond.”
“Your accent needs a little work.” And this was fun. “Are you sure you’ve read the script?”
“Do I need to? I lived it, after all.” She still sounded light.
This wasn’t what I’d expected at all. Did that mean I had expectations? Well, yeah. I’d built up an entire reality about the people I’d met on paper. “I’m actually thinking the story doesn’t do you justice at all.”
“I’m boring in the movie, aren’t I?” Some of her cheer vanished.
I didn’t hesitate with my answer. “Definitely not.”
“It’s okay. I’m boring in real life too.” Now the fun was definitely gone.
“You’re not that either. You’re the most fascinating person I’ve talked to since I arrived.” I meant it.
Her tight smile said she didn’t believe me, and she turned into a clinic parking lot. “It’s okay. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I know who I am. I’ll wait here for you and take you back to your hotel when you’re done.”
And now she’d shut the topic of her down. What was I doing wrong?
“You don’t have to wait. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to keep talking, and since we’re not having dinner…” I needed to drop that. “If you’re gone when I get out, I’ll understand.”
“I’m your ride. I’ll wait.”
Inside, they showed me to a room within a few minutes. The nurse took my vitals, poked at my hand enough to make me want to scream, and said someone would be with me soon.
I spent the next couple of hours alone with my thoughts. Of Austin. Of Kandace. Of how muddled this entire trip was making my head.
I’d scrolled through all my social media feeds multiple times, checked my email relentlessly, and lost more match-three games than I could count by the time a doctor saw me. Good thing my right thumb still worked. They shuffled me through X-ray, put a splint on my thumb, and sent me on my way with a list of instructions.
It had been nearly three hours, and I was surprised to wander into the parking lot and see Kandace’s SUV was still here. It didn’t look like she was in it, though.
Her voice drifted from behind me, half a conversation. Like that, my frustration vanished, and a smile tugged at my mouth. Because I got to see her, a woman I barely knew. Was that weird?
I turned to see her walking toward me, phone to her ear. When she met my gaze, she held up a finger, which I assumed meantjust a minute.
“Sorry. Work stuff,” she said as she joined me.
“I hope I wasn’t keeping you from important things.” From what I knew, when Andrew sold Smut Central a few years ago, he’d essentially put Kandace in charge of the estate. She’d re-invested his money into tech, and was now a partner in an angel investor firm.
She knew more about numbers and funds than I could ever hope to learn.
And she was shaking her head. “No. I can do most of my work via phone. Not a big deal.”
“Anything interesting?” I was genuinely curious. “Like, a big… I don’t know… technical thing that’s coming that I should be excited about? Or do you have to keep that top secret, like lawyers.”
“Not like lawyers, more like people worried about patent issues.” Her frown was back, and then gone again in an instant. “Unless you mean myotherjob. The top secret one where I don’t tell anyone I’m a Hollywood madame. Oops.” She covered her mouth with her fingertips, as if she’d let a big secret slip.
What was she…? Pieces were moving in my head, but not clicking together to form a picture.
“I’ll take you back to where you’re staying,” she said.
There wasn’t a lot of talking as she drove, but my mind was still working. Clicking. Stopping. Whirring to life again…
She seemed to be working really hard to convince me she was someone else…
Oh.
