“Can I have those?”
“Which ones?”
“Both.”
Seriously? “You can have some Advil, I guess. Unless you’re cramping?” When Daphne shook her head, Kylie got out her purse and carefully doled out two pills.
“That’s all?”
“That’s all I feel comfortable giving you,” Kylie told her.
Daphne snorted and shook her head, but took the pills. She swallowed them dry, and Kylie made a mental note to hide her purse in the future, just in case Daphne came snooping for more. And when her boss didn’t leave, Kylie supposed she should continue talking to her, even though she was feeling a lot of uncharitable things for Daphne at the moment. The way she’d treated Cade last night was deplorable, but it wasn’t her problem. She couldn’t get involved. She had to remain neutral, because Daphne was her employer. So she said, “Sorry you’re feeling bad. How late were you up last night?”
“I haven’t slept,” Daphne said, rubbing her eyes again. For a moment, she looked childishly young. “I think. Last night’s pretty much a blur. But the papers said the concert was good, so that’s something at least.”
“Do you remember . . . anything?” Kylie edged.
“Drugs,” Daphne said with an unhappy sound. “I remember bad drugs.” And she rubbed at her eyes again.
Kylie frowned and dug through her purse, then pulled out some eyedrops and offered it to her. “Do you remember . . . an old friend showing up to visit you?”
“Thanks,” Daphne said with a grateful smile. She tilted her head back and put the drops in her eyes, then handed it back to Kylie. “And nope. I was pretty wasted, and not in a good way.” She wiped at the corners of her eyes, smearing black liner that was probably a leftover from last night.
And like a mother hen, Kylie pulled out a package of makeup wipes and offered them to Daphne, as well.
Daphne giggled as she took them. “Jesus, what don’t you have in that enormous purse of yours?”
Dignity and self-respect, she wanted to retort, but she was feeling wounded on Cade’s behalf, and that was a dangerous road to go down. She had to work for Daphne, after all, and she’d likely never see Cade again. “I just try to be prepared,” Kylie said in a neutral voice. “So you don’t remember Cade visiting you?”
Daphne’s overbright eyes popped open and she sat up straight in her chair. “What?”
Oh, hell. “Cade Archer? Good-looking guy? Blond hair? He showed up last night and you blew him off.” She tried to keep the judging out of her tone. Really, she did. Tried and failed, but hey.
To her surprise, Daphne immediately burst into noisy tears.
Shit. Kylie awkwardly patted her on the shoulder while everyone in the bus stared at them. As Daphne continued to sob, she hunted down a packet of Kleenex in her purse and handed it to her. “You okay?”
“No,” Daphne wailed. “Cade was here and I ignored him?”
And you almost went down on some guy in front of him, Kylie wanted to tell her, but she didn’t. Across the aisle, Ginger was giving them both odd looks. Kylie just shook her head. “Let’s just say you were partying pretty hard.”
“Oh my God,” Daphne sobbed. “He’s going to hate me.” She buried her face against Kylie’s shoulder.
Kylie stroked her hair, wincing. “I’m sure he doesn’t hate you. He’s a nice guy. I bet he doesn’t hate anyone.” God, why was she trying to make Daphne feel better about the fact that she’d thrown him away last night? Especially after Kylie had scooped him up?
This was bad. If Daphne found out that Kylie had slept with him she’d be fired for sure. She’d have to make sure Daphne never found out. She needed this job. Needed the money it brought in, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to afford Nana Sloane’s nursing care.
“Cade’s my oldest friend,” Daphne said, continuing to cry huge tears. “God, those drugs were so awful. I can’t believe I didn’t realize he was here. I’m never doing drugs again. Never. Never.”
A few feet away, Ginger rolled her eyes and went back to her knitting.
“Where’s my phone?” Daphne yelled out. “Snoopy? Where the fuck’s my phone? Get Cade on the line. I need to talk to him ASAP.” She staggered out of the bus seat and into the aisle.
Kylie breathed a tiny sigh of relief as Daphne left. The whole situation was terribly awkward. It was clear that she couldn’t say a thing about her own hookup with Cade last night. Not if she valued her job. To make matters worse, it didn’t sound like Daphne was resolved about things after all.
And didn’t that just make everything even more awkward now that Kylie had slept with her man?
She sucked in a breath as Daphne leaned back over her chair. “Thank you, Fat Marilyn. You’re the best.” She reached out and pinched Kylie’s cheek and winked at her. Then she turned and bellowed at Snoopy again. “Why do I not have my goddamn phone already?”
Kylie shrank down in her seat. The urge to hide her face underneath the newspaper was overwhelming.
“Cade, huh?” Ginger said from across the aisle. “Old friend of Daphne’s?”
“Sounds like it,” Kylie said, trying to keep her voice nonchalant.
“Someone in lighting told me you headed out last night with a blond guy in a suit.”
She could feel her cheeks burning. “Ginger, please don’t—”
“I won’t,” Ginger said, looping her yarn over her needles and letting them clack again. “But if you value your job, don’t say anything to the boss. She’s very possessive of her toys . . . even the ones she throws away. Understand?”