Page 83

“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.”