“Hey guys.” Cora let her purse and bag fall to the oak floor, and started to pull off her boots. “What are you doing?”
“Making breakfast,” Anna said in her light yet sultry voice. Cora and Olivia sat around once discussing their sexy roommate, wondering if her voice was really that high or if she was putting it on. After six weeks, they figured it really was her voice.
“She says it’s chocolate pudding,” Olivia said, “but don’t believe her. She’s a lying liar who lies.”
Anna stuck the black tamper back into the blender’s top and turned on the noisy thing.
“Geez, Anna, you might want to wait until people are awake,” Olivia shouted over the noise.
Anna stopped the blender. “What time is it?”
“It’s like six a.m. Did you guys just wake up?” Cora dropped her bag. For two months, she and Anna had been staying with Olivia in the programmer’s miniscule loft. After all the trouble with her former boss, AJ, Anna was laying low, working her escort business, and going to movie auditions. The apartment was a tight fit for three people, but they made it work.
“I just woke up. Somebody forgot their keys again.” Olivia rolled her eyes at Anna.
Anna shrugged and smiled a million dollar smile. “I put them somewhere safe; I just don’t remember where.”
“You’re lucky you’re cute and can get away with this crap. Did you check one of your client’s bedrooms?” Olivia snarked. “Or Max Mars’s place? I saw how he singled you out tonight.”
Anna shook her head, winking at Cora. Last week Anna had cut her hair and now she had big silky brown curls around her face. With her flawless caramel skin and hourglass figure, she looked as glamorous in jeans and a t-shirt as she did in a ball gown.
In the aftermath of their ordeal, the three of them had bonded. Anna and Cora needed somewhere safe to lay low, and Olivia had offered the apartment as for as long as they needed it. Anna took over the cooking, Cora cleaned, and Olivia bitched constantly even though it was apparent she enjoyed having her friends around.
Because of the long hours they all worked, they could go days without seeing each other for more than a few minutes, which probably made the arrangement work so well.
Cora had never made close friends so easily, but she needed them. And she got the feeling they felt the same way. It had been the first time in her life Cora had been truly on her own and free, and the two of them had kept it from being terrifying or lonely.
“What are you making?” Cora moved past the large couch and leather chair into the kitchen, which took all of ten steps. A tiny bathroom and bedroom the size of a closet were to the left of the living room and entrance. Olivia had moved her computer lab to her office, otherwise there would have been no room to move.
“Chocolate pudding.”
“It isn’t chocolate pudding, it’s sacrilege,” Olivia muttered.
“It’s raw vegan chocolate pudding,” Anna explained. “Raw coconut butter, stevia, raw cocoa powder and an avocado. Sugar free, dairy free, gluten free—”
“Flavor free,” Olivia put in.
Anna stuck her tongue out at her black-haired housemate.
“Interesting,” Cora offered neutrally.
Anna offered the spatula. “Taste. It’s good.”
Cora did as ordered, and to her surprise it wasn’t bad. “Chocolatey,” she said.
“Ha!” Anna looked triumphantly in Olivia’s direction.
“Don’t let the devil woman fool you,” Olivia said, then slid off the counter. “Alright, kids, I got to get to the office and see if Pig is still working.” Pig was another tech genius who co-founded Aurum with Olivia and no, Cora had no idea how he’d gotten the name. “We’ve been pulling these crazy all-nighters lately. Last time I left him alone he fell asleep on his laptop keyboard and his drool short-circuited the network.”
“Want to get coffee first?” Anna was licking chocolate off her fingers.
“Didn’t you just get home?” Olivia asked.
“I went to bed right after I left the party.”
“But did you sleep?” Olivia narrowed her eyes.
“A little,” Anna mouth curved into a private smile.
“Ooh, was it good? Was his dick really big?”
“Like the Empire state building,” Anna mock whispered. “Unfortunately he has an ego to match.”
“Wait, is this Max Mars you’re talking about?” Olivia leaned in.
“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”
“Oh, yes, a lady does. Coffee and gossip, now.” Olivia jumped off the counter top and ran to put on her boots.
“Let me change.” Anna finished putting the last of her concoction away and headed for the bedroom.
“You coming?” Olivia asked Cora.
Cora shrugged. Watching her roommates banter had given her a little burst of energy. “Might as well. I’m not tired right now.”
Olivia frowned. “Still not sleeping?”
“I’m going to the spa in a few hours,” Anna said as she stepped out of the bedroom, wearing a little black dress that fit her curves like a dream. “I’ll sleep there. You could come with me, if you want. Get a massage. That might relax you enough to get some shut-eye.”
Anything sounded better than lying in bed for endless hours replaying every second of her encounter with Marcus. Cora nodded.
At the coffee shop, Olivia pestered Anna for details of her love life while they all waited in line. Letting her friends bicker, Cora looked over the stacks of mugs and bags of coffee beans for sale, and unwittingly, her mind wandered back to last night.
Marcus had looked so good. In their time apart, she’d tried to tell herself that she’d exaggerated his effect on her. She told herself they weren’t meant for each other. That her body didn’t light up with recognition of its perfect mate every time he was near.
You’re a lying liar who lies.
“Hello, Earth to Cora.” Olivia waved a hand in her face and Cora jerked her head up. It was her turn to give her order. Once she gave it, Olivia pushed her gently toward Anna.
“Go grab the couch,” Olivia ordered. “Cora looks dead on her feet.”
“Come on, honey.” Anna took her hand and led her to the back of the coffee shop. Every man’s head in the shop turned to watch them go.
They all settled onto the couch and Anna looked Cora directly in the eye. “Talk to me. Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“Insomnia, I guess.” Cora sagged back onto the couch cushions. “I don’t know, I lay awake for hours. And when I do sleep…” She trailed off, shivering at the thought of her last few nightmares—the impression of darkness and blood, always so much blood, and the horrible feeling of responsibility and guilt that lingered long after she woke up.
“Nightmares?”
Cora swallowed. “The worst.”
“I’ve been having them, too.” Anna reached out and took her hand.
Cora stared. “You have?”
“Oh yes. The one where there’s something awful chasing you and you’re scared but can’t get away. I’ve had it a few times since AJ took me.” She leaned forward and squeezed Cora’s hand, her lovely face serious. “Because the scary thing really did happen, and my mind needs to process it. So I get the dreams.”