Hotel O

Sighing, I grab my cell phone and dial Flynn’s number. “Hey.”

“Hey, babe,” he says. “What’s up? Feeling better yet?”

“Yeah, much. I just wanted to say thanks. For bringing me home safely, you know?” A small laugh escapes my mouth.

“Don’t mention it.”

I wonder if he remembers what I tried to do. He probably does. “Sorry about that awkward …”

“Ah, forget about it. You were drunk. I can’t take anything you do seriously then,” he replies, laughing.

“Fuck, please don’t. I mean, I really don’t want to kiss you,” I say.

“Thanks,” he says sarcastically.

“Not that you aren’t attractive,” I add. “But you’re my best friend.”

“Right.”

“I just hope it didn’t ruin things between us,” I say.

“It didn’t,” he says, and I can hear him smile. “Relax. It’s fine.”

“Okay … phew.” I breathe out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, now that I’ve got you on the phone, a package was delivered to my home today. But it had your name on it.”

I frown. “Huh? How’s that even possible?”

“I don’t know, but I sent it to your office, so if you haven’t received it yet, it should be there any moment now.”

I frown. I didn’t order anything, and if I did, I wouldn’t have it shipped to Flynn’s home address.

“Okay … that’s odd,” I say. “Well, thanks anyway. I’ll see what it is when it gets here.”

“No probs. Hey, aren’t you supposed to working right now?” he asks.

Well, shit. I’d hoped he wouldn’t notice that I’m slacking. “Yeah, I just wanted to make sure we were okay.”

“We are, Kat. Stop worrying and go get your ass to work.”

I laugh. “Okay, okay. Thanks, dude.”

“I got you.”

We hang up, and I put my cell phone back in my bag and open my browser again so I can get back to my emails. However, the moment I do, Crystal bursts into my office without warning.

“Kat! Look,” she says, prancing into my space with a huge bouquet of roses.

“Nice,” I say. I’m sure she’s proud, trying to show them off. “Who’d you get them from?”

“They’re not for me … They’re for you.” She puts them down on my desk like I’m supposed to do something with them, but all I can do is stare.

“Go on then … who’re they from?” she asks, bouncing up and down as she glances at the card stuck between the flowers.

I gently pick it up and open it, reading the text written inside.

From the dick who went too far. Please forgive my indiscretions. I apologize for making you feel the way I did. I hope we can meet again. My office, seven p.m. tomorrow? Yours, D.

I read the words over and over again, but they don’t seem to register in my brain.

Declan wants to meet up again? With me? Is this for real?

“And?” Crystal asks. I nearly forgot she was here.

“It’s from … a friend,” I reply, lying through my teeth. But she doesn’t need to know. My private life is none of her concern.

“Oh, right.” She winks. “Well, I’ll go back to my desk then. If you need something, let me know.”

She sashays back out the door, and I lean up to sniff the roses. They smell so nice … I wonder if he handpicked them.

But how the hell did he find out about Flynn? And why send them there?

Then it hits me. That’s the address I put on that contract of his. In case I needed to protect my identity … which I apparently did.

I laugh to myself. Poor Flynn. I should apologize for using his home address as a scapegoat for my adventures. I just didn’t want Declan to know where I lived because it’d be too easy to find out my name and more details about my life I didn’t want him to be privy to.

I’m not even sure I’ll ever share those details with anyone from a chat room.

I mean, a girl has to do everything she can to stay safe.

And with people like Declan, you never know.

The question is, though, whether I want to see him again.

He’s been such a douchebag. Although, if I think about it, I can understand why.

He wanted to protect his business. His identity. And I busted into his office like it was nothing. I didn’t explain who I was, and he never had the time to adjust. He probably felt like I was a threat even though I wouldn’t tell a soul about what we did.

He probably assumed I would, which is what made me so angry with him.

But he did apologize. And the roses do smell lovely. They’re so nice that I sniff them again.

Maybe meeting him again wouldn’t do any harm. Besides, I went to his office for a reason, and that desire never changed. I wanted something more, something exciting, and now that he’s willing to make amends … maybe I should take him up on his offer.