They pressed cheeks. “Say Chai!” He clicked with their big smiles in place. “Oops, wrong setting. Once more! With feeling!”
“Cheese! Chai! RTB in the house!”
“Awesome, Kara. Welp, I’m gonna find my guy Reggie and lighten the load.” Robby stood, slinging his pack on a shoulder. “Thanks for being my gatekeeper goddess. And for listening to my spiel.” He leaned in, and she felt herself air-kissing north of his cheekbone.
“Anytime.”
“Hey.” Max was breathless. “Sorry for the delay. Can we talk a sec? Outside?” His glance flicked. “Yo, man. No samples in here.”
Robby had been sliding ChaiCycle packets onto the catering table, tucking a few into the wellness baskets alongside aspirin, eye drops, ginger chews, and the usual VIP necessities.
He held up his hands, now empty. “Easy, big guy. Matzo Baller virgin here. I didn’t know. Sorry.” He gave Tzipi one last nod and smile.
“You wanted to talk?”
Max led them to a slider that opened onto a deck she hadn’t seen before. Another uniformed guard stood at that entrance, who broke into a grin at the sight of him. “Hey, Klein! Long time, man.”
“Rupert!” They fist-bumped, but Max kept walking; intent on steering her far from the doorway.
Ah, Tzipi gleaned. So Max Deduction’s real Bond name was Klein. A nice Jewish name, indeed.
“Everything okay?” she asked. “You wanted to talk?”
“Oh…yeah. Not really. You just looked like you needed air.” He glanced over his shoulder. “People in there can sometimes suck it all out.”
“True. Good save. Robby’s harmless, though. Just a little…overeager to catch up.”
And to trot his old sitcom sister out like a prized pony, apparently.
Disappointing, but…the boat was certainly big enough to minimize encounters with the ghosts of Rosie’s past.
Chapter Eleven
I’ve got my job cut out for me, Jonah thought.
Which one? His inner heckler ribbed. Real or fantasy?
His inner heckler was an asshole.
He’d walked into the green room planning to come clean to Kara, after much deliberation and a pep talk from Nora back at the props. But when he saw that former teen heartthrob chatting her up on the couch?
That didn’t look like an innocent catch-up. That looked like wanting a piece of her. For what, he did not know. But he wanted to put some distance between them.
They had reached the salon, a part of the boat they really hadn’t explore yet. People kept passing them with plates of elaborately decorated Hanukkah cookies. The royal icing and fancy sprinkles were Libby’s hallmark, and no doubt Jay had sweet-talked her into lending her skills tonight. Sure enough, the cookie decorating station had a line that felt like a nautical mile long.
“Hey, want to get your sprinkles on?”
“I hate to pull the diva card, but I honestly don’t think I can brave that crowd. Think there’s a VIP line?”
What would a bodyguard on the clock do?
“Hold that thought.”
Jonah cut through the crowd toward the demonstration table. Libby stood behind it, expertly icing a base layer onto cookie after cookie to prep them for the mad decorating skills of the crowd that had gathered.
“Oh, look! It’s the wandering Jew. Where in green hell have you been all night?”
“It’s not even eight o’clock, Lib. And can you do me a solid? Well, one for that woman over there, actually. She has a sweet tooth for your cookies.”
