Lulu woke to an empty bed. She hadn’t heard Hotsuma return, and it didn’t seem like he’d slept on his side of the bed. Lulu rushed through her morning routine and then down to the main floor of the hotel. She had to find Hotsuma. If what happened last night with Masato had spooked him, she needed to find out and set the record straight before Masato got to him. Vindictive bastard that he was, Masato would probably make it out like Lulu had instigated the whole thing so she could have a lover on the side. “Good morning, Lulu.” She stopped mid-step and turned in a quick circle to see who had called her. “It’s been a while.” A man stepped into her line of sight. She blinked a few times before she recognized the man’s face. “Richard.” She’d met him when she came to Onsen as a spy from Voda. He was a teacher of Japanese culture and history at the local college and had spent part of her trip flirting with her. If not for her meeting with Hotsuma that set off the chain of events leading to his freedom, she would have spent her entire trip trying to dodge Richard’s advances.
