Page 63 of Scandalous Lover

Naomi: Moving day.

Naomi: I have exactly one hour left in this private room. I wonder what I’ll do with my last bit of freedom.

An image comes through as I’m reading the last message and I cough in surprise, once again drawing the suspicious eyes of the woman next to me.

“On second thought, I think I have to go take care of this,” I say, starting to rise.

“Employees getting out of hand?” Fran asks.

“They’re just?—”

“Needy?” Fran adds before I’m able to voice my lame excuse.

I offer her a tight-lipped smile as I push my chair in.

“Enjoy the rest of the tasting. We’ll talk soon about guest check-in times, okay?” I say to the couple, who smile and nod.

I nearly collide with Dom as he’s approaching the table with two new plates in hand. “Leaving?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say, backing away from the table, motioning with my phone. “I have to go deal with something. Employee stuff.”

He raises his eyebrows butsays nothing.

I keep backing away until I hit the doorway to the hall that leads back to the lobby, then I spin and make my escape.

I’m sweating.

My heart is racing.

Since when do I get the third degree every time I need to leave a room?

It’s only then that my rational brain takes back over and offers me the sad truth.

It’s probably all in my head.

Dom didn’t say anything about me leaving.

Fran didn’t call me out about Naomi.

My guilty conscience is blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

I’ve got to get it together.

But I don’t know how.

I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never done anything bad in my life. I’ve never lied to anyone, let alone my closest friends.

It’s only a matter of time before I fuck this all up.

It’s gotta end.

I repeat the phrase over and over in my mind as I climb the stairs to the second floor and approach Naomi’s room, glancing over my shoulder every other second to make sure I’m not being followed.

By the time I knock, I’m determined.

I’m going to end it.

Chapter Twenty

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