Page 19 of Forbidden Confessions: Vol. 2
I take a deep breath and force myself to focus. “No…you don’t think it’s him?”
“I don’t. And he’s not my boyfriend.”
Now she’s lying. “There were pictures of you on social media kissing him two weeks ago with the caption that you’re planning to buy a house together. Try again.”
“The relationship is all for show. We have the same agent. He’s coming off a hot tour and his first album was a bestseller. I’ve been lying low and recording for months, gearing up for a tour. Dating me gives him the appearance of being established. Dating him gives me the appearance of still being hip and hot and right-now. But we’ve never…” She shakes her head. “He’s not interested.”
“Gay?”
“No. He likes women…but he’s, um, got a thing about cougars. I’m only twenty-four. According to him, I don’t have enough ‘mileage’ and I don’t know what I want yet.”
“Out of a relationship?”
“Out of sex. He prefers a woman who asserts herself between the sheets.”
“And that’s not you?” Does she want a man to take charge in bed? Would she be soft and submissive, the way I like women? The way she’s looking at me right now, with those wide eyes and slightly parted lips, suggests she might be.
Sophie rolls her eyes. “Can we focus on who might want to kill me? It’s not Graham. Trust me. He benefits financially from our fake relationship continuing, so my death would hurt his career trajectory. And I provide him plausible deniability about the fact he’d way rather fuck women over forty.”
It doesn’t sound as if he fits the mold. “Who are the other people in your life?”
“I have an assistant, but Tania just had a baby, so she’s back in Cali with her husband and her mom. Oh, then there’s my best friend.” She winces. “Kristi is going to be pissed I haven’t called to tell her I’m okay.”
“Is she in LA, too?”
“No. Frisco.”
“San Francisco?”
She shakes her head. “Texas. You know, not far from the giant IKEA store? We were supposed to get together tonight. Can I call her?”
No doubt my refusal is all over my face before I answer. “It would be better if we waited long enough to home in on who would want you dead. Kristi doesn’t have a jealousy problem?”
“God, no. The one time I tried to drag her onstage with me, she ran off puking. She wouldn’t want my life. And she wouldn’t want me six feet under.”
Another dead end. “Who gets your money if you’re gone?”
“I provided a flat amount for my mother that should make her happy. The rest goes to various charities I’m passionate about.”
In other words, no one seems motivated to off her for cash. “Can you think of anyone you’ve pissed off? Tell me more about your relationship with David.”
“It’s fine. He’s one of the best, and he’s taken my career to another level since I hired him four years ago. I consider him a friend. Hell, I was one of his attendants when he married his husband, Allen, last year. They’re lovely.”
And I’m frustrated. “There’s someone out there who?—”
A knock on the door interrupts me. Sophie stiffens as I grab my weapon with one hand and gesture her to the back bedroom with the other. No one can see her.
As she gets up to head to the back room, I watch those tiny shorts hug every curve.
But it’s just the kid delivering pizza, happy for the tip I give him and the cool air conditioning wafting his way from the cottage. I follow him out to the gate and lock it behind him, then holler for Sophie when I return.
When she emerges from the back, I have to look away because seeing her pad barefoot back to me, all soft curves and barely there clothes, makes me want to forget every professional boundary. Because I damn sure can’t forget our kiss. Or the purely sexual curiosity I’ve glimpsed in her stare.
Tonight is going to be a long fucking night.
Less than a minute later, we open the piping-hot pizza and the fizzy soda and dig in. It’s decent. Or maybe I think that because I’m hungry. But I lose my appetite for food quicker than I should when I hear Sophie moaning with every bite.
“It would be better if you didn’t do that.”
