tell me about it
Bea
or I could show you?
Jesse
how would you do that?
Bea
. . .
nvm
Do you have any plans this weekend? Milo will be out late Friday.
Jesse
We can’t meet here again. Ellywill be home.
Eliana scoffed, dropping the papers back on the tabletop with disgust. “God, he’s stupid.”
“At least yours doesn’t sound desperate,” Milo gritted through clenched teeth, flipping to the next page to continue reading.
“Whyisshe after him so hard?” Clem asked, her chin on her fist as she eyed Milo. “They keep going like that all month. Her begging for attention, and him just completely clueless. You’re a good-looking dude, Milo. Clearly, a decent guy at heart. And Jesse is . . . well, he’s Jesse. What’s her deal?”
“Hell if I know.” Milo shrugged, laying his papers down. “She likes to be noticed.Pampered. She grew up in a bad situation, so I always thought it was just her way of compensating for that. But clearly, the attentionIgive her isn’t getting the job done.”
“Maybe she just wantsallthe attention,” Clem offered, her brows scrunched as she thought it through.
“She’s also never liked the fact that I’m pretty frugal,” he mused, his voice quieting as his thoughts turned inwards. “That’s why she started her shop, because she wanted more of the household money in her control.”
Eliana chewed a lip as she considered his words. “Well . . . that explains all the credit charges Jesse’s been accruing.”
“On that note,” Clem began, pulling out a new stack of papers. “I thought you would find this interesting.”
Eliana accepted the smaller bundle and began reading, her eyes widening as she realized these were messages Jesse had exchanged with his boss, William.
Jesse
I’m submitting 1900 for this past week’s travel. I need this approval expedited.
William
This is too much, I can’t push this much after last month.
Jesse
We have an agreement.
William
An agreement won’t stand up to an audit. Acct is on my ass.
“Travel expenses?” Eliana snorted. “This is very interesting, though. We need to know more about this agreement. Do you think y’all could run a check on his work computer? See if he has anything saved there?”
“Already have it on the list.” Clem chin jerked in a brisk nod.
