Page 72 of Tempt Me

Aware that my boss might catch me if I stayed out too long, I reluctantly went back inside. Ten minutes later, Needledick walked in through the sliding glass doors, looking as if he’d just crawled out of bed. His hair was a scrambled mess, and he clearly hadn’t shaved.

“Are you okay?” I didn’t really want to ask for fear of hearing too much about his private life, but I felt I needed to.

He blinked down at me and nodded. Gradually, his expression shifted to misery, and I dreaded what he was about to say. “We had a bit of a rough night. Had to call the ambulance out.”

My hand snapped to my mouth as I gasped. “Oh no. Is your mom okay?”

“She’s okay now, but it was a bit touch-and-go there for a while.”

“How scary for you. Have you had any sleep?”

He shook his head. “Only what I had in the chair at the hospital.”

I touched his shoulder. It was the first physical contact I’d had with my boss, and it didn’t repulse me as much as it should have. “Go home and get some sleep for a few hours. I’ll cover for you.”

He blinked at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Are you sure?”

“Of course. Just don’t be too long, or I’ll pass out asleep on the counter.” Although I was serious, I faked a chuckle.

“Oh, Jane, thank you. I’ll be back by ten, I promise.”

In light of his usual tardiness, I took his promise with a huge dose of skepticism.

His step was just a little more lively as he walked out of the sliding glass doors.

Once he was gone, I slumped into the office chair behind the counter and huffed. This wasn’t how I’d planned my Friday morning. I’d planned to have a run along the beach and, after a shower and a bite to eat, go lingerie shopping.

My underwear situation had become desperate. If Needledick came back at ten as promised, I’d still have time to shop, but I wouldn’t be able to fit my exercise in. I could just imagine Lolita’s disapproval of my decision. She prioritized exercise above nearly everything.

I whiled away the hours cleaning out the drawers in the counter desk and dusting the shelves in the little office at the back of reception. Visitors came and went, and it was a nice change to meet guests who were not completely exhausted. The night shift didn’t always bring out the best in people.

Ten o’clock ticked by. As did ten-thirty. I was on the verge of ringing Needledick and demanding he get his lazy ass into the hotel when he raced through the door.

“I’m sorry. I slept through my first alarm.” He looked as if he’d showered because of his wet, slicked-back hair, but he still hadn’t bothered to shave.

“I’m glad you had a sleep.”

“Thanks to you.”

“Okay, see you later.” I practically raced away.

Rather than head to my room, I decided to go straight to the shops. As I strode out the doors and down the front steps a taxi arrived to offload guests.Perfect. I jumped into the back seat, and during the trip to Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, my stomach grumbled for the entire ten-minute trip. As soon as I got out of the cab, I went in search of breakfast. I settled at Cafe Cherry Beans and chose a table that allowed me to people-watch as I ate a bacon and egg roll and sipped a cappuccino.

Crowd-watching had become one of my favorite pastimes, and soon, I was playing a little game of trying to guess the marital status and occupation of any man who didn’t have a woman on his arm. It was a fun way to kill thirty minutes.

With my tummy full, I headed toward Isabella’s Passion, the lingerie store Lolita told me I just ‘had to go to.’ It was on the ground floor on the way toward Myer.

Crowds were not usually my thing. Maybe it was because I grew up in the country. Today, though, I enjoyed being amongst the throng of shoppers. People-watching was fun. Hunky-man spotting was even more so. And the Gold Coast offered an abundant selection of choices. Men in all states of fitness roamed the busy center, and I tried not to be too obvious as I checked them out.

It felt good to be out and about. I spend way too much time lazing around my apartment. When I wasn’t fooling around on one of my secret rendezvous, that was.

I chuckled.Oh, how has my life changed?

In amongst the thousands of people walking around Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, I was nobody. But put me in my sexy Memphis disguise, and I could be whoever I wanted to be. It was a powerful concept, and I grinned as if I’d had a few tequila shots with my morning coffee.

I passed an optical store, and on impulse, I stopped and walked in. Serendipity Optical was wall-to-wall with a variety of glasses frames. Maybe they had colored contact lenses, too. I walked to the counter and waited for the middle-aged woman with the short, uninteresting haircut to finish her phone call. She smiled at me, held up her index finger, and mouthedone minute.

I tried on a few frames while waiting.

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