The Billionaires Sub by MS Parker Read Free Book Online Page A

and that was as far as I was going tonight. I wasn’t about to do anything stupid.
     

Chapter Seven
    I realized that I was a bit tipsier than I should’ve been from drinking just two shots, especially since I’d made a point of eating before I’d come, and I’d been drinking plenty of water. Still, the ground spun under my feet and my stomach was queasy. I had a bad feeling I’d be spending the rest of the night, and some of tomorrow, huddled over the toilet. I was just glad there were two bathrooms in Juliette’s apartment. I was trying very hard to be a good houseguest, and I didn’t think hogging the only bathroom so I could vomit would be on that list.
    I desperately needed to go home and lay down. I started for the door, keeping one hand on the wall to keep me steady. A security guard asked if I was okay, which I appreciated, but I politely refused his help. I’d be fine once I got outside. The fresh air would help clear my head.
    I wasn’t sure how many times I’d repeated that mantra by the time I reached the front door, but it’d started to lose meaning and was quickly becoming a series of words that didn’t make sense. I stepped outside, and then to the right so I could lean against the wall for a moment.
    I closed my eyes as I leaned against the coolness of the brick. Taking a deep breath, I tipped my head back. Much better. Granted, the aroma of Los Angeles wasn’t as nice as back home – too many cars and people here, not enough trees – but it was still better than it was inside.
    I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I suddenly realized that my face was damp, and it wasn’t from sweat. This was a cool mist.
    I opened my eyes to see rain. I frowned, not so much at the rain itself as at the promised Hollywood weather. I was from Ohio. We had rain alternatives for every holiday. Fourth of July. Halloween. Christmas. We weren’t Seattle, but we did have our fair share of wet days. Then again, we also had sunny, cloudy, hot, and cold, sometimes all in the same day. Here, however, I thought the rainy days and nights would be few and far between.
    It was just my luck that one of the few rainy nights the area got had to be a night I was standing outside a club, looking for a cab.
    It was fairly warm, but I knew it wouldn’t be if I got wet. At the moment, I was only feeling a light mist because I was leaning against the wall and the overhang offered a bit of protection. I could see a drizzle coming down just a foot or so in front of me, and the only way I’d be able to get a cab’s attention would be to step right out into it.
    I straightened, took a moment to ensure that I was steady, and then walked to the edge of the sidewalk. I shivered as the cold drops hit my bare skin. It might’ve been June, but that didn’t mean the rain would be warm yet.
    I stuck out my hand, intending to wave down the first taxi I saw. Except there weren’t any. I wasn’t sure if I’d just caught a lull in traffic or if some higher power was determined to punish me for drinking. Or watching a couple have sex. Or maybe it was for leaving home.
    The sudden burn of tears in my eyes surprised me, as did the accompanying wave of homesickness. I hadn’t felt it at all this week, and I’d never really felt homesick at college either. Then again, that might’ve been more because I hadn’t really felt like I was away from home at that point. I hadn’t felt that until I’d stepped off the plane here.
    I brushed my hands across my eyes, hoping anyone passing by would assume I was wiping away rain. I’d worn waterproof make-up because I’d known I’d be sweating, but now I was doubly glad of it. I wouldn’t have wanted to be standing here, looking even more like a drown rodent than I already did.
    The rain was coming down harder now and my dress was soaked clean through. I made a mental note to take a ton of vitamins when I got back to the apartment. The last thing I needed right now was to get sick because