Page 4 of Just My Luck

He squirmed in farther and felt around with his hand. Something was back there, but it wasn’t hard like a crystal. It was furry. And it was moving.

A mouse.

He jerked back so hard that his shoulder hit the drainpipe under the sink. Water dripped onto him. Crap, he’d broken the damn thing. No, maybe he’d just dislodged it. He tried to pull himself out, but his upper body was wedged so tightly between the pipe and the cabinet frame that he couldn’t move.

He cursed under his breath. If the cleaning staff found him like this, he’d definitely get fired. What excuse could he possibly have? The gardeners weren’t supposed to go into the hales. Possible excuses raced through his mind.

I was thirsty.

Use the hose.

I thought someone was trespassing.

Under the sink?

I saw a mouse.

Okay, that one might work. He’d seen the mouse go in from outside, and felt a duty to chase it down and capture it. Maybe he’d even get a raise.

If they didn’t have to dismantle this entire cabinet to extract him.

A child’s voice floated from outside the window. “It’s not fair! You said we could go swimming.”

“We can. Just not here. Or at least not now, there’s too many people around.” That throaty voice sounded familiar. Was it the same one he’d heard earlier? The pretty concierge?

“Please, Zara! I’m sooooo hot.”

“Tell you what. You can watch TV inside while your sister does her homework. Then we’ll go swimming at that little beach by the marina when I’m done. Deal?”

“That’s a bad deal,” the child grumbled. “I want a lawyer.”

“I’m the closest thing you’re going to get, and I say take the deal.”

“I suppose that means I’m babysitting again.” A girl spoke for the first time in an unhappy teenage whine.

“Of course you’re babysitting again. It’s either that or school.”

“You shouldn’t use school as a threat, that’s just mean. You know why I can’t go to school.”

“Sorry,” said Zara in that throaty voice. “Low blow. Let me put it another way. I’d be grateful if you’d watch Eddie for the morning. In fact, I’d be so grateful that I’d be willing to consider a sleepover this weekend.”

“Like I have any friends left,” the girl said gloomily. “But whatever.”

“Get to it, then. I have to get to work. Text me for any reason whatsoever, within our previously agreed-upon boundaries.”

A moment later, Lincoln heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps running into the hale. Desperately, he worked to pry his body out from under the sink. Something cracked. Moisture dripped onto him and now a jagged piece of plastic dug into his neck every time he tried to move.

He closed his eyes. Just my luck. Why did everything he tried lately go so disastrously wrong? Ever since that first plane crash, nothing had gone the way he’d planned.

Footsteps raced into the kitchen, then stopped.

“Zara!” the child screamed. “There’s a man’s butt in here!”

3

Zara Morrissey hadn’t gotten far before Eddie’s scream had her racing back to hale twelve. Crap crap crap. Her shift on the concierge desk started in half an hour, and she’d been hoping to get some studying done before that. If she was late for work one more time…

Well, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t gotten fired before. It was kind of her thing. But she liked working at this absurdly luxurious resort. They had excellent poke.