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I throwthe covers off me and hurry out of Gates’ bed and into my own room. I don’t have long to get showered and dressed. I hate washing Gates’ scent off of me, but I know that my hair must be a mess after he had his hands in it half the night.
I rush through a shower and pull on a sundress before I grab Gates’ car keys and hurry out the door. It takes me half an hour of battling the Los Angeles traffic, but I finally pull up in front of The Four Kings and head inside to meet Aria and Quinn.
They’re already seated, so I head up to the front counter and order a BLT and cup of broccoli cheddar soup before I join them.
“Hey! Sorry I’m late,” I say as I take a seat at their table.
“No worries, I just got here too,” Quinn says.
“Is Lottie joining us?”
“No, she’s on bedrest. I’m going to head over there after this and bring her something to eat.”
“How are you liking retirement?” Aria asks me, and I laugh.
“It’s still too early to tell, I think. You’re retired too, right?”
I vaguely remember her saying that she was letting go of the reins of her tech company.
“Yeah, I still hop on meetings when I need to, but I leave the day-to-day operations to my COO.”
“That must be nice.”
“It’s an adjustment. I’m so used to working all the time and it was hard to step back. Being with Kye makes it easier. He’s good at distracting me when I start to feel antsy,” she says with a laugh.
“I think I’m going to like it. I’ve been on the go, traveling nonstop, since high school. I’m ready to slow down for a while and take things easy,” I tell them.
“See, I would love to travel,” Quinn says. “I’m a travel blogger and photographer. Or I’m trying to be anyway.”
“I actually think I’ve seen some of your posts,” I tell her, and she beams.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I was debating between going on vacation and coming straight here, and I saw a post of yours on Pinterest!”
“Aww, that’s so cool! You just made my day.”
I grin and ask her where she’s planning on going next.
“I’m thinking Iceland. It looks so beautiful. I just need to mentally prepare for that flight,” she says with a laugh.
“Oh yeah, I bet that’s going to be a long travel day,” Aria says, and I nod.
“Have you ever been there?” Quinn asks me, and I shake my head.
“No, I went to more tropical places. Hawaii, the Bahamas, Mexico, and it was always for photo shoots, so I wasn’t playing tourist so much as working and then heading back to the hotel, then the airport, and then the next destination.”
“That sucks,” Quinn says, and I shrug.
“If I went there more than once, I got to see a bit more of it. I could actually maybe show you around Paris and Milan, New York too.”
“Which was your favorite?” Aria asks me.
“Paris, for sure. The food was amazing,” I sigh, and they both laugh.
“I bet. Maybe I’ll have to go there next,” Quinn says.
“Take Rhett with you and make it a romantic vacation,” I suggest.
