“Almond rum cake for you, ma’am?” The waiter began to set a plate in front of True.
She recoiled. “Oh, no. I’m allergic to almonds.”
“Sorry about that, ma’am,” the waiter said, putting a plate in front of Jesse. “Here’s yours, sir.”
Jesse thanked the waiter and then dug into his cake.
“Anyway, I was thinking we should invite you both over for dinner,” Rowan said. “At our place.”
I nearly choked on my own spit that time. “Wh-What?”
“Don’t worry, Goldilocks. I’ll do the cooking.” Rowan squeezed me. “Tomorrow night? How does six-thirty sound? That gives us time to watch the sunset.”
True’s smile told me they’d accept.
And I had nearly 24 hours to murder my new boss and figure out where to hide the body.
Chapter 13
Captain Kendra’s Log: Panic-cleaning works. Sometimes.
“Joy, it was ridiculous,”I shouted into the speaker phone as I panic-cleaned my houseboat. “That idiot told Jesse and True that we were engaged. Then, he invited them over to ‘our’ houseboat.”
Joy’s laughter through the phone was not reassuring.
“I don’t think you’re grasping the severity of this situation!” I tugged on my hair. “Ugh! That man!”
“Sorry, sorry,” Joy’s laughter died down. “I haven’t heard you this worked up over a man since Jesse left. Well, even then. I don’t think you were this worked up about Jesse!”
I paused with my hands full of papers. I had no idea how I accumulated so much paper in a digital-first world, but the evidence gave me paper cuts. Then, her words sunk in. “That’s not true. I was plenty worked up about Jesse.”
“As a teenager. Sure. Hormones and all that. But this is grown-up worked up. That’s different,” Joy said. “Tell me about Rowan. What’s he like?”
“He’s like a big pain in the ass.”
“Doubtful.”
“True facts.”
Joy cleared her throat. “As my Hottie Newsman husband-to-be tells me - all facts are true. That’s why they’re facts.”
“What-ever.” I threw up a W with my fingers, even though she couldn’t see me.
“Oh, he must be hot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. He is objectively hot. Everyone sees him and knows he’s hot. Dark hair - salt and pepper. Blue eyes. And that accent.”
“Wait. Wait. Wait. He has an accent?” Joy’s voice went up an octave. “That’s panty-melting stuff right there. Unless it’s German. That’s a little… no wait. German’s hot, too.”
“Hey!” Thorn yelled in the background.
“Sorry, Hottie Newsman. I love you, but I can’t help my kinks,” Joy’s muffled response made me laugh. “Now, Kendra. What kind of accent?”
“Australian.”
“Ooooooh. Australian. Put another shrimp on the barbie!”
I shook my head. “They don’t say that.”
