‘You all right?’ she asked at last.
‘Yes, fine. I’m fine. It’s just that yesterday was a rather harrowing day, wasn’t it?’
‘Sure was,’ she said. ‘Look, Mr. Blessing, I really need to get back to it. I need to stay focused, you know? Thorne and Ms. Delaney could come out any time.’
‘Stay focused, yes, of course you do. I’ll just … I’ll just let you go, then. You will call, right?’
‘I will, I promise, Mr. Blessing,’ she said as she cut the connection. He might be famous, but he was irritating as hell when she was trying to work. This was the fifth time he’d called her since the press conference.
She laid her iPhone aside and began to sift the data her father had sent her, double checking to make sure all the doors to the motorhome were locked. Of course they were, and yet, she still couldn’t fight back the feeling that she was being watched.
She’d just poured the last cup of coffee from the Thermos her father had brought her when, out of the corner of her eye, movement caught her attention. She looked up to see a blue-grey Lexus pull in front of Thorne’s house. As the door opened, she set her coffee cup down onto the table, slopping it across the shiny surface as she grabbed her Dictaphone and shoved her way out of the motorhome, slamming the door behind her. This was just too much for even her to believe!
The sun was streaming through the bedroom window when they both were startled awake by a commotion from the press already gathered on the front porch. Then they heard the turning of the lock and the opening of the front door.
‘What the …?’ Garrett catapulted out of bed and practically fell on his face getting into his track bottoms. ‘Stay here, Kendra. I mean it,’ he called over his shoulder. He was halfway down the stairs before Kendra could shove her way into his robe. Outside, she could hear the press attempting to engage whoever was shoving their way into Garrett’s front door. But they were getting no joy. She raced out of the room and nearly ran into Garrett where he stood halfway down the stairs, and then she saw the reason why.
‘Stacie? What the hell are you doing here?’ Garrett’s voice was low and dangerous.
‘Your ex? Your ex has a key?’ Kendra felt a tug of jealousy in the pit of her stomach, and mentally kicked herself for caring one way or another.
The woman was locking the door behind her and checking the deadbolt. She was dressed to the teeth in a pinstripe power suit and matching navy stilettos, and damn, she looked way better than Kendra wished she did. Especially when she could only imagine what she looked like. She had gone to bed with Garrett without bothering to take off her make-up or run a comb through her hair. She wasn’t sure she could have stayed awake long enough to do either.
‘Sorry, Garrett, I didn’t mean to wake you,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘I just got into PDX after a very long flight. What the hell’s the press doing out there anyway? I thought they were going to tear me –’ She stopped mid-sentence when she turned to find Kendra and Garrett standing on the stairs, clearly just out of bed.
Everyone stood freeze-framed in the moment that it took the situation to register. The silence was broken only by the press, who sounded like they were ready for blood.
‘She has a key?’ Those were the first words out of Kendra’s mouth, and fuck if they didn’t make her sound like some kind of jealous bitch. She wasn’t jealous, damn it! She wasn’t!
Garrett ran a nervous hand through his hair and huffed out a harsh breath. ‘Stacie, you are the queen of poor timing. Have you been on another planet or something? Are you the only one who doesn’t know about Garrett Thorne absconding with the winner of the Golden Kiss Award and hiding her away from her adoring public?’ He pulled Kendra to his side and slipped an arm around her. She resisted the urge to elbow him good and hard in the ribs.
‘I’ve been in Japan negotiating for an exhibition of antique kimonos and armor from the time of the Shoguns. I haven’t heard anything.’
‘They don’t have CNN in Japan?’ he asked.
‘They do, but not where I was.’ She was speaking to Garrett but her eyes were locked on Kendra. ‘Tess won?’
He nodded.
‘Congratulations.’ She folded her arms across her chest and offered Kendra a wicked smile. ‘Don’t know how you managed it, Garrett, but Tess certainly looks radiant.’ She cocked her head and returned her attention to Garrett. ‘No bruises, near-drownings? Other injuries I should know about?’
‘Shut up, Stacie,’ he growled.
She only smiled and looked from one of them to the other. ‘I’m assuming the guest room is unoccupied, so I’ll just stash my bag, and I’m starving. How about I make pancakes? You have stuff for pancakes?’