“I hope Stephen’s having a better night than me.”
Perry crossed her arms over her stomach and made a face. It didn’t go well with her pink princess crown.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “I think the night’s going pretty well so far.”
There were twelve of us at the table; eleven were wanted. We’d arrived at the hotel over an hour before and were settled in with drinks and appetizers, waiting for the show to continue. We’d already witnessed the dramatic demise. She’d been shot five times before stumbling into the middle of the room, falling down, getting back up, then collapsing inside the chalk line predrawn on the floor.
“I think it was that onion I accidently ate on the bruschetta. It made me sick. And now it’s trying to gnaw its way out of my stomach.” She shivered, sipping her ice water.
I laughed. “I don’t think one little onion’s going to be that vicious.”
“Actually, Perry, you’ve been a little quiet all night,” Sam said. “Do you not like this place?”
“Oh no. I think you did a great job planning everything. Thank you. I’m just a little out of it, I guess.”
Hmm…. I knew Perry loved her sister, but she was being a little too sweet towards her.
Cassie reached over and touched Perry’s hand. “Are you just nervous about what the boys are doing tonight?”
“Um, no.”
“Because if so, I totally get it. You’re around girlfriends here. You can talk about it. I know what can happen at those things and it’s not too pretty.”
Yeah, because she was probably the one jumping out of the cakes. “Cassie, you don’t know her fiancé,” I said. “She has nothing to worry about.”
“It’s usually not the fiancé you have to worry about.”
“Remember to trust no one. That is the first rule.” I jerked my head over to see a woman in an evening gown speaking into a microphone. “Even those at your table can be a suspect. In fact, assume anyone speaking to you is lying.”
I glanced over at Cassie. That shouldn’t be too hard.
“You’ll have some time now to get up and mingle. Move around the room, visit other tables, and interrogate everyone you can. The murderer is someone right here in this room, and it’s your job to crack the case.”
People started rising and shuffling around. “Coming, Perry?” Rachel asked. She was one of Perry’s coworkers.
“Maybe I’ll just hang at our table and wait for others to come interrogate me.” She smiled. “I’m sure I’ll get plenty of attention. Everyone loves a bride-to-be.”
I reached over and whispered, “Can I get you anything? You’re worrying me here.” I expected her to be bouncing all over this room.
“I’m fine. Or I will be.” She stuck out her tongue. “That appetizer was just really nasty and messed with me. I’m a little scared to see what they’re serving for dinner. You go and try to find out who the killer is, and you can’t just say it’s Cassie.”
I smiled. “No, she’s going to be the next victim, remember?”
I took a sip of my merlot before wandering around. I was on a two-drink limit even though there were rooms reserved upstairs. Unfortunately, I had to throw the shower the next day and needed to be ready and un-hungover in the morning. I tried really hard not to have it the day after the bachelorette party, but it was the only time everyone was available. Even more unfortunate was the fact that Cassie was one of the guests.
I scanned the room, searching for clues and suspects. The ones who looked the most obvious wouldn’t likely be the murderer, so I went for the least obvious—a very, very pregnant woman. As I stepped closer to her, I changed my reasoning. The killer probably was the most obvious because most would be thinking the same way as me. I should’ve gone to the guy leaning against the wall with greasy hair and a fake knife dangling from the chain in his pocket.
The woman turned, noticing me approach. “Hi,” she said. Her smile was beautiful. “I’m Diana.”
“Hmm. Is that a real or fake name?”
She laughed. “I hope I’m not guilty. I don’t think I’d be able to make a very quick getaway.”
I smiled. I liked her already. “I’m Jillian.” I stuck out my hand, and she shook it.
“Real or fake?”
“I don’t think I should say since I can make a quick getaway.”
She laughed again and waved to the table. “Let’s sit down a bit. I’m exhausted just talking about running.”
“How far along are you, if you don’t mind me asking? You look really….”
“Elephant-like?”
“I was going to say close.”
“Oh, yes. Thirty-nine weeks. Let’s just say the case might not be the only thing breaking before the night is through.”
“Wow. You look great.”
“Thanks. My doctor would rather I sit home and take it easy towards the end, but I’d go crazy if I did that. It was the same way for my first, and that turned out fine. I like to get out and keep busy until I can’t anymore.”
