“Luckily a reporter arrived and that’s when everything went downhill. He started yelling at her and at me. He told me to move and go sit somewhere else. So I calmly got up and did just that. I walked over to his Beemer, got inside with my nasty shirt, and proceeded to sit there.”
Chase laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking. “I bet he was livid.”
“Yeah. And it probably wouldn’t have escalated to where it did, had I not ‘accidentally’ pulled off five or six shrimp and stuff them under the seats and down in the door pockets.”
Chase laughed even harder. “Priceless.”
“Unfortunately, the reporter took a bunch of pictures, so when Schulerfinallydiscovered what the smell was the next day, he went to the sheriff to have me arrested for destruction of property on top of a whole bunch of other things.”
Chase’s shoulders were still shaking with laughter. “And when confronted, you admitted to doing it?”
“Yes. I’ve never been a good liar. And truth is, I didn’t want to lie. I wanted him to know what I’d done. I wanted him to know I wasn’t scared of him…even if I am. I’m not proud of what I did. Usually I can hold my temper. I’ve never reallyhurtanyone with the things I’ve done in the past.” I shrugged. “Letting lobsters loose, tying myself to a tree, showing people the best environmental way to shampoo their hair…these are harmless. What I did to that man wasn’t. And now I have to pay the price for letting my emotions get the better of me.”
Chase stared at me. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. He masked his face too well. A true cop’s face. I shivered at that thought. As much as I liked Chase, I had to remember he was sort of the enemy. He was a cop.
“I think, hands down, you’re the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met,” he finally said.
I blinked in surprise. “You do?”
He nodded. “Yep. A little on the nutty side, but in a sweet way.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That doesn’t sound good.”
He chuckled. “I meant it as a compliment. You, Alexandra Michelle Martin, are a dichotomy. And something tells me I need to be on guard around you.”
Chapter 6
The ringing of my cell phone woke me the next morning. Grappling for the annoying thing, I brought it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Alexa? This is Mimi Stiles. Did I wake you?”
I pulled the phone back from my ear and looked at the time. Eight o’clock. “Yeah. I must have been more tired than I thought. What can I do for you, Mimi?”
“A couple of us girls thought we might come over this afternoon. You up for company?”
I didn’t even have to think about it.
“Always. I had nothing to do yesterday but read,” I said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love reading, but it was all afternoon.”
She cackled. “I understand. We have spin class from noon to one, but we’ll be there afterward.”
“Sounds great,” I said.
“We’ll let you in on our plan when we get there.”
She hung up before I could ask her what plan she had in mind. I didn’t know Mimi well, but I got the feeling she could be a handful.
Mimi, Gilda, Marla, and the very scary Ingrid arrived shortly after one carrying signs and boxes of supplies. Taking a couple boxes, I led them upstairs to my kitchen.
“How did your night go last night?” Mimi asked.
I smiled when I thought of the dinner I’d had with Chase. I didn’t want to like him, but I couldn’t help it. “It was great. I actually waited for Chase to arrive home, then apologized again, and he invited me in for dinner.”
Mimi and Gilda exchanged glances.
“Chase is a nice young man,” Marla said. “Just like his granddad.”
I grimaced. “Yeah, but he’s a cop. Me and cops don’t really mix, ya know?”
