“I thought she was going to sink her claws in both of us and never let go. They gave off serious kidnapper vibes.” He shivers. “So, what are you going to do about the shoot tomorrow?”
Fuck. I forgot about that.
I still have my mom’s vintage Canon, but I haven’t used it in years. I can make it work though. I need to. Without the money from today, I’m cutting it tight this month.
“I’ll use my other camera.”
“And what about the people? Have you checked them out?”
I chew on the corner of my lip. “I’ll vet them tonight. I just got distracted this week and got lazy.”
“You should only advertise yourself on Insta. It would be the most effective way to build your clientele.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have many followers and I’m not sure how to get more.”
“You just have to manipulate the algorithm.”
I glance at him like he’s crazy. “The what?”
“The algorithm. You need to use certain hashtags and follow certain trends, so your reach is further. Don’t you know any of this? It’s kind of our generation's thing.”
“Uh…no. I have no idea what you're talking about.” I don’t tell him that for the last few years, I’ve stayed away from the whole social media thing. I don’t want people to be able to follow my every move that easily. Especially certain people.
He groans, clearly frustrated at my answer. “Seriously? How about this…what if I was your social media manager instead? I could find your clients and make sure they were legit, as well as build your following with new posts and reels.”
It’s not a bad idea and quite frankly I don’t see why not. It’s not like I’m doing it. Or doing it correctly apparently. “I think it’s a great idea. You’re re-hired.”
“Cool,” he beams. “So, uh… back at the beach… your brother, huh?” He grins at me playfully.
“It was a slip of the tongue. Miss Malibu Barbie was about to force herself on you, and I couldn’t let that happen on my watch. You’re still in high school.”
“So? It would be legal. What if I like older women?” his expression turns serious.
I narrow my eyes. “That’s fine and all, but her? Really?” I gauge his reaction.
He shrugs a shoulder but a moment later starts laughing. “Okay. Definitely not her.”
And I shake my head at him with a smile on my face.
Fucking teenagers.
Chapter 7
Lucas
Idid a stand-up job the rest of the week avoiding my favorite coffee shop, but that meant I had to settle for some mediocre bullshit that tasted burnt and wasn’t sweet enough. Okay, maybe it was sweet enough but without Jordan making it, it just tasted bland.
You know how they say absence makes the heart grow fonder? Yeah, well that doesn’t apply to me. Because fond doesn’t begin to cover it. Now I just feel obsessed. I’ve been watching Jordan’s activity on her dating profile, and much to my pleasure, she hasn’t had any more admirers. But, on top of working out before work, I’ve started doing my daily runs twice a day. Once when I get home from work and once after my dinner has digested, jogging along the boardwalk and past Beach Brew in hopes she’ll be at either one.
It’s my personal brand of torture and I have no one to blame but myself.
The weekends in Daybreak have become especially boring too. When you’re undercover you want to play by the rules, and I’ve been trying to do some recon here and there, but the last thing I want to do is get caught. So, I’ve let up onfollowing Emmett around and have been filling my two days off catching up on some reading and spending as much time outside of the house as I can. It can get lonely on the job but it’s what I signed up for. At least here in Daybreak, I have the beach close by and a few local restaurants to eat and drink at when necessary.
The sun won’t set for another hour, so I get dressed and lace up my running shoes to head out the door for my second run of the day.
I’m a fool. I know this.
Since it’s Saturday, there are more than just locals milling about. The brewery, diner, and Irish pub bring people from all over for lunch and dinner, not just on the weekends but the weekdays too. All of them serve food and all of them stay fairly busy.