“Are you high-risk?”
“Only because of my age. Otherwise, everything’s as uneventful as can be.” Huh. I must’ve given her a weird look because she was laughing again and pulling out a compact from her purse. “Do I have a bunch of oregano stuck in my teeth? That bruschetta was loaded with it.”
“Oh no. Sorry. I was just confused when you mentioned being high-risk because of your age. I didn’t realize they’d changed it to, what, under thirty-five now?” Geez, they should actually raise the age, considering women were living longer and healthier and were no longer worried about frickin’ rats carrying around bubonic plague.
She put her hand on my arm. “Aw, you’re sweet. I needed that extra boost tonight. I’m forty-three. Had my first—my daughter, Ava—at forty-one.”
Holy shit. I figured her to be ten years younger. And she was four years older than me. I swore in that next second Perry took over my mind. “Do you think I could get your number? I know you’re going to be a little busy in the next few weeks, but possibly we could talk in the next several months? I’d love to ask you some questions.”
She took a pen from her purse and scribbled onto a napkin. “Of course. Are you newly pregnant?”
“Um, no. Just considering it.” Holy fuck, did I say that out loud? I should’ve said, “Just curious.”
After thanking her, I went back to my table, still making sense of my reaction and the desire to talk to her further. Perry would call it a sign that I’d even approached her at all, but I didn’t know what the hell it was.
I sat down next to her and took a sip of wine. “You were over there a while,” Perry said. “The point was to go through as many people as possible.”
“I know. She was just interesting, and I lost track of time.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I hope she’s also contagious.”
I laughed, elbowing her. Then I noticed Cassie staring at us. Shit. Did she hear any of that? Of course she did, and she’d interpret it any damn way she wanted.
The next couple hours flew by, and so did the rest of my wine. I was very much enjoying the show. I hadn’t expected it to be so humorous. They’d either given more clues to solve or called up people from the audience to question. Of course, Perry got picked on quite a bit. Everyone loved to mess with a bride-to-be.
She took it in stride, but she wasn’t her usual boisterous self. I don’t think she’d even made her sister blush once. And she’d barely touched her dinner, claiming it made her gag.
Towards the end, I wasn’t even that surprised when she pulled me aside and said, “I’m not feeling too hot. I think I’m going up to the room for a while.”
I wasn’t surprised, but I was bummed. This was her party, after all. “They haven’t even announced the murderer yet.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Maybe I’m coming down with something. I probably caught whatever you had that night at The Groove.”
“A period? Because I wasn’t sick, and that was weeks ago. I was just tired and stressed.”
“Well, better for me to feel this way now than at the wedding, right?”
“Yes, definitely. Okay, I’ll come back up with you.”
“What? Absolutely not. I need you to stay and win this thing. Then you can give me the prize.”
“Perry, but if you’re not feeling well and you need something—”
“I’ll be fine, Jills. I’m just an elevator away. I’d rather have you around here so you can represent me. My understudy can’t disappear too. I’ll probably sleep it off and be back down later, anyway.”
“All right, fine. Just feel better, okay?”
“Deal. Oh, and don’t forget—you can catch more flies with vinegar than honey.”
“It’s the other way around.”
“You know what I mean, Jills. Be extra nice and maybe you’ll get something you can use against her later.” She winked, reminding me more of herself before heading off to the room.
A few minutes later, Cassie came back to the table with a tray of pink shots. “Where’s the bridal girl?”
Everyone looked at me. I was the only one Perry told, besides Sam. “She’s really sorry but had to go up to the room for a little while. Probably something she ate that didn’t agree with her. She’ll be back down later.”
At least I hoped she would. After rounds of “awws” and “that’s too bads,” the loudest coming from Cassie and her stuck-out bottom lip, she began handing out the shots.
“I got pink especially for her too. I heard her mention it was her favorite color. I guess you’ll just have to do her shot, Jillian.”
“No, thanks. You can have all three. I’m not doing any.”
She laughed. “Of course you are. For Perry. They’re more like Kool-Aid, anyway. You could probably drink a whole gallon and not feel it.”
“I don’t like Kool-Aid.”
She giggled. “You’re so silly, Jillian. Just try one. What do you think, girls?”
