“You know a lot about Franny’s institution then?”
“Not because of Jameson or Hades.” She waved away the men like they were ridiculous. “Franny tells me things she doesn’t care to share with them or her grandmother. Or Valerie, at that.” She wrinkled her nose at the woman’s name. “She’ll be here this evening, by the way. Avoid the shrink at all costs.”
I wrung my hands. “Really? She that bad?”
“She doesn’t like other women around.” Rosy shrugged. “She’ll be territorial with you.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re sweet and pretty and, although you’re not his normal type, he’s made an exception with you.”
“An exception how?”
“He didn’t kill you.”
Shouldn’t that have scared me? Turned me off? Made me want to run rather than stay and find out more about him? I knew the answer, knew I shouldn’t be lusting after him, but still, I bit my lip to hide my response to her statement. “Well, I’ll stay out of their way then. I planned to anyway, but I appreciate the warning.”
She nodded. “I’m honest if I can be, like I said.” Then she pushed her hip off the counter to add butter to the skillet, which hissed as it melted. “And my honest opinion is that you should ask him for details on his life. Demand them if you’re ready to be a part of it. Don’t if you’re not.”
“Oh, I’m not,” I clarified hurriedly. “I’m only here for the summer.”
She hummed and nodded, as if absentmindedly pushing the butter around the pan. “I thought the same.” Her eyes only moved from the pan to the door when she heard Hades chuckle from the other side of it. A small sigh escaped her cherry-red lips. “Sometimes the heart and mind don’t agree. I saw you and Jameson yesterday out there.”
“Saw what?”
A smile so big and perfectly framed by her crimson lip stain whipped across her face as she put her hands on her hips. “I saw how you were looking at him … like you wanted him to throw you over the counter and fuck you senseless, Mia.”
My jaw dropped at how easily she said the words when she stood there so properly in her black-and-white apron.
“Oh, close your mouth. We’re going to be friends right? And I said I would be honest when I could, didn’t I?”
“Not that honest!”
“So youwerelooking at him like that.” She caught me. “Thought so.”
“Oh my God. We’re working here, not—”
“Hey. Speak for yourself. Just because I dress professionally and take my job seriously doesn’t mean I don’t get mine with Hades.”
“Rosy, that’s … Well, he’s …” How did I even respond to this? I cleared my throat. “I hope you’re both happy.”
“I think so. Probably.” She shrugged. “Everyone is hiding something behind closed doors. For most of us in Paradise Grove, it’s because we don’t need to share it with the world. For others, it’s because they’re ashamed. I hope it’s the former rather than the latter with him and me. As for you, decide what hiding something for Jameson will be before you ask him to clarify what he does and who he is, Mia.”
The rest of the workday flew by in a flash.
It was only in the evening, when I’d been brought to my room, that I considered what she had said. And I only considered it because the vent to my room kept humming in a waythat it shouldn’t, the metal rattling against the wall, almost making a buzzing sound behind my nightstand. Once the nightstand was moved over and I shoved a piece of paper between the metal of the vent and wall, the noise stopped.
But then the voices started.
Softly, I heard them. The murmuring. I sat on the edge of my bed, right by that vent, leaned in, and then I heard that smooth, deep voice.
Jameson Knight spoke harshly to another person. “Your service isn’t needed.”
“You can’t mean that.” There was a shrillness to her voice, and I immediately realized this vent must have been connected directly to Jameson’s office, where he was ending a discussion with Valerie.
“I appreciate you eating dinner with us and spending time with Franny, but—”
“Of course I would be here. I’ve told you I will be here any day you need me to be.”
