“Like I said, stalking.”
“She’s the one with a public account.”
“Still, what if she—”
“Oh!” Bridget backhands my chest, the giant rock on her finger stabbing me. “There she is.”
I follow her line of sight to a lithe brunette power walking across the pedestrian crossing, eyes glued to the phone in her hand.
“Now what?”
“Now, we introduce ourselves.”
When I don’t immediately step into action, Bridget grips my elbow and tugs me forward.
“Hi! Sorry to bother you but—”
The woman continues walking right past us, as if she didn’t hear a word I said, and tugs on the metal handle of the door toToss It.
It doesn’t deter Bridget in the slightest.
“Excuse me.”
She reaches out and taps the woman’s shoulder, eliciting a startled jerk from her. The brunette turns around while simultaneously plucking a small white earbud from her right ear.
“What? Can I help…you?” Her initial annoyance trickles into confusion before spreading to recognition. “Bridget Vaughn?”
“The one and only,” she beams back.
“Wow. Hi. You’re stunning.”
“Stop. Thank you.”
“What are you—how can I help you?”
“Hannah Hayes, right?”
Her starstruck expression muddles with slight confusion. “Yeah?”
“Gorg. Just had to double-check. I have a friend who would like to talk to you.”
She steps aside and gestures to me with her palm up, like she is presenting me as a dish on a silver platter.
Hannah’s eyes roam over me for a second before the corners of her lips quirk up in a practiced feline smile. She presses her fingers to her chest.
“Hannah. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Cullen.”
Her smile melts faster than ice cream in the Arizona heat.
“Like,CullenCullen? Verity’s Cullen?”
I like the sound of that.
Verity’s Cullen.
“That’s me.”