Page 41 of Scandalous Lover

I mime taking a drink to insinuate that the woman’s a bit tipsy. Reina smiles in understanding, but Fran’s eyes narrow at me before she glances back at where Naomi stands in the center of the lobby.

I usher them out without another word. Dom and Ave have the carts waiting in the pickup loop, arguing about something stupid. They pause and walk toward the women as they exit the building. I close the door and lean against it, finally face-to-face withNaomi.

“What did you say?” I ask. Surely I misunderstood. Hell, maybe she is drunk.

“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

Relief pours through me at her words. I almost laugh. I can’t believe I let myself think that she?—

“I didn’t mean to say that with other people around. I’ve been trying to get you alone all night so I could figure out a way to tell you…” She trails off again and dread creeps up my spine.

I’ve been avoiding her, worrying that she was going to say or do something that would give us away. I guess I should have let her get me alone.

“Why don’t we head up to your room. I’ll get you settled.” Whatever’s going on here, it’s not going on in the lobby of my resort, where anyone could be listening.

I walk down the hallway and up the stairs without waiting for her to acknowledge what I said. When I glance back from the top of the stairs, she’s trudging up them, head hung low.

The sight of the usually confident, vivacious Naomi, reduced to this silent, sullen woman scares me more than anything she’s said so far. I haven’t even started to process the implication of her words. I just need to get her alone and get her talking.

After she lets us into her room, I close the door and lean against it, inhaling deeply. Preparing.

“Okay. What on earth did you mean down there? It sounded like you said you filmed us?”

She nods, and I start to panic but force myself to remain calm.

“At your apartment in Austin?” Gotta get the facts straight here so I know what I’m dealing with.

Another nod.

That’s when I lose it.

“Why?” I shout the word and then look around myself frantically, cringing at the walls to other rooms mere feet away.

When I look back at Naomi, she’s cowered even further, perched on the arm of a chair, looking at the floor, wringing her hands.

“Naomi?” I can’t stand the silence.

“I just…film things. It’s what I do.” Her voice is desperate and for a moment, I almost move to comfort her.

But then I remember.

“You film things for your social media channel. Is that what you did?” I can hear the panic in my own voice as I try to keep it down. “Did you post the video somewhere?” The last words come out as a hissed whisper.

Naomi jumps to her feet, meeting my gaze for the first time in what feels like an hour.

“No! Of course not. I would never post it anywhere. I would never show anyone.”

I let my head fall back and close my eyes. That’s a relief. I calm down enough to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. When I look back down, Naomi’s eyes are begging me to understand. To forgive her.

But I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

“Then why? Why would you do something like that?”

She offers me a guilty smile. “I like to watch.”

My eyes widen and then close at this new bit of information. It’s a lot to process.

“You watch the video?”

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