Page 100 of Secret Love

Chapter 32

Dani

Fox reaches out and knocks on the door.

I look up and down the hallway from behind my sunglasses. College. Dorm life. Dining halls and mid-term exams. This is a world entirely foreign to me. My father put me in front of cameras before I even graduated from high school. I never went to college, but I always wondered if I would someday.

Can’t say I expected it to be like this.

The door opens on a petite, blonde girl. She looks at Fox and she gasps. “Oh, god, it’s Channing Tatum!”

Her red-headed roommate spins around in her chair. “What?”

“Never mind—” She steps forward and slams the door closed behind her, nearly knocking herself over in the process. “What are you doing here?” she asks Fox.

Fox holds up a plastic grocery bag. “We need your help,” he says.

She takes it from him and her face falls as she looks inside and spots the pair of scissors, the comb, and the box of black hair dye we picked up on the way here.

“Oh, hell no,” she says.

I study her familiar features closely. Her resemblance to me is more than a little uncanny at first glance.

“Fox, who is this?” I ask.

“Fox?”she repeats. “Is that your real name?”

“Yes,” he answers her.

I pull my sunglasses off and she gasps again, recognizing me with eyes full of confusion. “Why is Roxie Roberts in my hallway?” she asks.

“Darla, we need—”

“Wait — how did you know my real name?” she asks quickly.

I raise a brow. “How do you two know each other but not each other’s names?” I ask.

Fox exhales hard. “Is there somewhere more private we can talk, please?” he asks her.

The girl nods. “Come back in a few minutes. My roommate has a class soon.”

“Thank you,” he says.

She tries to give him the grocery bag, but he pushes it back to her. She takes it with reluctant acceptance before closing the door on us.

“Um…” I say, “Fox?”

He grabs my arm and pulls me with him down the hall. “She’s a friend, Dani.”

“Okay, but—”

“I said you’d have to trust me.”

I bite my lip, pausing to watch the subtle movements on his face. Mercer was right about one thing. My life is full of people who lie to me, but I don’t sense that in Fox right now.

“Okay…” I say.

Fox exhales slowly. “She’s a…” He pauses, choosing his words. “She’s an escort,” he says.