He sets the plate in front of me.
I glower at him over the bacon and waffles.
As if.
22
SALINGER
After breakfast, I leave my shirt off.
It’s not lost on me the way Mandy keeps sneaking glances at my chest like an altar boy stealing sips of wine. Maybe it will butter her up enough that she’ll tell me who the hell is after her.
“You want to visit the stables?” I offer as Linton comes in to clear away the food.
She gives me a look of distrust. “I told you, I’m going to my parents’ for dinner.”
“Yes, and I will take you there. I promised.”
“We have to leave soon.”
“No, we don’t. It’s not even noon.”
“Dinner is at two in the afternoon.”
“That’s not dinner—that’s lunch.”
“Not according to my father, not on weekends. Excuse me, Linton?” My assistant gives my butler a bright smile, which he is all too happy to return.
“How may I be of service?”
“I just wondered, would you mind making sure the boat is ready to take us back to the city soon?”
“Of course, ma’am.”
“Please, call me Mandy.”
“Mandy.” Linton gives her a kind smile. “We are going to be very sad to see you go. We don’t get that many visitors here. It’s nice to see a new face that’s not Salinger’s.”
“Nice to know how important I am.” I grin at him.
“This is the most excitement we’ve seen since Salinger’s brothers were here a few months ago. Though I hear that you’ll be hosting Fourth of July, sir?” His dark eyes crinkle. “It’s such a joy having children around.”
I grab his arm. “The kids are not coming here. They’ll ruin the house, they’ll destroy the lawn. It will be a zoo.”
“You have children?” Mandy is horrified.
“No, I don’t have children, Mandy. Fuck.”
“You’re getting on in years, Salinger.” Linton turns to Mandy. “I tell him he needs to get on with it. At the rate he consumes alcohol and red meat, who knows how long he has?”
“You make me sound like some nineteen-sixties executive who’s one oyster happy hour away from a heart attack,” I complain.
Linton gives me a pointed look.
“I work out.”
“He does do that.” Linton’s eyes are twinkling.
