Chapter Three
Alana
She was pleased to be back at work, for things to be back to normal.Thrilled, even.Because she was busy, as always.And being busy meant that she didn’t have to think about her kiss with Drew.Herdrunkenkiss with Drew, she corrected herself.It didn’t mean anything.Friends drunk kiss each other all the time, right?She shook her head, as if shaking such juvenile thinking from her mind.She had better things to do.
Buzz.Buzz.She ceased her daydreaming and pulled up her phone.It was Ruby, messaging her from her honeymoon.They had made it to Hawaii.
She smiled down at the photo she’d sent of her and Josh on a private beach, cocktails in hand, their wedding rings glinting in the sun.
Beautiful, you both look so happy.I should open a matchmaking sideline xx
She was joking ...but maybe she should.If she could set people up and make them look that happy, then she definitely had a career in it.She sat back in her desk chair, casting her eyes over her office, pleased to take a break from screens.Glitter still lingered on her desk, but that was the only sign of a wedding party getting ready.She smiled.It really had been a beautiful day, there was no getting around that.She ran her finger over the remaining glitter on her mauve notebook.Purple.She loved the color, any shade of it.Being in the foster system meant sharing rooms all her life, so as soon as she could, she filled her apartment and her office with her favorite color because she was deprived of it when she was a child.There had been no painting her room with her mom or building a bookcase with her dad.
Her phone rang.She checked the caller ID.No rest for the wicked.
“Samuel, hi, how are you?”she asked the human version of a storm cloud.He was useful though, super useful, despite his demeanor.And he had kids, so she really didn’t feel like firing him and taking away their security.
Some cutthroat businesswoman she was.
“As your assistant, you instructed me to find leads while Katie is out on maternity leave.”
Silence.Does he expect me to say something?
Fortunately, he continued, “And I have found a lead.Or to be more precise, they found me.”
His robotic tone of voice made her reach instinctively for her extra-shot hazelnut latte.“That’s great, thank you, Samuel.Will you forward me their details?”
“That is the point.They.They are a group and wish to join as such.”
That piqued her interest.“Right, and who are they?Who do they work for?”
Silence.
“Are you keeping me in suspense, Samuel?”she joked.
Nothing.She didn’t think Samuel would know what a joke was if it sprang out of a jack-in-the-box and punched him in the face.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
