Chapter Twenty-Nine
It took Connor several seconds to register where he was when he awoke on Sunday morning. He definitely wasn’t at home. This looked like a hotel room. Lazily, he rolled onto his back and stretched his arms.
‘Hello, Mister Sleepy.’
Rosie’s voice. His brain snapped into gear and he sat bolt upright.
‘You look shocked.’
He looked at her hair lying wild across the pillow and her smiling face, as memories of the previous evening flooded back.
The party. That scene with Stefania. Her insinuations.
Making love to Rosie as she called his name, over and over.
He groaned inwardly. He had never intended to let it get that far but it had been unstoppable. And fun.
‘About last night… I need to ask you something.’
Rosie blushed. ‘Go on.’
Connor edged closer, then lowered his mouth to her ear. ‘Did you get your money’s worth out of your celebrity experience?’ he whispered.
Rosie giggled. ‘Is this a customer satisfaction survey?’ Her leg hooked gently around his. ‘Because I think you ought to know that I only fill in surveys after a proper trial period.’
It took several attempts to get up and ready, but they made it down to breakfast five minutes before they stopped serving.
Connor took the cases to the car while Rosie checked out.
He tried hard not to let his current problems spoil the journey back.
The last twenty-four hours with Rosie had been amazing; not that long ago she had scoffed at what she called his celebrity lifestyle, but at Henrietta’s party it was as if she did this sort of thing every day of the week.
She talked to people as though they were lifelong friends, and she had looked stunning in that dress, which more than one woman had cast envious glances at, and several had asked where she bought it.
But as they left Gloucestershire behind, Connor felt his worries descend like a black suffocating cloud that wrapped itself tight around him.
He felt trapped. What he wanted was now completely at odds with the options open before him, and he had to make some urgent decisions.
He only had a limited amount of merchandise to sell off and he needed a more regular and reliable source of income.
Somewhere affordable to live. He also wanted to prevent Stefania from stirring up trouble.
Pulling out his phone, he decided he might as well get some things organised while he had the time.