Cassie was waving her arms around like she was trying to rile up the crowd to cheer. Jesus, chill out. “Fine. I’ll do one.”
I chose my own from the tray; I didn’t trust her handing me one for fear it was spiked. I took a tiny sip first, expecting to cringe, but it didn’t taste half bad. Not nearly as sweet as it looked. I doubted Perry would’ve even liked it.
“What is this?” I asked.
“A drunken flamingo.”
Click. “You don’t need to take any pictures, Cassie. Plenty are already doing that.” Click.
“I just want to make sure Perry has enough memories, especially when she can’t be here.”
Click, click. All of us took the shot, except for Sam and one other girl. The remaining three sat on the table, waiting for someone to claim them.
“What’s in it?” I thought I tasted tequila.
“I can’t remember exactly. I’ll ask again next time.”
The servers began to pass out dessert, so we all took our seats again. I missed having Perry next to me. It had taken a whole two seconds before Cassie was weaseling into her spot.
“You don’t mind, do you, Jillian? I’ll move if Perry comes back.”
“When she comes back,” I said.
“Of course.” She picked up a fork and began digging into her strawberry shortcake. “This has been so much fun. Oooh, who do you think is the killer?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I’m guessing that pregnant lady. She looks so close to labor I bet she’s psychotic already.” She started giggling so hard I thought I’d have to slap her on the back. Enough with the freaking giggling already.
“I’d like to ask you something, Cassie.”
She turned to face me, looking like I just found her cat. If she had one. “OMG, Jillian. Yes! I want us to talk, to bond, to be friends. We share something very special, you know.”
Her smile was cracking her face open, and I dug my nails into my palms. We didn’t share shit, and I wasn’t asking her to be my BFF for like, oh my God all eternity. I just wanted to ask her a damn question.
“This,” I said. “This is exactly what I mean. I’d like to know why you’re acting this way. You’re not an airhead, Cassie. Why do you act so bubbly and flighty, especially around Daniel?”
She whacked my hand. “Aww, was that a compliment from you, Jillian? See, we’re already becoming fast friends.” She tapped her finger on her cheek. “Um, okay, my turn. I think your hair is really pretty. Very shiny.”
Fuck. “Just forget I said anything.”
She opened her mouth but the host took over the room, her voice echoing through the microphone. “Thank you all for coming tonight. We hope you had a killer time.” She waited for the chuckles and groans before continuing. “Don’t forget to fill out your sheets with your top suspect before the detectives make an arrest.”
When there was a break for her to speak, Cassie leaned over. “You’re right, Jillian. I have been acting a little stupid. Can I explain why?”
My eyes widened. Really? She was admitting it?
“What’s going on after this?” she asked.
“That depends on Perry.” Sam had told me she’d planned to take everyone back up to her room for games, but obviously that wouldn’t happen if Perry wasn’t feeling well.
“How about if you and I have a drink at the bar? We can talk.”
“I told you I’m not drinking anymore.”
“Then have water. The main part is the talking, not the drinking. I really care about your son, Jillian, and I know how much he cares about you. He tells me all the time how much you’ve done for him. It’d mean a lot if we could at least be amicable.”
My heart softened. Daniel said those things about me? And the fact that she wasn’t acting like a piece of Bubble Yum hadn’t escaped me. Keep your enemies closer, I heard Perry saying in my head.
“I need to check on Perry first and see how she’s doing. Either she’ll be fine to venture out, or I might end up just deciding to stay with her.”
“How about this? I’ll come with you—and wait in the hall, I don’t want to intrude—and you can talk to Perry, find out what’s going on. That way I can just go right to my room afterwards if I need to.”
“Yeah, okay. That’s fine. But first tell me one thing. Do you own a cat?”
She looked at me strangely. “Yes.”
“Male or female?”
“Male.”
“Jake.”
“Breed?”
“Domestic short hair.”
“Age?”
“Five.”
Damn. I’d run out of cat questions unless I wanted to start getting into his medical history. If she would’ve hesitated for even a second on any one of them, I would’ve called the whole thing off.
We waited out the rest of the show while I kept eyeing up those shots. Someone had downed one, but there were still two left. No. It was more important than ever to keep my wits about me.
