Bunny

When I wake up, it takes me a moment to realize where I am. The light through the window is pinkish-gray. The comforter I’m lying on is so thick it crawls halfway up my open legs.

Was I drunk? I’m not sure, but my mouth is really dry. I did have a good deal of alcohol in me… It must be seven or eight o’clock by now. I can’t believe I slept the rest of the day away.

Pushing myself to sitting, I squint to see the room. With the sun going down, everything seems charcoal-sketched. Artsy. The ornate mirror on the wall, the writing desk, the sitting area arranged just so. It’s all perfectly put together.

My muscles creak and complain as I try to slide off the end of the bed. I must not have moved, not even a little bit. The last thing I remember was…

Oh, yeah. Trey. That was terrific.

I can feel my cheeks bunching up as the smile creeps across my lips. Today was a very good day for me. Actually, the last two days. I like having a solid menu of sexy shenanigans to pick from. A little blowjob here, a little light fingering there, just a whole world of sexy potential.

That’s my kind of world.

Finally, my feet touch the floor and I curl my toes in the plush shag carpet. Fibers tickle my feet as I walk to the bathroom, snatching my cell phone from the end table on the way.

Wow, this is some kind of hotel. The bathroom is enormous, and it looks like it was carved out of a single alabaster slab. With fixtures in gold and crystal, I’m almost afraid to turn the water on. I don’t want to leave grubby fingerprints all over everything.

Come on, girl, you deserve this, I coach myself. Live a little.

Interestingly, the crystal is almost warm to the touch. The water seems silky as I splash it on my face.

Brushing my teeth is a relief, too, and I feel a hundred times better when my teeth and tongue are clean and slippery. My stomach rumbles slightly.

“Let’s go see about that dinner Trey promised us, shall we?”

I squint at the front of my phone, scrolling through my messages. The thrift store back home is having a sale. Dahlia checked in. And a number I don’t recognize…

First text: Hello, Bunny. Is that how you spell your name? You probably don’t recognize this number… It’s Trey.

Next text: I’m sorry I won’t be able to dine with you tonight. Family business. My deepest apologies.

Next text: I’ll see you soon, I hope.

Great. So what am I supposed to do, have dinner by myself? I thought these rich kids were supposed to have manners or something.

Dahlia’s text is nothing special. Just checking in, curious how I like Chicago, asking me to send her a picture. Then another text saying good morning and did I do anything fun last night…

Good morning? No.

Hold on.

It’s six thirty in the morning. What the heck happened?

First I want to panic, but then I realize I don’t have anything to panic about. There’s no job I’m late for here. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, just twelve hours later than I thought.

Dang, though. I really was looking forward to dinner with a billionaire. See what all the hype is about.

“Well, Bunny, I guess tomorrow’s a new day,” I tell the mirror, “and here it comes. Ready or not.”

Rather than take a shower right away, I decide to see if there’s a pool or anything in the hotel. I get my hair back in order and scrub the flaky mascara from under my eyes. Then I change into a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra and loose tank top. Swiping my key card from the table, I head out into the empty hallway, hoping for the best.

All of this is completely new to me. I guess I really was tipsy, because I do not remember this hallway at all. And this carpeting is so crazy, I’m sure it would have left an impression on me. It’s all zigzags and flowers, stretching for about a hundred feet to the elevator at the far end.

Strangely, I want to tiptoe. I want to hold my breath. I imagine there are people asleep behind all of these other doors, and I don’t want to disturb anyone.

In the lobby, businesspeople rush toward the exits, distracted by their cell phones. Some people wait in line to check out at the reception desk. Everyone here is so well-dressed, it’s like another world. Not like super-fancy, just like regular clothes... but better. People are wearing the designer stuff I always wanted from magazines. Better shoes. Non-knockoff handbags. Sunglasses that cost more than Dahlia’s car.

Crossing my arms over my chest self-consciously, I wait for a nice-looking lady to be available at the reception counter before walking up to her. She raises her eyebrows at me in a friendly, welcoming expression.

“Miss Bunny? Good morning. How can I help you?”

My smile freezes on my face as I try to adjust to the fact that everybody here seems to know who I am.

“Oh, I was just wondering, is there a workout room or something? Swimming pool?”

“Certainly,” she smiles, opening a brochure on the marble counter. She points to the photograph of the swimming pool with her gel-coated fingernail.

“I can show you,” comes a voice at my side.

I startle and glance up at him, momentarily confused. He looks like Royce, but different. Not as big as Sully. A little younger than Royce.

“Spencer Worth,” he says in a gentle voice, holding out his hand.

I shake his hand, smiling at how formal he’s being. Still, it’s very charming, the way he’s pretending not to know what I’ve been doing with his brothers.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I answer. “And it’s nice of you to offer to take me. Can we stop back at my suite so I can change clothes?”

Holding out a hand toward the elevator, he gestures for me to begin walking. I can feel various employees watching us as we cross the marble floor. When we are out of earshot, Spencer tips his head toward me without changing his pace.

“Actually, I’m very pleased to find you this morning. Would you like to meet Sophia?”

My heart jumps in my chest. Already?

Of course, already, I remind myself. That’s what I’m here to do!

“I mean, assuming you didn’t have concrete plans?” he continues politely. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but she’s always very easygoing in the morning. And I know that Sully was very interested for you to meet her.”

So they have been talking about me, I note to myself. Interesting! I wonder what else Spencer knows about me.

“No… I mean, that would be wonderful!” I assure him. “As a matter of fact, I really didn’t have any plans at all. I’m happy to have something on my schedule, and really excited to meet her. Is what I’m wearing okay?”

Just before we reach the elevators, he glances at me out of the corner of his eye. Though his face hardly changes, I can tell he’s enjoying looking at me.

