Page 14 of Masked

She pulled out her wallet and looked at the lone credit card. It might have enough of a balance to get her a plane ticket home.

Sitting on a plush sofa, she scrolled through her contacts looking for someone she could call. Her thumb hovered over Leslie’s name. They were best friends, but her life had been busy lately, and they hadn’t spoken in a while. It seemed wrong to call her just because she needed something. But she pressed the call button anyway and waited while it rang. It went straight to voicemail instead.

She sighed and pulled up a flight website and looked for tickets back to D.C. A last-minute ticket was going to cost her a pretty penny. And the website wouldn’t let her change her itinerary on her current ticket since Parker had booked it.

Damn him.

Unwelcome tears fell, and she dug through her purse for a tissue. Her fingers brushed a piece of cardstock, and she pulled it out. Noah Jasper’s card. She’d carried it with her all these years. What were the odds the information was current?

In a moment of anger, she dialed the number and waited for a ring.

“Hello? Who is this?” That voice. Slightly irritated but still as smooth as velvet. It hit her again like the first time she’d heard it.

“Your son is an asshole,” she blurted.

“Excuse me?”

“Never mind. I shouldn’t have called.” She pulled the phone away from her face to end the call, but his voice stopped her.

“Wait. Reva?”

“That’s me.”

“What’s wrong? You sound upset.”

She sighed and wiped angrily at the tears she didn’t want to be shedding. “Parker asked me to marry him. I told him I needed to think about it. So, he kicked me out of his hotel and called the woman he’s apparently been cheating on me with for the last five years. She lives in D.C. That means she followed him to New York.”

“Wow. That’s quite the story.”

“And every bit of it is true. He said I have until Sunday to get my shit out of his apartment. I can’t find a place to live by Sunday.”

Noah cleared his throat. This had to be awkward for him. Why did she call him? “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“Honestly? I have no idea what I want. Other than a safe place to sleep tonight and a flight home.”

“You said you’re in New York?”

“Yeah. We were staying at the Waldorf.”

“And you can’t afford a room?”

Her face turned red, embarrassed of the answer. “No. I’m sorry if that makes me lame.”

“Not lame. Go to the front desk and ask for Larissa Davis.”

Reva frowned but did as he asked.

“Hand her the phone when she gets there.”

“Can I help you?” A petite woman with curly brown hair asked.

“Um… Noah Jasper wants to talk to you?”

Larissa raised an eyebrow but took the phone.

After a few seconds, her entire demeanor changed. “Of course, Dr. Jasper.”

The woman passed the phone back to Reva.

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