After chatting with the girls a bit, Cassie and I took the elevator up to the third floor where our block of rooms were.
“Too bad none of us won,” she said. “I was hoping that it’d be someone from our table.”
I nodded. Yes, me too. The killer turned out to be a Plain Jane who’d blended in with the woodwork. I’d barely noticed her. Her motive: The victim returned her favorite romance novel with a few of the best pages ripped out, and it made her go postal. I was sure it was based on an actual case; those romance readers could be brutal when it came to protecting their books.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Cassie when we got to the door. “I’m not sure which room she’s in, but I shouldn’t be too long.”
“No problem. Take your time.”
Perry and I had adjoining rooms. I checked hers first, found it empty, then crossed over to mine. She was sprawled out on my bed sound asleep. “Perry,” I whispered just to double-check. She responded with a snore. I covered her gently with a blanket, pausing for a minute. I touched her face, finding it cool. She didn’t have a fever.
I crept back out through her side, clicking the door shut behind me. “I don’t think she’s going anywhere soon. She’s out cold.” How shitty that she didn’t feel well. This was her one and only bachelorette party.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“So, we’ll go down for a little while, but I don’t want to stay out late. I’d rather get back in case she wakes up and needs something.”
“Definitely. I won’t keep you long.”
I also wondered what Sam was going to do. It wasn’t her thing to let loose and whoop it up like some of the other girls were already planning.
The elevator doors opened to Diane waiting to get on. “Hey,” she said with a smile, running her hands over her belly. “I made it through the entire show. Whew, but now I’m exhausted. I’m so glad my husband and I got a room for the night.”
I gave her a hug and got squashed in the process. “It was so nice to meet you, Diane. Good luck.”
“Thanks. It was great meeting you too. I look forward to hearing from you. Call anytime. I mean that—I’m sure I’ll need it more than you.”
“Okay.” I laughed. “I’ll make it sooner rather than later.”
I turned back to see Cassie’s face morphing into a bunch of inquiries I didn’t care to answer. “So, back at the table… Perry wasn’t just teasing you?” Her jaw unhinged further. “Are you… are you trying to get pregnant?” The last part came out more like a whisper.
I gave her my best shocked expression. “Of course not, Cassie.”
Whether she believed me or not, that was all she needed to know. Like I was going to confide one teensy tidbit of information to her. I hadn’t even told Perry what I was seriously considering.
Wow. I suddenly felt a little faint. I am strongly considering having a baby with Chase.
Holy fuck.
I pushed that realization aside for another day, and we entered the hotel bar. The place was swarming with screaming women. It looked like we weren’t the only ones having a bachelorette party, although theirs was the more standard debauchery variety. A penis balloon floated by me, the tip coated with what appeared to be whipped cream. Another round of screams and I looked over to see a man lying across the couch with the whole party piled on top. Thankfully, it wasn’t a family lounge.
Cassie laughed when a pair of boxers sailed through the air. “Now that’s more how I expected our night to go after the show.”
Hmm. “Is that what you were hoping?”
“Oh, God, no. I’m glad things turned out how they did. I’ve just been to so many of these things, and they’re all the same. I thought it was expected.”
I questioned how many she could’ve possibly been to at her young age, but didn’t make any snide comments. You can catch more flies with honey, Jillian. We snagged two open stools in the middle of the bar and crammed ourselves in.
“Which leads me to a little confession,” she said. I gave her my full attention. “Well, not so much a confession as a good intention gone unwanted.”
“I am not following whatsoever. Does this have to do with Daniel?”
“Oh no. I’ll get to that in a sec. But, um….” She bit her bottom lip and crinkled her forehead. As much as it would crinkle for a twenty-three-year-old. “Do you think any of the other girls would appreciate a male stripper or two?”
“What?”
“You see, I was trying to do something nice for Perry, something fun, because I thought this was going to be your typical party. So, I hired a couple strippers to come out here tonight.”
“Perry’s not into that, Cassie.”
“I know that now, but I didn’t at the time. It’s too late to cancel, and there’re probably already on their way.”
I let out a long breath. “You could always send them over to that party.” I pointed to the group lining up to do body shots. “I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t turn anything down.”