“Absolutely,” he assures me.

The elevator goes all the way back up to the top floor, making me wonder just how many penthouses there are in this hotel. Spencer leads me down the hallway to double doors at the end and opens the right side, holding it so that I can enter.

“Magda?” he calls out. “Sophia has a visitor.”

The suite is beautiful, painted like an immense nursery. I suppose they decided this particular set of rooms would belong to Sophia alone.

“This is one of our largest suites,” Spencer explains in a low voice as though he read my mind.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathe, glancing at him. He definitely has a softer look than Royce. Like he’s more thoughtful, probably reads more books. Out of all of them, he looks the most like a romantic lead in a movie. The Ryan Gosling of the Worth brothers.

I hear a commotion in the far room and glance around. The room is pale mauve, with plush, oversized sofas. Several doors lead from this room, more than in my room. I imagine it’s a two-bedroom kind of situation instead of just the one.

Glass doors lead out onto a terrace, and from what I can see, there’s a small garden. That’s nice, to have a little bit of playground way up here in the sky. That does seem like a billionaire thing to do.

A door opens, and a middle-aged woman comes out, smiling broadly. Her hair is canary yellow, rolled into curls that tuck behind her ears. In her arms she holds a chubby, pink-cheeked baby who looks all around with bright, eager eyes.

“Good morning, Mr. Worth!” Magda wheezes.

Spencer seems to melt a little bit, walking forward with his arms out. When he takes Sophia, I can see the warmth in his eyes. He pauses to just stare at her for a few seconds before pivoting to show her to me.

“Sophia?” he says in a sweet, playful voice. “This is Bunny. Be sweet to Bunny, okay?”

Like a magnet, I’m drawn to her. I walk forward with my hands out, eager to get her into my arms. Spencer shifts, letting me slip my fingers under her little arms and lift her away from him.

“Oh, look at you!” I coo at her, noting that she’s not too sturdy just yet. Somebody said she was only four months old, so she still has a lot of things to learn.

“Can you sit?” I ask her. “Not yet? How about a little floor time?”

She smacks her lips at me and opens her mouth in a wide smile. She can’t sit, but she can sure charm!

I love the smell of her. She smells a little bit like a funky barnyard, but not in a bad way. Just in a real way. A deep hunger burns in my chest. If people weren’t watching me like hawks, I would just inhale her for five or six minutes, deeply.

Carrying her over to the sofa, I notice that there’s a stack of blankets and a pile of brightly colored toys.

“Oh, yes, this looks nice,” I remark to her, easing myself down to the floor. I take a blanket and spread it out and lay her in the middle of it, holding my hand up for her to kick when she starts moving her legs all around. She utters a low, happy chuckle as she wiggles her arms and legs in unison.

In the toy bag, there’s an assortment of rattles, blocks, and stacking rings. When I bring the rings toward her, pulling the yellow one from the top, she holds out one chubby hand.

“Oh, you’d like this?” I ask her.

She gurgles a response that sounds like she does want it and I hand it to her, noting the way her little fingers grasp the ring with ease. Immediately she draws it to her mouth and starts gnawing on it.

“Well, aren’t you just a perfect lady?” I ask her, drumming my fingertips on the sides of her wide belly. Seriously, she’s so delicious I could eat her up.

I feel the sofa move next to me and glance up to see Spencer, his eyes warm, his expression as friendly as any of the other brothers even though we just met. He must be particularly attached to Sophia.

“Am I on video chat?” I ask him, noting the iPad next to him.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he murmurs uncomfortably. “I should’ve asked you first. I’m sure the guys would be sad they missed your first meeting."

“Oh, I don’t mind at all!” I assure him. Using this opportunity to touch her again, I pick her up and put her on my lap. We both turn around to face the iPad as she sits between my legs and happily slobbers all over the ring.

“Say good morning to your daddies, Sophia!” I coo at her, taking her free hand to wave it at the iPad. “Good morning, Daddies!”

She wriggles and nestles against me, arranging herself into a semi-reclining position. After a little while, I see her cheeks cave in as she starts smacking her lips again.

“I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you? Is it your breakfast time?” I ask her.

I love the way she looks right at me when I’m talking to her. She makes complete eye contact, and I could fall into those big blue eyes.

“Yes, it’s breakfast time!” Magda announces, coming over with her arms out. She is smiling, but I can see that she’s a little territorial too. Or maybe it’s just me, not wanting to give Sophia up.

Begrudgingly, I allow Magda to take her from me, though it feels cold where she was. I follow her with my eyes until she disappears into the other room, closing the door behind her.

Spencer looks me over, really looks at me.

“She’s a beautiful baby,” I sigh. “Really beautiful.”

“She really is,” he replies, and I can hear his voice is thick with emotion. I want to hold his hand or something. To let him know I understand. I can feel how attached he is to her. It makes me like him so much, though I don’t even know him.

“When can I see her again?” I ask timidly.

“Whenever you want!” comes a voice through the iPad.

“I think that’s Royce,” Spencer explains with a shy shrug. “I think we should go find Sully, is that all right?”

I stand up slowly, realizing I’m still kind of stiff from oversleeping.

“How about breakfast?” I ask hopefully. “I’d still like to get a shower, maybe get ready? If that’s all right with you?”

He nods, pressing his lips together as though slightly embarrassed he didn’t think of that first.

“Of course, of course,” he says in a rush. “I’ll make arrangements and text you the details, will that do? Two hours?”

Taking a moment to smile at him, I wait for him to catch my eye. I just want to see what’s in his eyes. He’s a little shy and it’s hard to know exactly what he’s thinking.

When he does meet my eyes, there’s a spark. I see him flinch just a little bit. I know he feels it too.

“Two hours will be perfect,” I answer finally. “I can’t wait.”