Page 80 of Touch in the Dark

“Feels weird, being in someone else’s house when we both have homes within ten minutes’ drive of here,” I tell him.

“This place is pretty sweet though. I might get a place down by the ocean.”

“I’ll help you look,” I rest my head on his knee.

“You really didn’t need me on top of everything else.”

“What kind of bullshit is that?” I sit up and look at him.

“If you have a chance at happiness Els, I’m not gonna drag you down.”

“Any man who comes into my life needs to be fully on board with my relationship with you. That is a fact.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” I slap my hand against his knee in affirmation. I look around and realise he’s right about one thing. “Wanna go to my place?” I ask.

“The others won’t mind?”

“When they get back here tonight, you and I will be the last thing on their minds. Come on,” I get up and grab his hand, pulling him out of his seat. “I’ll text Jenna on the way.”

Jetlag is a very real thing and Remi is so wide awake, he keeps telling me to go to sleep, he’ll be fine. I try to stay awake, but we start watching movies in my bed and without realising it, I doze off around two-ish. When I wake up, it’s to the sound of Remi singing just outside of the bedroom. I rub my eyes and squint. The sun is shining through the gauzy curtains over my bedroom window. It’s just after nine, later than my body is used to.

Despite everything going on, the sun makes me smile.

I get up and follow the sound of his voice to my small kitchen. You could fit my whole apartment into Adam’s beautiful sunken living room. But it’s mine and I love it. As does Remi, he spent a lot of time here over the last couple of years, even when he made it big and got his own mansion, he still preferred hanging out here.

“Morning,” he hands me a tea.

“It’s not fair that you’re a gorgeous, talented actor, but you have to have a singing voice to match. Did you sleep at all?”

“A little, but I feel better regardless.” He’s shaved and his hair is clean and styled. “I went out for a quick run and did some yoga, so I feel less stressed.”

“That’s good,” I sit on the yellow chair by the small dining table and cross my legs. “You should have woken me, I would have come with. Running in the freezing cold snow is no joke.”

He grins. “You were snoring adorably. I couldn’t disturb that.”

“Bullshit,” I sniff. “Anyway, I’m hungry.”

“Good,” he finishes his drink, runs the cup through and sets it on the drainer. “Because we have a brunch date with the ladies. Jenna sounded like shit this morning. I’m guessing they had a good night,” he grins.

“I hope so, they all deserve to let loose.”

“She’s a good friend.”

“The best. I’m lucky to have such amazing friends,” I give him a sickly-sweet smile.

“Come on,” he grabs my arm and unceremoniously pulls me up. “I’m dressing you today.”

He looks happy at the prospect, so I don’t argue.

Chapter Twenty

“I would definitely go with this one,” Janie tells me, passing over a file.

I should have known she’d compile files on every name I sent over. She is nothing if not thorough. I flick through it and glance up briefly when a plane flies over my house. The sky is so blue it hurts my eyes. A bad side effect of going out drinking with Archer last night. We’d met up with a couple of friends from the music scene, and spent the night in the VIP area of a bar we used to frequent all the time when we were in L.A. It was nice seeing them and being around our old haunts. The paparazzi and fans were out in force, groupies trying to get to us, but we were all about seeing our friends and chilling. Not that I had any intention of taking up with a groupie. Arch hadn’t been interested either.

“She gets a lot of word-of-mouth recommendations. She has been a PI for sixteen years, has an excellent reputation with both law enforcement and lawyers,” Janie reels off the facts like she’s known them for months. “There are two other people working for her, also fully qualified. She used to live in the Bay area but moved down here a few years ago. We had coffee late Friday afternoon. She fit me in when I called and explained what I’m looking for.”

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