“Okay, great idea.”
The bartender stopped over, and Cassie ordered a hard soda, me a straight cranberry juice. I suddenly felt bad about just ordering plain water if I was taking up valuable space at the bar.
“You wanted to talk?” I said, wanting to get this show on the road.
“Yes. I… I just want us to get along, if only for Daniel’s sake. I know you don’t trust me and that’s my fault. I was such a bitch to you before, and I’m so sorry about that. You never did anything to me, and you didn’t deserve it. It was a case of irrational jealousy, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”
She paused when our drinks were set in front of us. I took a sip, squelching down the dinner coming up the opposite direction. Did I think her sincere? Hell no. But she had piqued my curiosity sky high.
“Can you explain the whole ‘pretending to be someone you’re not’ bit?”
She dropped her head in her hands. “Ugh, so embarrassing. I tended to act that way in high school when I was interested in a guy. I know, I know… the stereotypical dumb blonde and it’s really insulting. But it worked, at least for the guys I liked.”
“That’s not Daniel.” So why was he buying into it? I guess it all boiled down to inexperience. He’d had girlfriends before but obviously nothing too serious.
“No, Daniel is one of the most intelligent men I’ve ever known. And super sweet and caring and family-oriented and successful and… I could go on and on. But he’s also very intimidating. It’s easy to feel like I’m not good enough around him sometimes. Like it’s hard to live up to what I feel he should have in a girlfriend: Someone as equally good as him.
“Wow, that’s… pretty honest of you, Cassie.” If it’s true. “But it also doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why dumb yourself down if you feel you need to be better?”
“I know, I ask myself that sometimes. Maybe because then I won’t be disappointed if it fails, knowing I didn’t give it my best? If I act helpless, then he’ll have more reason to take care of me? His nature is very giving, so I want him to feel like I need him because I can’t do it on my own. That’s how much I care about him and how badly I want us to work out.”
I was running that through my brain at full speed and hitting brick walls. I’d never even had dreams that wild before.
“But do you want it to work out based on a lie?” Wait, back up—it shouldn’t work out at all! Why am I helping her? I felt my guard slipping ever so slightly, and it was pissing me off.
She sighed. “You’re absolutely right. It started feeling so natural that I even became that way around his family too. I don’t want to be like that anymore, Jillian. I’m going to try being more authentic from now on, I promise.” She snapped her arms around me and squeezed. “Thank you so much. This meant the world to me, and I know it will to Daniel too when he hears about the time we spent together.”
She pulled her phone from her purse. “Smile.” Click. “Now, Jillian. That wasn’t a smile. Try again.” Click. “Jillian. We need these for Perry, and I also want to show Daniel.” I gave a weak smile, still not sure what the hell was going on. Click. “Better. Thanks.”
She set her phone on the bar top and took a sip of her soda. “How about a little drink now? We can make a toast. One of those pink flamingos? Those were pretty mild.”
Fuck, how about just skip the pink shit and bring me the bottle of tequila?
“No, Cassie. Once again, I’m done for the night. I have the shower tomorrow to worry about.”
“That’s at noon, right?” Her screen flashed. “His ears must have been burning.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes. I didn’t expect to hear from him tonight.” She picked up the phone, scrolling through the message. “Eww… that doesn’t sound good.”
My pulse jacked up. “What? What’s wrong?”
She glanced at me. “Um, I don’t think I should say.”
“Cassie!”
“Nothing’s wrong in the sense you’re probably thinking of….”
Dammit, woman. She typed something out, then slid her phone back into her purse before lacing her fingers together. “Well… Daniel left the party early. He didn’t really want to be around that kind of… atmosphere?”
“What the hell does that mean?”
She put her hand on my shoulder. “There were, um, prostitutes there.”
“What?” What the motherfucking what?
“I’m so sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Just tell me what Daniel said. Okay?” Before I take this bar stool and beat it out of you.
She puffed out a loud breath. “He left before the girls were completely naked, so I don’t know what happened after that….” I closed my eyes for a second. No, this can’t be right. But why would Daniel lie? “God, I’m sorry, Jillian. He said all the guys were extremely drunk. Every single one. There was a lot of tension in the house. Then the girls showed up, and it just became too much. I know he probably broke some man creed by telling me anything at all, but that’s the kind of guy he is. He doesn’t feel right keeping things from his girlfriend.”
