Page 79 of Torrid Passion
CHAPTER 15
Kyla
As I step out of the elevator, my phone rings.
“Hey!” I say when I accept the video call.
“Hey!” Stella says.
“Hey!” Hayden parrots.
“Nice corridor,” Stella says, moving her head left to right.
“It goes with the nice hotel,” Hayden says.
Stella rolls her eyes.
The beauty of video chat.
“Well, technically they had booked a room for Mom––clearly, they were trying to impress one of the top screenwriters in Hollywood––but I can’t complain. I could’ve stayed at the family apartment in the NoMad neighborhood, but you can’t top a stay at the Ritz-Carlton located across the street from Central Park. It’s the crème de la crème.”
“At nearly a thousand dollars a night, you can’t,” Hayden points out.
“Give me a second, I’m just about to walk into my suite,” I tell them.
“Waiting!” Stella exclaims.
She’s always so happy.
Hayden shakes her head.
I swear, since they’ve been living together, they’re more like an old married couple than cousins.
I enter my suite, drop my evening clutch and the key on a long console table near the door, kick off my heels and I nearly sprint to the greige-colored L-shape sofa overlooking Central Park.
“Okay, now I’m ready,” I say.
“How were the parties?” Hayden asks.
I had a night packed with events. I guess I should say Mom did. Since I’m representing her, I had to attend.
“I zoomed from JFK to the hotel, dropped my luggage in my room, and I was already in the back of a cab heading to my first event of the evening. Three address hops later, I’m exhausted,” I complain. “A bunch of people from the last event wanted to drag me to a bar. I bailed out.”
“They don’t call it the city that never sleeps for nothing,” Stella says.
“I guess you guys aren’t burning the midnight oil again tonight,” I say when I recognize their living room in the background.
“Nope. We got home not long ago,” Hayden says.
“We’re going to take a shower, put on a pretty dress and we’re going out for a late dinner,” Stella says. “Who knows, we might even hit the town. It’s Friday night, baby!”
“Aww, and you wanted to check up on your cousin before going out?” I mock.
Hayden slides her gaze to Stella.
They exchange a conversation I’m not privy to.
“What’s going on?”
