Overnight Sensation(55)

My sister chuckles, and I step to the side to try to get away from her prying ears. “On the coffee table there’s a magazine, and I wrote something on the back of it—the store number for a drugstore in St. Paul.”

“Minnesota? Um, okay. A phone number?”

“No, it’s the store’s code number. I need to use Western Union to wire money to somebody who will pick it up at that store. Could you do this tomorrow? Find a Western Union and send sixteen hundred dollars cash?”

“Sixteen hundred?” my sister gasps.

“Sixteen hundred?” Heidi echoes in my ear. “Sure. Can you send me an email with all the details? And where am I getting this cash? If I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t still be couch surfing in your apartment.”

I smile in spite of myself. “I keep a spare credit card in my bottom desk drawer, and the pin number is on a piece of paper that’s wrapped around it. I’ll put that in the email, too. I was supposed to do this today…”

“Don’t worry. Consider it done. Just go beat Denver.”

“Thank you,” I say, “thanks a ton, I really—”

The line goes dead.

“Who was that?” my sister hoots. “I haven’t seen that look on your face in a really long time. Ooh! Our car is here. You can tell me all about it on the way.”

Silvia hooks her arm in mine and drags me toward the car. All of this happens before I can process the fact that Heidi just hung up on me.





20





Heidi


Ladies and gentlemen! The academy award for indifference after a life-changing night of meaningless sex goes to…HEIDI JO PEPPER.

After disconnecting the call, I set my phone down on the coffee table and then flop face-first onto the sofa cushions. I take a deep breath and exhale.

Okay. Phew. I’ve been dreading my first interaction with Jason. And it was every bit as difficult as I expected. He was right that sex would make things weird. Or at least very tingly. From now until eternity, every time we chat about errands I’ll be undressing him in my mind.

I have got to move out of this apartment. My game face isn’t sturdy enough to face him in the flesh. And what lovely flesh it is. Is it possible to leave smile marks on a couch? Just to be safe, I roll over and grin at the ceiling.

By now I’ve had eighteen hours to process the experience, but I still can’t stop thinking about it. Hot loving with Jason Castro. It was so, so good. And not just because he knows his way around the female body. He was so invested. The smoldering look in his eye when he pushed me down on the bed? It will live in my memory forever.

And the helpless groans? The whispered curses? Wow. Now I know how the other half lives. And it’s even better than I’d thought.

Except now it’s over. My lips are still swollen from roughened kisses, but for how much longer? Lifting my fingertips to my mouth, I gently explore the abraded skin. But, heck. Touching my lips reminds me of his kisses. And if I relax into the sofa I can picture his hard body pressing me down again, pinning me to the bed with his pumping hips—

Whoops. I could get seriously carried away with this train of thought.

I sit up to try to clear my head. Two things are immediately clear. One: the happy glow is going to last a long time. Two: it’s going to leave behind a craving for more.

He was right, darn it. Once isn’t going to be enough.

The silence of the living room mocks me. I have three days to figure myself out. Jason won’t want me here anymore. He was very clear about his one-and-done policy. And who needs a permanent house guest who gives you a worshipful gaze every time you cross the room?

Nobody, that’s who.

I need an affordable apartment, and I need it now.

Time to get to work.





Unfortunately, the New York City housing market does not suddenly get cheaper just because I’ve made my life difficult. I still can’t afford to use a real estate broker to find an apartment. I’m not even close to having enough money saved.

My mother always says that word of mouth is the best kind of marketing. So I write emails to all the young women I went to private school with in Nashville. Hello from New York! If you know anyone here in the city looking for a roommate, please let me know. Etc.

But then I run out of ideas.

With no real estate miracles on the horizon, I turn my focus to earning money. By Tuesday morning I’m hard at work filling orders for Belle Pepper’s Delivery Services. I have requests from every player who lives in the neighborhood, except one.

The shopping I did last time was so popular that I’ll be buying as many groceries this week. I might need two taxis just to transport it all. I don’t have an order for Bayer, though. So I shoot him a text, reminding him of the deadline.

My phone rings about a minute later, and it’s him. “I’m not on the trip, Hot Pepper. I’m having knee surgery today instead.”

“Oh no! That’s terrible!” Not only is surgery a drag, but it’s bad news for Brooklyn. The team needs him. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Well.” He chuckles. “Can I book a couple of hours of your time for something a little unusual?”

“It depends? I don’t wash windows.”

He laughs. “No, this is more like a babysitting job. I need someone to check me out of the hospital after my outpatient surgery this morning. I know it’s not on your menu of services…”