“Cassie,” I said so slowly it came out in six syllables. “Stephen is like Perry. He wasn’t interested in anything wild either. I know my brother. He wouldn’t even want a stripper, much less a….” Fuck, I couldn’t even say it.
“I know, Jillian. I understand. But like I said before, it’s usually not the groom or bride-to-be who causes the problems. It’s one of the others, and then everyone just seems to jump on board. I mean, look at me, right? I hired some strippers because I thought it’d be harmless fun. Perry had nothing to do with it, but she probably would’ve gone along with it just to be a good sport. Now, of course, a stripper is completely different from… well, other things.”
My stomach was rolling hard. I felt fucking sick. All right, time to take in a calming dose of air. I trusted Chase, and I trusted Stephen. Neither of them would do anything so asinine. It didn’t matter what the other guys were doing. As long as I kept that bit of reality in my head, I didn’t need to freak out.
“I know I’m not Perry, but I’m right here if you need a shoulder to cry on.”
“What? No. I’m fine, Cassie.”
“Wow, then you’re a lot more forgiving than me, that’s for sure. I know I’d be devastated to hear something like this. I just have to say thank you again for raising such a man who is mature beyond his years. He’s not like the other guys his age. I never have to worry about him getting so blind drunk that he loses all judgment. Because believe me, I’ve been with plenty like that and—”
I held up my hand. “Just stop. I’m not forgiving—I’m trusting. Whatever is going on in that house, I know that Chase and Stephen are not involved. I don’t care how drunk they are.”
“Okay?”
She said it more like a question, and combined with her sympathetic eyes, I wanted to bash her nose in. The glass in my hand was struggling to fly out of my grasp. Oops.
“I really should get going now and check on Perry. I’ve already stayed longer than I intended.” I slid off the stool and slung my purse over my shoulder.
“I understand completely.” Fuck you. “Would you like me to walk with you?”
“I can find my way, but thank you.”
“Then I’ll just wait here until those strippers come so I can get that straightened out. And I think that’s Tara and Julie over there from our table? I’ll stop over and say hi.”
“Great.”
I couldn’t get out of that bar fast enough. “And Jillian?” Cassie called out, and I turned my head. “See you tomorrow.”
Can’t fucking wait.
When I got back to my room, I was feeling better than I had five minutes before. And I knew I’d only continue feeling better. Nothing Cassie told me mattered in the slightest. It didn’t matter even though I was frickin’ human and I wasn’t above getting jealous enough to want to stick a fork in someone’s head. It didn’t matter because trusting Chase made all the difference. All the difference.
Despite my unwavering conviction, I still needed my best friend. I wanted so badly to talk to her since she trusted Stephen implicitly too. Then we could both trust our soul mates together and have a great rest of our night.
Unfortunately, she was still drooling all over my pillow. I tried lying next to her, but she was so sprawled out that I could barely balance myself without falling off. I’d thought it ridiculous at first that Sam had booked us two rooms when we could’ve just shared one, but now I’m so glad she did. I touched her face again. If she wasn’t better the next day, I’d start worrying, but for the time being, I’d just let her sleep.
I traipsed back into the other room, leaving the adjoining door ajar so I could hear if she called for me. I pulled the comforter aside and lay down on the bed. It didn’t take long to figure out why Perry had taken the other room—it was sweltering in here. Hot air was blowing from the vents directly above the headboard.
I swung my legs over, getting up to check the thermostat. I tried adjusting it, but it appeared to be stuck at eighty-seven. Dammit. I could call down to the front desk, but by the time they got it fixed, I’d be checking out. Funny how I’d given Chase hell for fixing my broken air conditioner, but now I’d give almost anything to have him working his magic.
Chase. I stripped down to a tank top and underwear and crawled into bed. I didn’t want the noise from turning on the TV, but I wasn’t ready to go to sleep either. I thought about texting him at least a hundred times, even though we’d already decided not to talk until the morning. But who cared, right? We didn’t have to stick to the original plan. But would it seem like I was just checking up on him? Argh. I flattened the pillow over my face.
