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Katya rolled her eyes. “Tess is tracking the inner circle to see if they are getting any closer to her sister Onyx.”
“Hey!” Tess shouted and smacked Katya’s leg.
“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me,” Elena reassured her. “And you won’t be seeing me looking dreamy eyed at any man, least of all Viking.”
Tess perked up. “Really? Is the honeymoon over already? Did he go all Vader on you? This soon?”
She wasn’t exactly sure what she meant but did get the gist of it. “Well, he kind of locked me in an ice-cold cellar, deprived me of decent food, and then he put a ring on my finger without asking.”
“I’ve heard worse love stories,” Tess claimed, making Elena doubt her sanity. There was no love story here.
“I second that,” Tommie said, taking another sip of his drink.
A collective sigh almost shook the table. When Elena gave him a cursory look it was Tess who answered.
“Tommie boy is known for his notoriously bad dates.”
“Can’t say I can relate,” Elena admitted. “I only ever dated Viking. And look how that turned out.” An involuntary laugh escaped her throat. She needed another drink.
It was as if Tommie read her mind because he gestured toward a waiter, making a swirling motion. She wasn’t sure what it meant. Maybe it meant one more drink or an entire bottle.
“Could be worse,” Tess said. “Before I met Luca, I dated my former college professor. He stole my work and sold it to Big Pharma. Then, he had the gall to claim I should be thankful since I,” she made air quotes,” lacked any business skills and was quirky.”
Elena could see the quirky thing but wisely shut her mouth. Katya, however, did not have that notion.
“You are quirky, Tess, and we love you for it.”
Tess beamed. “I love you too, Pink Panther. And I know I’m not exactly Plain Jane. Thank God. Normal is boring. It was his tone that indicated women don’t have the brains to crunch numbers.”
“That’s just rude,” Elena agreed.
“I’ve got a date tomorrow night,” Katya said.
“Really? What about Kristoff?” Elena had to ask.
“What about him? He hardly knows I exist.”
“That sucks,” Elena echoed Tess. It felt wonderful to just speak her mind. There was no one there to hold it against her. How incredibly freeing. Maybe she needed to carry a flask with her at all times.
Katya played with the cherry from her drink. “Either way, I’ve decided to stop waiting for him to notice me. Be the captain of my own ship and all.”
Tommie whistled. “Go, Katya!”
“Hush!” Katya glanced at Baran who stood a few feet away. “I kind of didn’t tell Kristoff. I don’t want him to vet the guy first, then find all kinds of flaws and prevent my date. Or worse, send a security detail with me.”
Tess placed her elbows on the table, leaned forward, and looked all business. “Do you need me to create a diversion and distract him?”
Elena was about to ask how she was going to do that, but Katya shook her head.
“No. I’ve told him I’m going to a friend’s house to study. Then I’ll sneak out.”
“Just make sure he isn’t some weirdo,” Tommie advised. “There are some crazy people out there. I would know. Let’s see, so far, we’ve got Parrot Man, Sewer Breath, Captain Sparrow.”
“Johnny Depp’s hot, so that couldn’t have been so bad,” Elena surmised.
Tommie gave her a pitying look. “Not only did this guy look nothing like the hot actor, but he also wanted me to play Captain Hook. With an actual rubber hook, if you know what I mean.”
“No need to draw a picture,” Katya grumbled.
