Page 31 of Just One Night Together
Cassie and Damon nodded agreement.
“So long as it works,” Damon said.
“Chynna!” Kyle crowed and turned away to talk to her.
“I hope it works fast,” Cassie said. “We’ve only got six weeks to pull this together if we’re going to launch it for Valentine’s Day.”
Damon had to add a caveat. “You’ll need a second victim for the next full moon, even if yours works. One success isn’t a pattern.”
“We should prove it isn’t a fluke,” Cassie agreed, then smiled at him. “Are you volunteering?”
Damon shook his head. “No way.”
“Because what would Natasha think?” Cassie bit her lip, not waiting for a reply. “I wonder if Meesha would be up for it.”
Kyle sauntered back toward them and pointed at Cassie. “You’re on. Tomorrow afternoon at three.” He gave her the address. “It would be good if you had an idea for the design.”
Cassie grinned. “What an awesome way to start the new year!”
“You can’t be sure it will work,” Damon said, but she shook her head.
“No, I’ve always wanted to get a tattoo, but I’ve been too chicken. This is compelling me to go for it.” She gave Kyle a kiss on the cheek. “And it’s all your fault.”
“I do what I can to lead as many people astray as possible,” Kyle said with false modesty and the other two laughed.
“I’ve got to catch that train,” Damon said, pulling on his gloves. He waved to his partners and headed for the doors.
Would Haley be at the hospital?
It wouldn’t hurt to just glance and see if she was working when he visited his mom. If she was, that would explain why she hadn’t come to the class.
“My ideas have got ideas,” Cassie complained to Kyle, but Damon could hear how happy she was. “I was going to take tonight off, but now I’ll be doodling marketing plans and talking to Meesha.”
“By tomorrow, you two will have a complete plan for world domination,” Kyle replied.
“Maybe!” Cassie admitted with a laugh. “I’ll try to pull together a cohesive plan.”
“Because you rock,” Kyle said and Damon glanced back to see Kyle giving Cassie a hug. “Here. Check out Chynna’s online portfolio tonight, too. It might give you some ideas.”
Damon turned up his collar and stepped out into the snowy street, intent upon getting to the hospital soon.
* * *
His mom was asleep.
Damon stood and watched her for a long moment, then frowned when he noticed that the massage oil was on the table beside her bed. He was sure he’d left it in the drawer. He stepped closer and sniffed, knowing he didn’t imagine its scent.
One of the nurses swept in to check his mom’s vitals and spared him a smile. It was the one he’d talked to at the nurses’ station on Friday night.
“She was a little agitated earlier,” the nurse whispered. “But Haley was here and offered to give her a massage. I said if your mom agreed, it was okay. I hope that was all right?” She spared him a worried glance.
“Did it help?”
“Her pulse slowed right down, just as it does when you give her a massage.” She smiled. “Maybe not quite as much.”
Damon smiled back. “Then it’s fine. Haley and I were talking about the therapeutic benefits of massage on Friday and she offered to give my mom massages when I wasn’t here.”
“You should have told us. We can put it on her chart.”
