Rhiannon’s assistant was amazing and possibly a warlock, but Katrina feared even Lakshmi wouldn’t be able to do anything about this. “No. You go. Don’t say anything to Lakshmi, or even Samson yet, please? I’ll monitor it and it’ll be fine.” The numbness was nice, a new way to manage her emotions.
“Should we tell Jas?” Rhiannon asked.
“No.” The single word was sharp, but she couldn’t help it. Maybe she should tell Jas, but that would mean bugging him during his time off.
You’re being foolish. He is your core security, and should know about this.
But that was the problem with getting romantically interested in one’s bodyguard, eh? The embarrassment of her crush finding out about this debacle outweighed her need to tell her employee that she’d gone viral, albeit anonymously. For now. “I’ll tell him if it escalates.”
As if she sensed her distress, Zeus came to rub herself against Katrina’s legs. She scooped the cat up, scratching under her chin. Zeus immediately collapsed in a boneless heap against Katrina’s chest. She wished she could relax as easily. “Do you guys mind cleaning up?”
“Of course,” Jia murmured.
“Excellent. Will you excuse me, please?” She didn’t wait for either of them to respond, just got up from the table and made her way to the door.
It’ll blow over. It’ll pass. No one will be able to identify you. The words played in her head as she walked down the hallway to her sunny little office. They had to be true, those words, or the tendrils of panic would grab hold of her and never let go.
No, no, that wasn’t true. The panic always let go. It did. She’d survive.
It’ll pass.
You’re safe.
Chapter Five
“HERE’SMILEY INher Halloween costume. She’s going to be a Tootsie Roll.”
Jas dutifully perused the photo on the phone shoved under his nose. The baby was about a year and a half old and sported a solemn expression on the chubby face that poked out of the cutout in the candy costume. “Very cute.”
Dean Miller took the phone back, swiped a few times, and then showed it to Jas again, beaming. “Here she is dressed like a peppermint patty.”
Jas expected the photo to be from a previous year, but the girl looked the same, if more resigned, as a foil-wrapped square. “I thought her Halloween costume was the Tootsie Roll.”
“Oh, that’s for trick-or-treating. We’re having a party, too, to celebrate her second Halloween. I can’t pick one look, so I got her a bunch of different outfits and took photos.” Dean flipped through the photos. “Here she is as peas, and a piggy, and a roll of pennies, and a dinosaur, and a—”
“Can I see the dinosaur?” Harris, Dean’s cousin, interrupted from across the table.
“Sure thing.” Dean passed him the phone.
Harris didn’t glance at the device. Instead, he tucked it into the inside of his jacket. “Thanks.”
Jas coughed to hide his sudden laugh.
“Hey!” Dean glared at his cousin.
“No one wants to see your kid dressed up like food and animals, cousin.”
“Jas was interested.”
“No, he wasn’t. He’s new, so you were taking advantage of his politeness to make him suffer through a slideshow of your kid’s every move.”
Jas was grateful neither man seemed to want his input at all. Dean growled at Harris and placed his hands on the table, rising slightly out of his chair. “Give me my phone back.”
Harris smirked, unconcerned. The two Black men had the undeniable stamp of family about them, similarities in their face and build, both clearly athletes—or former athletes, since Dean had retired a couple years ago and Harris was on his last season. Their comfortable squabbling held the ring of near-brothers. “Come and get it, green bean.”
Dean slammed his big fist on the table. “Veganism is good for the environment and your body!”
Samson walked back to the table at that exact instant, holding another round of drinks. “Guys, simmer down, drinks are here.”
