Last night, Maisie and I had stayed up obscenely late. One thing had led to another, and I'd ended up getting her drunk by sharing a bunch of that booze I'd brought from Chicago.
Little bottles of trouble – that's what they were. And yet, last night, for the very first time, I'd been able to look at them without wanting to scream.
Sharing them had been surprisingly fun – even if Maisie's problems were no laughing matter.
She was in trouble.Sure, it wasn'tmykind of trouble, involving a certain Chicago bigwig who wasn't Ryder Vaughn.
No, Maisie's trouble was all financial. She was overwhelmed at her shop and drowning in debt. Last night, even before learning how bad things truly were, I'd given her that hundred-dollar tip, hoping it would help.
Now, the giver of that tip was staring down at me like I'd just left him hanging by checking out mid-stream.
Heat flooded my face.Of course.
Ihadleft him hanging.
Stupidly, I said, "Um…what do I want?"Good grief.On the sassy scale, that didn't even register.
But he nodded anyway. "Yeah. And I mean other than fudge."
"I don't want your fudge," I said again, because apparently that was my new catchphrase.
He looked ready to laugh. "So you said."
Cripes, at this rate, he was lucky I hadn't said itthreetimes. "Uh…right."
"But you didn't say why. You allergic?"
Huh?"To fudge?"
"No. To peanut butter." He shrugged. "But hey, iffudgeis gonna kill you, you might as well go out smiling." He grinned. "Am I right?"
At his grin, my heart gave a funny little flip before I recalled that he was the enemy.
Maybe.
Or maybe not.
Suddenly, I was so very tired – not just of hiding out, but of looking over my shoulder. And besides, who was I kidding? If he was here on Evan's behalf, the cat was already out of the bag. By now, it was probably running down the street, handing out flyers with my name and picture.
I gave a resigned sigh. "Just tell me something."
"What?"
"Are you following me?"
"Me?" He laughed. "I was here first. So if anything, you're followingme."
I made a sound of protest. "But that's ridiculous."
"Is it?"
"Totally. And besides…" My eyes narrowed. "Do you have any actual proof that you were here first?"
In reply, he called out to someone behind me. "Hey,yousaw me here, right?"
When I turned to look, I spotted that same clerk in the lavender apron. She was eyeing Ryder Vaughn like he was more delicious than fudge. She gave a vigorous nod. "Oh, yeah, you were here way beforeher."
Traitor.