Then he was leaving in two days for that week-long seminar. If that didn’t suck ass, I didn’t know what did.
I probably lay there for an hour, breathing in the stench of hotel bleach, when a rap on the door almost sent me reeling to the ceiling. I padded over and checked through the peephole, figuring it’d be one of the girls, but from the uniform name tag, it looked like maintenance.
I threw my dress back on and opened it as far as the bolted chain allowed. “Yes?”
“Hi, ma’am. I’m here for a”—he looked down at a clipboard—“Perry Sommers. We were called to do a temperature check.”
“Oh. Yes.” I shut the door, unlatching the chain. Fantastic. She must have called earlier before falling asleep. I opened it back up and waved him in. “It’s over here.”
“Sorry for the late hour. We had quite a few rooms to service.”
I shut the adjoining door along the way. “No problem. I wasn’t—”
What in the ever-loving fuck?
I’d barely made it to the thermostat when I had two nearly naked men grinding against me to the tune of “Hot Stuff.”
“What in the fuck are you doing?”
“Ma’am, we have strict orders to check your temperature. Judging by the way my gauge is rising, I’d say we’re in for a hot night ahead.”
“Get the fuck off me!”
One was lifting my dress while the other was humping my leg. I managed to twist and knee him smack in the balls.
“Ah! Fuck!”
The humper went down, and I darted out from them just as Cassie was running through the door. “Oh shit, Jillian. Sorry about that. Wrong girl, you two. You probably should go.”
“Probably? What the hell, Cassie?”
The one holding his crotch hobbled past me, giving me a nasty look. Good. I hope I popped a side.
“They were just doing their job. Ugh, so sorry again. These guys are really hard to contain. I think the party downstairs pumped them up a little too much.”
“That doesn’t explain why the fuck they’re in my room assaulting me.”
“Assaulting’s a little harsh, don’t you…?” The daggers shooting from my eyes obviously shut up that thought. “Okay, well. They were scheduled for Perry, and they had the room number, and I stopped them as soon as I realized….”
“Perry wouldn’t want this shit either.”
“Yes. No. Of course not. It was a mistake. It won’t happen again. Um, hope Perry’s feeling better?” She sucked in her bottom lip.
“Maybe she will be if there’re no more fucking disturbances.”
“I’ll just go, then. Let you both get some sleep.” She gave me a little wave as she stepped out into the hall. “See you tomorrow.”
I shut the door, triple-checking to make sure the chain was bolted tight. Stupid, stupid me, letting strange men inside my hotel room. But I had no reason to think at the time that it wasn’t legitimate, considering the actual broken thermostat. What the hell was going on?
I peeked in on Perry. How she continued to sleep through that was beyond me. I took a hot shower, then crawled into bed, everything sticking to me with a vengeance. I was uncomfortable and disgusted and just wanted the night over with. I took no issue with chiseled male specimens wanting to show off their assets for a living, but I sure the fuck took issue when those same bodies tried rubbing their junk all over me.
The sooner I fell asleep, the sooner I’d be home. I’d just closed my eyes when I heard the moaning coming from the room next to ours. Are you fucking kidding me?
I put the pillow over my head. The “oh, babys” and “deeper, harders” got even louder. I got up and gave a couple knocks to the wall, thinking they’d get a clue to keep it down. Silly me. Like they’d hear my pounding over their own.
I went back to bed, wishing I were the type to go over to their room and confront them in person. But I did not want to put faces to the grunts and groans. I smashed the pillow over my ears instead.
I dozed off here and there just to be woken up again. I swore I was in a brothel. There was no way one couple could make it that long without getting laryngitis. The sweat dripped down the sides of my face. At one point, I called down to the front desk and reported loud noises coming from the room and could they please call and tell them to knock it the hell off?
It didn’t work. I took my pillow and blanket and went over to Perry. There was no couch on that side, so I lay on the floor. If I didn’t love her so much, I’d just knock her ass over and take part of the bed.
Instead, I curled my knees to my chest, the offending sounds much diminished, but now I was frickin’ freezing. I tightened further into a ball, shivering, the hard, uneven floor making my hip feel like I was rolling over a cheese grater.
What a fucked-up night.
I could not wait for morning so everything could get back to normal again.