He knew it, too. Rohan hadn't tried to kiss me, hadn't done anything last night except give me exactly what I'd wanted. I brushed a lock of hair off of his face, smoothing it away.
Good-bye, Snowflake.
I pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades, my vision blurring.
Rohan opened his eyes, scrunching up his face against the sunlight streaming into the room. "Quite the workout last night."
Blinking to get rid of any telltale moisture, I pulled the blanket up my chest. "I totally Debbie Allen'd you."
"Huh?"
"Made you start paying. In sweat."
For a second I didn't think he'd gotten my bad Fame joke, but then he laughed, smacking me with a pillow. "That's terrible." His smile worked its way into the cracks of my soul, warming me up like patches of sunshine that I wanted to curl up around.
I scrambled out of bed.
Rohan didn't notice my haste. He sat up, scratching his chest. "There's a word for people like you."
I hopped around the bedroom searching for my clothes. "Incredible?"
"Not what I was thinking." He picked up his phone and frowned. "A dozen Rasha out tracking and no sign of Samson yet. And the production office isn't answering."
I considered the problem as I got dressed. "Anya mentioned some other commitment Samson had. He might be hiding in plain sight." I found my phone and called her.
She answered, sounding harried. "Hello?"
"Anya, hi. It's Lolita." I couldn't wait to be rid of that name. "Sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you knew where Samson was today?"
"I'm with him right now. You want to talk to him?"
I gave Rohan a thumbs up that my hunch had paid off. "No. I, uh, want to surprise him. Where are you?"
"A very drafty warehouse. He's doing a photo shoot with Poppy."
A lot of people around. It might be tough to lure him away. "Is he up to anything later?"
"One sec." I heard paper rustling. Her ever-present clipboard. "Yeah. He has a radio interview."
I got the interview time and station address, thanked her and hung up. Rohan applauded me. "Work smart, not hard," I said. I sat down on the edge of my bed to put on my boots, while Rohan texted Drio to set a guard on Samson.
I checked my phone, even called in to my room for messages, but there was nothing from Dr. Gelman.
"Where are you going?" Rohan was back in Rasha mode.
I chewed on my bottom lip. "You don't need me right now, do you? We can't get to Samson until later."
"You're not going anywhere alone."
"Why not?"
Rohan swung his feet onto the ground, wrapping the sheet low on his hips. "Samson knows we're Rasha. Buddy system until he's dead." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "I have an uneasy feeling."
"I have an uneasy feeling, too. About Dr. Gelman. Will you come with me to make sure she's safe?"
"Yeah. Give me ten minutes." He grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom.
I used those ten minutes to phone Leo, calling from the hotel phone instead of mine. Gelman had me paranoid about who might be listening in.
Leo answered on the first ring.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Me too. I had no right to go off on you like that."
"It's over now, so it doesn't matter."
"Aw, babe. What did he say?"
I listened to make sure Rohan was still in the shower. "No words necessary." Yeah, I'd chickened out of actually saying it, but after last night it seemed apparent. "Listen, I've got a favor to ask."
"Shoot."
I explained about Dr. Gelman phoning on Saturday. "If I'm not back yet, you'll need to be home at the same time for the next few days until she and I connect." I dug around in my purse for a spare elastic and bobby pins to pull my hair back.
Leo checked her schedule and then assured me it wouldn't be a problem.
"You going to be okay?" she asked.
I scraped some loose strands back. "Sure." At least until the first time I saw Lily and Rohan together. "You know me. Besides, now we can go trolling for boys together." She didn't answer. "Unless of course you've caught one?"
"Catch and release, but what a spectacular expedition."
"Do tell." I twisted my ponytail into the elastic band.
"Kane and I bonded," she said meaningfully.
I stabbed my head with a bobby pin. "Huh? But he … ? What about Ari?" I couldn't figure out which part of her statement to get more indignant over.
She snorted. "I went out with Kane and Ari. Drinks were had. Kane decided he loved me."
"Bitch. I'm his love bug."
"Tough titties. You've been displaced. He introduced me to a friend of his."