I damn near got to that point, too, as I circled back through town.
Until someone plowed right into me, kicking up the intoxicating scent of coconut as a startled little “Oh!” escaped Gracie’s lips.
Fuck.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gracie
I was running behind on everything.
I blamed Layna.
I loved her.
She was one of my closest friends in the world.
But, well, she was a terrible house guest.
And an overall bad influence.
She kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. While the time was full of some much-needed laughter and fun, it meant that I slept hard and deep enough that my body’s natural alarm clock didn’t wake me up in the morning.
On top of that, Layna had turned off myactualalarm that was on her side of my bed.
So I woke up confused and groggy, then tripped right into outright panic when I realized I was almost an hour behind on my morning routine.
I liked to start my mornings early so I could ease into my day with a decent amount of self-care, some cleaning, and a few work-adjacent tasks that would help me feel ahead of the day before it truly even began.
With that time stripped away from me, all I managed was a quick shower and a coffee and pastry on the run to get to my day job as just another lackey at a desk.
I worked through my lunch to try to get a few loose ends tied up for my next event.
Which meant that by the time I left work, I was cranky and hungry. But then I got a call that caused a mini crisis. Because my caterer for an event backed out last minute.
I rushed to my office, panic tight around my chest because, damnit, caterers were sometimes booked out a year in advance. And I needed to find one with three weeks’ notice.
I spent hours researching, reading reviews, making calls, and leaving messages, all the while saying little prayers that someone would get back to me, that someone could squeeze me in.
Finally, pulled from my work haze by the churning ache of my empty stomach, I grabbed my phone and made my way out of the office to grab something quick at one of the many restaurants in the heart of Navesink Bank.
I stepped out of the building, and glanced around then felt that weirdflinchof fear. Like I saw someone out of the corner of my eye.
Only, when I looked more closely, there was nothing and no one there.
A trick of the light, maybe.
Or my hunger making me jumpy.
Still, as I walked to the local sushi place, grabbing a few rolls to go, there was a weird cold prickle at the back of my neck, a strange dread in my stomach.
I tried to shake it off, to tell myself it was just paranoia, that this part of town was relatively safe, and that I could take care of myself if some creepy dude was behind me or something.
I didn’t dare look back until I reached the office door, where I paused to plug in my code since it was after hours.
As I suspected, though, there was no one there—just me and my low blood sugar conjuring up some bad guy.
I ate at my desk and made another few calls just in case the first few rounds didn’t produce a call back.
