Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
A groan filled me, quite unlike the ones from a few minutes ago. It had been him the whole time. Not a machine. Not the most perfect massage device known to mankind. It had been a person, a man.
But why? Had these guys gotten in over their heads? Promised to show off their new tech and something had gone wrong, so they’d tried to bluff their way through this demo? But that didn’t make any sense. From the messages on my phone, it was clear that this guy hadn’t tried to hide his participation from the viewers.
I grimaced as I realized something. The eye mask! They hadn’t wanted me to know he was there—just me. Which meant these men were not my friends. And whatever they were up to was not something that would help me and my career.
Briefly, I entertained the impulse to hop up and cut the live feed. But then I dismissed the idea. Ending things off now would make it worse—and could even make people worried about my safety.
Of all the concerns running through my mind, that wasn’t one of them. These men were up to something, but it didn’t feel unsafe. It felt cold and calculated, but not unsafe—at least not physically. Professionally might be another matter.
“What’s going on?” I kept my voice as neutral as possible, trying to throw a note of curiosity into it.
Another round of banging on the door made me jump. This time, Colton opened it, and Penny rushed in. “What the hell?” she demanded of the three men.
Of all the shocking things in the last minute, that was one of the biggest. Penny never said bad words, even very tame ones. “Why did you guys—” she hesitated, looking at my phone, which was still live-streaming. Crap. “I somehow got locked out,” she finished in a quieter tone.
Very aware of the camera, I sat up straight in the chair. My stunned mind tried to focus on a half-dozen different thoughts at once. The things I’d said. What these guys were really up to. And the most alarming question of all—why?
But first and foremost, I spoke to the tens of thousands of people watching live—an amount that was going up every second. “So, today wasn’t quite what I was expecting.” I gave my best smile to the camera, trying to look as if I was completely on top of the situation even though it felt like the exact opposite. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?”
That last question was directed to the guys in the room. It meant letting them control the narrative, which was the last thing I wanted to do, but I couldn’t see any other way out of this.
The new guy standing next to me flexed his gloved fingers. “How’d you like your massage?” The smug grin he shot down at me wasn’t a pleasant one.
“I was enjoying it.” I emphasized the past tense. “But now it’s taken a weird turn. What happened to the Massage Mate 3000?”
“Never existed,” he said.
“Then what’s all this about?” In confusion, I turned back to the other two—which only made the fog in my head worse. Brad and Colton were in the process of changing. Brad’s bushy mustache was gone—and even in my current state, I recognized that as an improvement—and he was tugging at his blond hair which turned out to be a wig. His real hair was short and light brown.
Colton’s long brown ponytail wasn’t real either, since it was now lying on top of a keyboard. He winced when he peeled off the beard and then rubbed his strong jaw.
Now all three of them were starting to look familiar. I’d seen them before, but never in person. Never full-sized.
Only on a small screen.
Shit.
I got to my feet, standing on the opposite side of the chair from my masseuse. “I know you.” My voice was shaky, and I fought to steady it.
“Yes, you do,” Colton said, his former Scottish accent evidently as fake as his long hair. He moved next to his buddy with the magic hands.
Despite everything, my first thought was to wonder if they were in the shot. Whatever was going on, there was no point in my viewers seeing only half of it. I glanced at Penny, and she nodded. Moving smoothly, she eased the phone out of its holder and turned it sideways at a wide enough angle to see all of us.
“But we don’t own a startup,” Colton went on. “Or build fancy tech.”
I turned to Brad. Of the three, he’d seemed the most approachable. The friendliest—but he didn’t look friendly now. His eyes were steady on mine, making me squirm for some reason. But still, it was easier to look at him rather than the stern expression on Colton’s face or the smug look on the other man’s.