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“How do you like it?” Kate asked.
“It’s fine for now, but it’s temporary,” Daisy said.
It was a junky little apartment on the outskirts of town that could barely be considered a “home.” Even now that she had cash in the bank, she still had no credit history, a sporadic international work record, and no local rental references. She’d had to have her father cosign the lease to be able to rent an apartment. At twenty-eight, that stung. She was working her way up to more, and at least it wasn’t her parents’ basement.
“It’s weird living alone,” Daisy said. “I’ve had a roommate ever since I can remember.”
“Was that just to save money?” Kate asked.
“Yes,” Daisy said. “I never made enough to have a place of my own.”
That was an understatement. Her family assumed all her overseas adventures were trouble-free, but they’d thought wrong. She’d never told them how close or how often she’d been on the verge of living on the street or coming home, tail between her legs.
Thankfully, gone were the days of living paycheck-to-paycheck, eating leftovers from work, and relying on roommates to help pay the rent.
Seven months ago, upon returning to France after a visit home for the holidays, she’d taken her sister Emma’s advice and started a social media channel. She logged her adventures abroad and showed people how to travel Europe cheaply. Thanks to an unintentional “wardrobe malfunction,” her subscriptions blew up shortly after.
She’d deleted the offending video, but her new audience stuck and grew, and her star had been rising ever since. Nowadays, she could make four figures in five minutes simply by promoting some company’s product.
“But now you’re rollin’ in it, right?” Kate asked.
“Yeah. What’s it like to be rich and famous?” Lucy said.
“Hah,” Daisy said. “I may have some extra cash now, but I’m hardly all that.”
“Remember that time someone tried to rob you, but you had no money?” Lizzie said.
“Hard to forget looking down the barrel of a gun,” Daisy said dryly. “Being broke came in handy then.”
Everyone laughed but her parents. They had not liked that story one bit. Which was why Daisy had waited months before telling it.
“Did you ever find the guy that beat up the robber and made him return your stuff?” Lucy asked. “What’d you call him? Bomber Jacket?”
Daisy chuckled. That was how she referred to the handsome ninja who’d saved her that day.
“No,” Daisy said. “That was right before I flew back to France. I haven’t bothered to look him up since coming home.”
“Didn’t you say he was hot?” Lizzie said. “I would find the time.”
“I’m sure you would,” Daisy said, waggling her eyebrows. Lizzie was a serial dater and churned through men like nobody’s business. “I just barely got home. And I have more important things to worry about. I doubt he remembers it anyway. It was like another day at work for him.”
After dessert, Daisy returned to her one-bedroom apartment and pulled out her laptop. With so much on the line, taking even a few hours off for dinner seemed risky.
If she wanted to win this award—and she desperately did—she’d need to spend the next three weeks giving it her utmost attention. After checking her page and those of her competitors, she jotted down ideas for video content and clever ways to ask for votes.
Winning this thing would be a game-changer. She might be playing it cool for her family, but she was all in to win.
CHAPTER TWO
Not used to a suit and tie, Noah Walsh was uncomfortable. He’d worn a police uniform for over a decade, but several months ago, turned that in for khakis and a polo.
His assistant, Janet, came into his office, clapping her hands.
“All right,” Janet said. “Enough stalling. Off you go.”
Noah grumbled and tugged at his tie. “I can’t breathe.”
“Relax,” she said. “You’ll do fine.”
