I stepped up right next to her, turned, and looked at him.
“I don’t get it,” I said.
She hummed.
I tried again. “What do you think about him?”
I was pretty sure what she was going to say. That he was a hick, a redneck, a country boy with more grease and beer in his veins than blood. That he was ornery and chauvinistic, and not worth a second look.
But a second look she gave him.
“You like him?” I pushed a little harder, incredulous.
“No,” she said. “No more jumping into things. That’s how I ended up back in maintenance. And I refuse to give that asshole Brett the satisfaction of seeing me fail.”
So that was…not very informative. She’d been demoted? By Brett? Or was Brett a boyfriend, brother, friend?
“You like him,” I stated.
She picked up her soda and ran her thumb through the condensation. “I am not going to get involved because I am not that dumb. He was an ass. He told me I work for a crap company, which—okay, Brett is a dick. And Calvin’s…” she shrugged. “Whatever that is with Red Sonya out there.”
“He’s not flirting with her,” I said. Calvin leaned close to Lu and told her something like it was a secret. Lu laughed. No, Lu giggled. I hadn’t heard that sound out of her in months.
Jo scoffed and chugged down the soda. “Fuck him anyway.”
“Atta girl,” I said. “Fuck him. Well, don’t actually. You’re worth more than a pretty face and a pair of greasy hands.”
“Right in here,” Sunshine said, as he followed Lu toward the office.
Jo’s face had done a remarkable blank-slate make over. She was clacking away at the keys of her computer like she hadn’t looked up in an hour.
Sunshine opened the door like a gentleman and stepped aside so first Lorde, then Lu could enter. Lorde tipped her head up at me and wagged her tail, then settled down on the opposite side of the desk.
Lu looked happy, her face flushed and those hard lines across her forehead and at the corners of her eyes smoothed away.
She was up to something.
“Cupid is still a god, Lu,” I said. “Still dangerous. So is Fate. Do you really want to get us mixed up in god business?”
“Hey, Jo,” Lu said, all friendly. “How’s the repair going?”
Sunshine lingered by the door, holding the rag in both his hands and looking nervous. He glanced at Jo, looked down at his boots, then pulled his shoulders back, forward, then back again. He threw glances at the computer and out the little window with the air conditioner stuck in the bottom of it.
“It’s fine,” Jo said. If aCLOSEDsign could talk, it’d sound just like that.
“Is there anything you need?” Lu pressed. “That diner down the street Calvin recommended was really good.”
“I’m on the clock,” she said, still not looking up. I was pretty sure she was peeking sideways at Sunshine.
Lu shot a look Calvin’s way and lifted one eyebrow.
He took a big breath, then let go of the rag so it was hanging from one hand. “I was thinking,” he said. “That maybe you and I, maybe we could…”
“Hold up there, champ,” I said. “She’s working. On your crappy technology. You stuck your boot in your mouth this morning. She deserves an apology. Or better, she deserves you to just walk away.”
“…the diner’s real nice,” Calvin was still saying. “Uh…I know the owners…”
“Sorry, Lu,” I said. “This thing isn’t going to work.”
