Page 98 of Some Like It Hot

“Dogs?” That’s the last thing I expected him to say.

“Yes. What breed we would get if the world wasn’t a cold, heartless place conspiring to keep us apart and devoid of furry companions.”

My heart just about stops beating in my chest.

That’s about as close to a confession of love as I ever expected to get from him.

I run my hand over the back of his hair. “I like golden retrievers.”

But he’s already asleep.

I lay awake, just savoring the feel of him sprawled over my chest under the blankets, the snow gently falling down outside my bedroom window.

It takes me damn near two hours to fall asleep.

CHAPTER 24

Simon

“This isn’t an issue,” I say with false confidence as I glance around Elise’s bedroom. “So where do we start to look? What is a likely place?”

Elise is running around the room in a full-blown panic, tossing pillows and dresses and jeans in all directions as she desperately searches for her driver’s license, which she needs to show at the pinup competition this afternoon. I start on her makeup table, shifting items around, looking for the ID card.

“I don’t know! I don’t even drive so I don’t keep it in my wallet. I just always grab it when I’m going to a bar or somewhere they might card me.” Elise has her hair in rollers with a cap over it and she’s in her bra and panties.

If she wasn’t so distraught, I would enjoy the view, but I feel terrible that she’s so stressed out.

“Why do I even have a driver’s license if I don’t drive?” she asks rhetorically. “I should just get a state ID. Maybe I’ll do that next week. I have Thursday off. I wonder what Blake’s schedule is like that day? If he’s out of town, I’m definitely free all day because you’ll be at work and Aidan always works Thursdays.”

She’s already lost focus.

I notice she does that when she’s under pressure. Whatever is the main issue that is causing her stress gets mentally shoved to the side and replaced with something she has a solution for. While she’s contemplating next week and a fictional trip to the DMV, she has stopped looking for her license and is rechecking her roller suitcase, which is stacked on top of her bed and filled with carefully folded and packed items for the competition.

The suitcase was packed last night. I lounged on the sofa and listened to a finance podcast while she worked on it. I didn’t go into the bedroom because I knew talking would distract her, so I left her to it.

Everything clothing and makeup wise she has ready to go because those are important to her.

Details like the location of the competition and her license were left until right now, as we’re supposed to be walking out the door to drive to Milwaukee.

That was her answer when I asked for the location of the competition. Milwaukee.

“Where specifically?” I asked her five minutes earlier.

That had sent her fruitlessly searching through her email for the vital information.

Which somehow had jogged her memory that she needed her license and now here we are.

“What is the name of the competition?” I ask her as I open the drawers on her vanity. More makeup.

“It’s the Milwaukee Pin Up Contest. That’s the actual name.”

Easy enough. I text my assistant.

Find me the venue and address for the Milwaukee Pin Up Contest happening today. Book hotel nearby and have light refreshments sent to the front desk of the venue under my name. Water, protein bars, etc. Check contest rules and send me highlights. High urgency.

Elise has already indicated we need to stop for snacks en route, but we’re already thirty minutes behind schedule. The competition starts at six and it’s already two. At least I put her prop box in the car last night. I have no idea what was in there, but she told me it was for the performance portion of the pageant.

“Do you think I can just tell them I lost my license?” she asks, remembering what she’s supposed to be doing as she zips her suitcase shut.

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