Page 42 of Heat Advisory

Except Trent wasn’t ready for it to be finished.

“Oh, you sucking his dick too, Spicy?” Trent shot at Nicole. “Mine’s bigger. Why don’t you try a real man?”

“First,” Nicole said, turning to him, her demeanor changing 180-degrees to pissed off. “It is highly inappropriate for you to speak to me that way not only as a woman, but also as your superior. Second, I don’t suck dick because I don’t swing that way. But even if I did, I feel confident both of you would be highly disappointing in that department.”

The few other people who had now gathered in the room laughed.

“Tannin. My office. Now!” Stetson yelled from the doorway, looking very displeased.

“Sir?” Trent replied, easing the anger in his voice slightly, clearly realizing he had crossed the line.

“That’s an order,” Stetson decreed from the doorway before disappearing down the hall.

“And take your small dick energy with you,” Nicole mumbled, but I still heard it.

“This isn’t over.” There was so much anger in Trent’s eyes as he said those words. He was fuming as he stormed out of the room.

That hadn’t gone well at all.

I also had a feeling Trent was about to get written up for his comments to Nicole, if not potentially fired.

“On a lighter note, I guess congratulations are in order,” Nate said from the other side of the room, clearly trying to diffuse the intensity in the room.

“I’m not sure if we should congratulate her when we finally meet her, or warn her about all your weirdness,” Nicole teased.

That was the thing. We all gave each other shit, but it was all in fun. Trent’s comments hadn’t been in fun. They’d been filled with hate and anger.

“Ha-ha,” I said slowly, rolling my eyes at them and adding a little swagger to my step as I walked closer to them. “Her name is Cora, and saying yes to me was the best decision she ever made.”

Cora may not agree with that statement now, but I would make it so that she absolutely believed it in the coming weeks. I just needed to convince her.

Which reminded me about my mom’s message. I grabbed my phone and called her back.

That led to a ten-minute conversation that I thought I handled well and ended on a good note, but now came the hard part.

Calling Cora and giving her a heads-up. Because I knew my mom, and that meant we had very little time before the entire town knew.

As much as I would have rather called her, I knew she was working, and I also needed to get back to work, so I opted for a text, hoping I could fill her in on all the finer details later.

Me:

So don’t get mad…

Cora:

Says every man on the planet before they tell you something you will get mad about…

Me:

This one isn’t entirely my fault.

Cora:

What did you do?

Me:

Apparently my parents’ neighbor was at the restaurant Saturday night and saw us get engaged. She just saw my mother at the grocery store and congratulated her. Which prompted my mom to call me.