They were planning something, probably no big deal, but…
“When are you thinking?” Markus asked.
“Either the night before or during.”
Gabby leaned in, and her hair caught in some branches. She couldn’t make heads or tails of this conversation.
Suddenly, the Big G turned on the music. Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” came on, and she heard him call out over the music, “This is a classic.”
What the what? This was so confusing. It didn’t make any sense. Last night, he’d gone down on one knee and given her ataser. Admittedly, a little weird, but also a gesture of trust. And then later. Her toes curled in her Crocs as images from last night flashed across her mind—Markus had been so gentle and sweet, and so-o-o-o much more.
She wanted to stay and suss out what was going on, but footsteps started down the path her direction. Markus could not find out she had followed him! Gabby disentangled herself from the bush and hurried back down the path as fast as she could, catching just a line of the Big G belting out, “Still I can’t let go.” And then in a goofy voice, “Don’t leave me, Markus.”
“See you in a bit, man. Gotta get back to my lady.”
Was G into Markus? This was so confusing.
Not a minute too soon, Gabby crashed out of the wooded path onto their patio and flopped into one of the patio chairs like she’d been doing nothing but chilling. She reached for her coffee only to realize it was green tea. Not enough caffeine and no Starbucks carbs. She was not built for this.
When Markus wandered onto the patio, she looked up from her cup like she had been staring into space, relaxing for the last twenty minutes. “Hi, how was your run?”
The EOD was worse thanGrey’s Anatomy. She’d been recruited into a den of hotness where everyone had dated everyone else, but despite being up in each other’s business, they were all still harboring secrets. Spying was nothing but a soap opera.
“Good.” Markus started stretching in nothing but a pair of low-slung shorts and shades. No shirt, no shoes—but this man would get service. The sun was glinting off his warm brown skin. He was glowing, probably from all the lying.
“Did you find out anything at Sheridan’s?” she asked, all innocence.
“She wasn’t home,” he said, no mention of G. “I’ll have some green tea and try again in a minute.”
Fuck. Her spirits sank. Changing plans was one thing, lying about it was another.
Then he said, “I’ve got something special planned.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me about it.”
He smiled. “You’ll find out.”
“Markus,” she said, “this is not the week for surprises.”
He just smiled. “I have one surprise you’ll like,” he said. “I ran into Geeves and ordered some pancakes on the sly.”
Her mouth started watering. Maybe she didn’t care if he was double-crossing her.
As promised, Geeves brought out a stack of vibrant pinkish purple pancakes with a butter pat, dripping in syrup. He set a plate in front of each of them, explaining, “Ube is a purple potato rich in antioxidants. It’s a staple in Okinawa, which is one of the Blue Zones.”
“Is that why you were allowed to serve this?”
He nodded. “Just don’t tell anyone I gave you syrup.” He shook his head. “They wouldn’t understand.”
After Geeves left, Markus said, “I know Val dumped a lot of pressure on us this morning.”
“We got it, as long as we’re working together,” she said with intentionally direct eye contact.
Markus parried. “No leaving me tranquilized and tied up this time.” As if she was the problem.
She smiled without meaning it. “Don’t worry. I would need Justin’s help to pull that off again. I think you’re even bigger than the last time I had to haul your unconscious butt into a storage room.”
“Thwarted by the laws of physics, I guess.”
