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“Yes, but it’s Eli’s fault those photos were taken in the first place,” Holly argued. “He brought a stranger to the vacation house, and then she snuck out onto his balcony and took those photos without his knowledge. He made a stupid decision that someone else paid for.”
“He did,” Penn admitted. “But at least he realized that and tried to rectify it.”
Holly snorted. “Yeah, you know how he rectified it? He promised Lyla 30 days all-access to him so theLucky Bouncecan publish an in-depth feature about his life and career.”
“I still don’t see the problem,” Penn replied. “You’ve said before that Lyla has been desperate for a big, legitimate story about one of the Kingsnakes. She obviously took his bait.”
“She did.” Holly ran her finger along the top of her martini glass. “But Eli made sure of one thing when he made the deal. He insisted that I have to be the one to write the feature. Which means I have to follow him around for 30 fucking days.”
Penn’s mouth dropped open, but to Holly’s surprise, her best friend began to laugh.
“Wait, you think this is funny?” Holly asked her, stunned.
Penn waved her hands, trying to stop her flood of laughter. “Oh, Hol. I’m sorry, really. But come on! That’s kind of brilliant.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Holly dragged her hands through her hair. “And to be honest, that just pisses me off even more.”
“He must really want to spend time with you. He’s persistent, I’ll give him that.”
“No kidding.” Holly glanced up at Penn. “I left out one little detail.”
Penn cocked her head. “What detail?”
“Well, he didn’t want to tell me how he’d managed to get Lyla to take the photos down. So, I offered him a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
Holly cleared her throat, then pulled an olive off the toothpick from her drink. “A kiss in exchange for the details.”
“What?” Penn shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth.
“Shh. Someone’s going to think we’re being murdered up here,” Holly said dryly, then popped the olive into her mouth.
“How the hell can Ishhabout this? You kissed him! Holy shit, woman. Is that all you have to say?”
“Yes. Well, and that it obviously worked.”
“Yeah obviously.” Penn’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Come on, Hol. Tell me the answer to the real question: How was it?”
Holly sank against the back of the booth, then rubbed her forehead. “Honestly? It wrecked me, Penny.”
Penn blinked, her eyes going round. “Wrecked you?” A troubled look crossed her pretty face, then she let out a heavy sigh. “Oh, no. Holly, I—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Holly waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t get all soft on me. You know I’m not the gushy, discuss-my-feelings type.”
“No kidding,” Penn murmured, studying her. “But you know you can talk to me. I won’t tell anyone. Not even West.”
Holly gave her a skeptical look. “You tell West everything, Curly Cue.”
“Not this time.” Penn reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I mean it, Holly. You’re like my sister, and that bond means everything to me.”
“Youaremy sister,” Holly said firmly, patting Penn’s hand.
The two of them had grown up together in Lakensville, Washington, and even though Holly had left at fifteen to move to New York with her family, they’d always managed to stay close. When Penn had moved to Las Vegas last year, she’d been ecstatic to have her best friend back in the same zip code again.
Even so, she’d never told Penn everything that had happened between her and Eli seven years ago. She’d just stuffed all her feelings down and moved on.
Or so she’d thought.
