Crushing on my Billionaire Best Friend - Jolie Day Page 0,2

For that matter, who needed a sex life? Especially one with Oliver Humphries in it. Not me. Okay, that’s a lie. I would very much like a sex life. Preferably with him in it. But that’s a whole other story… My fantasies, though? Yeah, they totally starred him—center stage. I’d named my trusty vibrator Oliver. I was bad, and I knew it. Sue me.

I’d just finished my turkey on rye with pickles and chips. I was stuffed. And, I was finally back in the flow of things when my phone rang. I threw my head back in a long, dramatic groan.

“Oliver! I’m working. Stop—”

“Ms. Carter?” An older man’s thickly accented voice cut me off.

Oops. “Oh. Uh, sorry. Yes?”

“This is Mr. Cruz. The supervisor at your apartment building.”

“Mr. Cruz! Of course.” I knew the voice seemed familiar, but something was off. His Spanish accent was thicker than usual, and he sounded alarmed and frantic. “What’s going on?”

The moment I asked the question, I picked up on the noises ringing out from the background. There was a lot of commotion, shouting, and sirens. My heart started to pound in my chest.

“I…I don’t know how to tell you this, Ms. Carter. But I didn’t want you to come home and find out by surprise. The building…there was a fire…and I’m sorry to say that…well, your belongings were destroyed.”

“What? Fire? Oh, my God!” I blinked, processing one word at a time. “Which belongings?”

“I’m sorry?”

I didn’t repeat what I’d said. It was clear enough the first time, wasn’t it? Or maybe I was just in shock.

“All of them,” he said after a long, awkward pause. “Most of the units inside the building have been destroyed—they just poofed up in flames. I’m afraid your unit was one of them that didn’t make it. You should turn on the local news and see for yourself. It’s bad. I am so sorry.”

I immediately opened my browser and searched for the local news report. Sure enough, there it was, and my mouth fell open. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Plumes of smoke were billowing from my building, and suddenly the weirdest sensation washed over me. Like I was standing on a floor, but suddenly realized the floor was gone. Only I was still floating there in space, trying to figure out where it had gone.

“Didn’t make it?” I murmured, the only three words out of all that I could think of right now.

Mr. Cruz kept talking, explaining everything in more detail, but his words were no longer registering in my brain. He said something about the Pomeranian that belonged to an older woman who lived a few doors down from me. A candle knocked over. Flammable curtains. The only thing that seemed to really sink in enough to make sense was when he said that none of my neighbors had been hurt and everybody got out safely. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ms. Carter? Are you still there?”

“No.” I blinked. “I mean, yes. Yes, I’m still here. I’ll…I’ll be right there.”

“I wouldn’t come tonight. It’s dark, and the air is filled with smoke and mist from the firefighters’ hoses. There are parts of the fire they’re still trying to extinguish. They’re trying to clear everyone that they can out of the area for now.” His voice grew louder, but then it was gone, like he was talking to somebody else. A few seconds later he returned to the phone. “Sorry about that. Where was I?”

“Smoke and mist. Me coming there…”

“Ah, yes. You can come tomorrow and see for yourself. The insurance people will want to interview everyone.” When I didn’t respond, because my brain was working overtime just to keep up with everything in its state of shock, he added, “I hope you have somewhere to stay.”

A hard lump rolled down my throat. “Uh-huh. Well…thanks for calling to let me know.”

Shit. I hung up the phone and stared at the screen for a long time without moving. Like most nights, my plan was to work for another hour and then go home to cuddle up with a Sylvia Day hardcover and crash, only to get up early tomorrow morning and do it all over again. It had all been ripped out from under me. None of the work in front of me made sense anymore, and whatever came after that was completely unknown.

A memory from that morning flashed through my brain. I’d run to catch the closing elevator doors and found Mrs. Mosely waiting inside with her dog, Princess