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“Get it together, Harry,” she whispered to herself.
She opened her eyes and saw an envelope on her desk that said, “A Special Gift to Restore and Replenish.” The logo looked familiar.
She opened it and found a gift certificate to a luxury spa for a full-body massage.
Damn. This had to be from Hannah. Johnny must’ve told her about the car accident.
Perfect timing though. She could use this before the benefit. That way she’d be all relaxed and zen and wouldnotrun for the hedges.
She would need a dress.
CHAPTERSEVEN
DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS
ANDRÉ
First, he met Javier at the hardware store. They picked out the paint—they decided on a dark charcoal that was almost black but not quite—had it mixed, and got what he needed to clean and repair the walls.
Then he went to get lunch.
While he waited for his order, he tried to think about anything other than what he wanted to think about. Which was Nikki.
Nikki in those short shorts.
Nikki’s rose tattoo on the back of her right thigh.
Nikki being excited about that phone call he’d walked in on.
Nikki asking to go to the benefit.
And one repeating thought on loop: he had been an absolute idiot. Which, yeah, he knew that. But being around her in close proximity just really drove that point home.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he missed his order number being called. The woman at the counter poked his shoulder with the eraser side of a pencil. He straightened from where he’d been leaning and took the bag from her.
When he returned to the studio, he went straight to her office.
“What’s that?” he asked, referring to the music coming from her computer that she’d turned off when he’d walked in.
“Um. Nothing,” she hedged and then chuckled. She fiddled with the mouse on her desk and then shoved it away.
“It sounded cool.” He shrugged and set the bag of food on the desk. “I got you spring rolls and pad thai.” He handed the food out. “I hope that’s right.”
“Thank you.” She took the food.
He turned to the door, planning on going back to the lounge to eat his meal.
“You can eat in here.”
He twisted his neck to look at her.
“If you want,” she added, shrugging. Her attention wasn’t on him but on the screen of her computer.
He glanced around the crowded office and took a seat on a box amp that had clearly been used as a seat by someone before. She cleared room for him on the desk.
They ate in companionable silence for several minutes. Both focused on their food and scrolling on the phones.
His sister had texted him asking if he wanted to try to get together before she left to go on tour with her superstar husband. He needed to talk to her anyway. About what he’d gotten himself into with Nik.
