Page 32 of Player For Hire

“How long were you watching?” Naomi furiously asked under her breath in that same non-whisper.

“Just long enough not to interrupt.” Iona smiled. “We’ve got pizza to eat. Night, Colder.”

Then she slammed the door in my face.

“Night,” I muttered.

Looked like it was going to be another sleepless one for me. Great.

CHAPTER 10

NAOMI

“I can’t believe I did that.” I buried my face into my arms.

“I can’t believe you propositioned him. That’s not what we talked about last night.” Iona set the mug of coffee in front of me.

“It just came out.”

Iona sat across from me at our little dining room table. She had her own coffee and a cold piece of pizza in her hand. “Want a slice?”

“God, no.” I sat up and dragged the coffee mug forward. Maybe if I just put my entire face in the coffee, I’d be a human soon.

Iona took a healthy bite from the slice as if we hadn’t consumed four bottles of wine between us the night before. I was woefully out of practice when it came to drinking. Not so much for her, evidently.

“You gotta learn to drink the drier wines—less hangover when it’s not all sugars,” she said around the bite.

“Or, maybe I just don’t drink.”

“Nah.” She laughed and swapped a bite for a sip of her brew. “What you need to do is drink one of the waters in the fridge—it has electrolytes and vitamins in it. Good for the head and to wake you up. Take a shower and then go get your tiger.”

“Dear, God—just how long were you looking at us on the camera?”

“Not long, but I was waiting for the pizza guy. The app told me he was on the way up.”

“And you didn’t warn me?”

“Definitely not. You were finally getting to the damn point.”

My head went back into my stacked arms. “Ugh.”

“He definitely has some game. I mean, I’m not shocked.”

“Am I completely stupid to do this?”

“Not at all. He’s a safe guy to have your sexual awakening with.”

I picked up my head and glared at her. “Now you make it sound like a book.”

“Well, you are using him—sorry, paying him!” She cackled with a little too much glee. “I can’t believe you told him you were going to be an investment.” She couldn’t stop laughing.

And I wanted to die. “It just seemed to be better than begging for details.” But the excitement was beginning to override the stark embarrassment. “I mean, it’s perfect to get all the details, right?”

“Sure, the details.” Iona took a chomp from her slice.

I sipped from the mug, letting the steam and caffeine continue the wakeup process. I didn’t feel too hungover. Listening to the bartender had been right on the money. It was even worth the trip to the bathroom due to the extra-large glass of water I’d had before bed. I was just woefully dehydrated.

Not that the coffee would help there.

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