What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,54
her hair, she noticed a second door. It was opposite the entrance, and she couldn't figure out why a bathroom would need two doors. She glanced around the room quickly. Ari had left the shower fifteen minutes before, and he'd thankfully shut the door behind him. So she gave into her curiosity and opened the second door.
It was a large walk-in closet. She flicked on the lights, then sighed as she took everything in. All his suits were on the left side of the room, expensive blazers and trousers and dress shirts hanging from wooden hangers. The right side seemed to be dedicated to casual wear, which surprised her a little. She'd never seen him wearing anything casual.
Technically, tonight is only the fourth time you've ever seen him.
Sobering thought.
Valentine wrapped the big fluffy towel around her body, shoved her damp hair behind her shoulders, then she bounded out of the room and through the bathroom beyond it.
It was still pretty dark in the loft – they'd never turned on any lights when they'd come in earlier, except for a stove lamp. Now, though, a soft glow was coming from the bedroom area. When she walked around the mock wall, she saw that a television had been hidden in the other side of it. A panel had dropped down, exposing the TV to the bed.
“I thought maybe you'd fallen asleep, you were in there for so long,” Ari snorted, then he leaned over and turned on the lamp on his night stand. She smiled at him as she crawled to the center of the mattress.
“Thought about it – it's big enough for me to stretch out on the floor.”
“Good to know for future use.”
His eyes were back on the TV, he was watching some sort of financial show that was incomprehensible to her. She sat still for a moment, waiting for him to say something else. He never did, though, so she sighed deeply and raked her fingers through her hair.
“I'm gonna need a ride home,” she said. “It's too late for the bus.”
Ari snorted again and finally looked at her.
“It's also too late to drive. Do you have any idea how cold it is out there right now?” he asked. “No. Shut up and go to sleep, we're not going anywhere.”
“You want me to stay here?” Valentine asked, a little flabbergasted.
“As long as you shut up, I'm fine with it. You're usually not home until five or six, anyway, right?”
“Right.”
“So you're good. Lay down. Get some rest. I'll take you in the morning, while it's still dark.”
While it's still dark.
Why? Was he afraid to be seen in the light of day with his whore?
Valentine crawled up the bed, then shimmied under the covers, still wearing the towel wrapped around her. Then she scooted to the far edge of the bed and curled into a tiny ball, kinda wishing she could disappear for a bit.
Sure, sure, it's all a good and fine fantasy when you're getting reamed from behind and his dick is making you see the solar system – not so great when you're back in reality.
She squeezed her eyes shut tight. She hoped – she prayed – that making this awful deal, compromising her integrity and her morals, all in order to help her sick grandmother would kind of cancel the whole thing out, karmically speaking.
“Valentine.”
Ari's deep voice cut straight through her thought process, startling her. Her eyes shot open and she jerked in place.
“Yes? What?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.
“I can practically hear your thoughts. Calm the fuck down. It's all a fantasy. I'm just some guy who met you at a club and wanted to spend a little more time with you, and lo and behold, we're attracted to each other. We're just having a good time. A really, really good time,” he told her. She rolled her eyes at him.
“A really okay time,” she teased, then laughed when he leaned close to swat her on the butt. “And I'm fine, don't worry about me.”
“I'm not worried about you – I'm worried you're gonna keep twitching all night and I won't be able to sleep,” he corrected her.
She froze in place, then winced. He was right, she had been twitching, bouncing her leg up and down in place. A nervous habit that presented whenever she was really stressed about something.
“Sorry.”
“Don't be sorry. Just be okay with what's going on here,” Ari said. “It'll all be over in two weeks, anyway.”