Page 15 of My Lucky Star
My heart pounding, I wrote my number on his skin, thinking of how much I despised my handwriting, as well as my nails, then returned the pen. “I’ll see you around lunchtime. Will you stay out of trouble until then?”
He grinned from ear to ear. “Well, I usually have a minder twenty-four-seven, so who knows?”
Despite the cheeky grin, I had a feeling he wasn’t kidding.
Chapter 6
Aria
GUILT STABBED MY GUTwhen I spotted Pete, already in conversation with Janie. I’d never arrived at work later than him.
I swung my bag onto my desk. “I’m sorry I’m late. I went by the hotel again and got some better photos.” I thrust Janie my phone, displaying a photo of the original staircase I’d taken on my way out.
Janie browsed my pictures and her face brightened. “Oh, my God! This is perfect! Where is it? Is it vacant? Who do I call?”
So many questions.
I rubbed my temples. I could never quite match her speed. It must have been a TV presenter thing, thinking faster than us regular people. Moving faster, too.
“Wait, I’ll Airdrop these first.” Janie fetched her laptop and started sending the photos from one device to the other.
Grateful for the breather, I popped into the kitchenette. A half-full plunger of coffee sat on the counter. Not totally cold yet. Good enough.
When I re-joined my colleagues, I found Janie typing on her laptop. I went to fetch my phone from her desk, but she picked it up again. “Wait. Did you take any photos of the kitchen?” Her fingers already danced on the screen, swiping away. Dread shot through me like an icy breeze. She’d find—
“Who’sthis?”
Too late. She’d landed on the photo of sleeping Cem. The sudden change in her tone alerted Pete, who rose from his chair.
My hands jerked involuntarily toward the phone. “Yep. Funny story...” I attempted a sheepish smile. I hadn’t planned on telling anyone about Cem. How much could I reveal without getting him in trouble?
“Aria?” Janie raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows as she handed my phone back to me.
My gaze landed on the photo of Cem, his sleeping face illuminated by the bedside lamp. Behind him, the headboard’s golden detailing made it painfully obvious he was sleeping in the same room I’d presented to my boss as a potential filming location.
“This guy is staying at the hotel. He’d recently arrived from overseas and was really jet-lagged.”
