—
After a nap in her hotel room, a shower, and breakfast, Kylie was feeling rather pleased with herself as she climbed onto the tour bus. She was alone in her bus seat, doing a sudoku puzzle and sipping her coffee while everyone around her chatted and laughed—or nursed hangovers. Daphne had gotten a decent write-up in the local newspaper, the show had sold out, and everyone was riding high.
Especially Kylie.
She’d just had a one-night stand with a gorgeous man. She’d done something completely out of character, and she was feeling pretty darn good about it, actually. Instead of worrying that he was just hooking up with her as a rebound, she’d controlled the situation. She’d gotten her rocks off (so to speak), had come so hard her brain felt like mush, and then she’d left before the situation had a chance to get awkward.
No phone numbers exchanged. No excuses, nothing. Just one night of fun and then done. She couldn’t even regret things—what was there to regret? That she’d had meaningless sex with a sexy man?
Maybe she should have felt bad that he’d shown up for Daphne, but Daphne had made it quite clear that she wasn’t interested in Cade. That made him fair game. Even Cade had said there was nothing between them.
So she did her puzzle and enjoyed the pleasant soreness between her thighs, and her daydreams were full of blue-eyed men with blond curls and sad smiles.
Blue-eyed men with big packages that they knew how to use really, really well. She couldn’t forget that part.
She was lost in pleasurable daydreams somewhere outside of Cedar Rapids when a familiar figure flopped down in the empty seat next to her.
“Hey, Fat Marilyn,” Daphne said, plucking at the hem of her designer T-shirt. She licked her lips and then rubbed her hollow eyes. “You got any sleeping pills?”
Kylie sat up and frowned, putting down the sudoku. “Why would you think I have sleeping pills?”
“Because I can’t sleep and I’ve tried everyone else?” Her eyes were red and she was twitchy, a sure sign that she was on something. Daphne leaned her head back against the bus seat and to Kylie’s horror, her lower lip trembled. “I think someone gave me some bad shit last night.”
“That sucks,” Kylie said sympathetically. “I have some Advil and Midol, but nothing else.”
“Can I have those?”
“Which ones?”
“Both.”
Seriously? “You can have some Advil, I guess. Unless you’re cramping?” When Daphne shook her head, Kylie got out her purse and carefully doled out two pills.
“That’s all?”
“That’s all I feel comfortable giving you,” Kylie told her.
Daphne snorted and shook her head, but took the pills. She swallowed them dry, and Kylie made a mental note to hide her purse in the future, just in case Daphne came snooping for more. And when her boss didn’t leave, Kylie supposed she should continue talking to her, even though she was feeling a lot of uncharitable things for Daphne at the moment. The way she’d treated Cade last night was deplorable, but it wasn’t her problem. She couldn’t get involved. She had to remain neutral, because Daphne was her employer. So she said, “Sorry you’re feeling bad. How late were you up last night?”
“I haven’t slept,” Daphne said, rubbing her eyes again. For a moment, she looked childishly young. “I think. Last night’s pretty much a blur. But the papers said the concert was good, so that’s something at least.”
“Do you remember . . . anything?” Kylie edged.
“Drugs,” Daphne said with an unhappy sound. “I remember bad drugs.” And she rubbed at her eyes again.
Kylie frowned and dug through her purse, then pulled out some eyedrops and offered it to her. “Do you remember . . . an old friend showing up to visit you?”
“Thanks,” Daphne said with a grateful smile. She tilted her head back and put the drops in her eyes, then handed it back to Kylie. “And nope. I was pretty wasted, and not in a good way.” She wiped at the corners of her eyes, smearing black liner that was probably a leftover from last night.
And like a mother hen, Kylie pulled out a package of makeup wipes and offered them to Daphne, as well.
Daphne giggled as she took them. “Jesus, what don’t you have in that enormous purse of yours?”
Dignity and self-respect, she wanted to retort, but she was feeling wounded on Cade’s behalf, and that was a dangerous road to go down. She had to work for Daphne, after all, and she’d likely never see Cade again. “I just try to be prepared,” Kylie said in a neutral voice. “So you don’t remember Cade visiting you?”
Daphne’s overbright eyes popped open and she sat up straight in her chair. “What?”
Oh, hell. “Cade Archer? Good-looking guy? Blond hair? He showed up last night and you blew him off.” She tried to keep the judging out of her tone. Really, she did. Tried and failed, but hey.
To her surprise, Daphne immediately burst into noisy tears.
Shit. Kylie awkwardly patted her on the shoulder while everyone in the bus stared at them. As Daphne continued to sob, she hunted down a packet of Kleenex in her purse and handed it to her. “You okay?”
“No,” Daphne wailed. “Cade was here and I ignored him?”
And you almost went down on some guy in front of him, Kylie wanted to tell her, but she didn’t. Across the aisle, Ginger was giving them both odd looks. Kylie just shook her head. “Let’s just say you were partying pretty hard.”