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“No. I was only called in by the agency because the scheduled receptionist quit suddenly and her backup was on vacation.”
“So you don’t think you’ll see this guy again?”
It felt like someone had punched me right in the gut at her words. A strange melancholy washed over my body as I thought about this. “No, not unless I join that gym and show up at his scheduled training times.” Luna’s expression brightens, and she sits up straighter. “There’s no way I’m doing that Lu-Lu. First, I would be a horrible stalker with this hair. And second, while he wasveryattractive, I am not chasing after a guy. Especially not at 5 AM in the morning. It’d be a waste of my time.” Luna has no comeback for that. “Plus, he told me he gave up dairy years ago.”
“Oh my God!” she cries. “What kind of monster gives up cheese?”
“Right.”
“I think you dodged a bullet to the ovaries on this one Lex. Can you imagine a life without cheese?”
“Even thinking about it makes me anxious.”
“For real though.”
We look at each other, mirror looks of horror on our faces, then burst out in laughter. Wiping the tear that is threatening to escape, I chuckle over at Luna and get up from the table. Giving her a quick hug, I walk over to the counter and start putting away all the baking ingredients. I don’t feel like baking out my feelings anymore. The confessional with Luna helped.
“Are you at Bake, Rattle and Roll in the morning?”
“Mid-morning but yeah. I’ll be there until three.”
Luna nods, mindlessly wandering around the kitchen. “I have an afternoon shift at the tea store tomorrow, so we’ll probably miss each other.” Her voice sounds dejected and sad. She really hates working at Diana’s Tea. For a girl whose body is probably made up of more coffee than blood, working at a tea store in the mall is her nightmare. Sadly, it was the only part-time gig with flexible hours around her classes that worked for her at the beginning of the year. So she sucks it up, even now that school is over and the summer has begun, because a pay check is a pay check. But there are days, like right now, were I can tell that the thought of stepping foot in that small store depletes her energy. Adulting sucks.
“Any leads on a full-time job? You said you were thinking of looking since your online classes don’t start until September.”
“Yeah, I’ve started looking. But I’m not sure what the hell I’m looking for.”
Coming up to her, I stop Luna’s pacing by placing a hand on her shoulder. Turning her, I wrap her in my arms and give her a hard, tight hug. I feel the tension drain out of her as soon as she wraps her arms around me too. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
“There’s no rush Lu-Lu. We’re doing good just as we are.”
“I know.”
“Good. Now, off to bed! A new adventure awaits us tomorrow. And I need to go dream about a juicy ass.”
“Eww, Lexi,” she pushes away from me, chuckling at my wording.
“You know what I meant!”
Giving me one last quick hug, we say goodnight and go our separate ways. As I’m getting ready for bed, more images of Grant flash across my memory. His shy smile. His devastating cheekbones. And yes, even his ass. But it’s the way his green eyes twinkled back at me as I talked about food that stays with me long after I drift off to sleep.
It feels like I’d just fallen asleep when a loud ring has me sitting up in bed. My hair is covering one eye and my heart feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest as I try and catch my breath. Looking over at my cell phone, I glare at the name and face shinning up at me.
He issogoing to owe me for this. And why the hell was my ringer on?
Pushing the hair out of my face, I lean over and grab the phone.
“Pick up the phone!” Luna’s voice cries out through our paper-thin apartment walls. I don’t respond to her, knowing she’s probably already buried herself under a pillow to block out the noise.
Swiping to accept the call, I shimmy backward so I can rest against my headboard. “Which precinct are you at?” I ask as soon as my side connects.
Harrison barks back, confusion in his voice. He sounds a bit off, not his normal cool and even self. “What? Lexi, what the heck are you talking about?”
“You’re calling me at,” I touch the top of my cell to see the time, “almost four in the morning so I assume it’s to come bail you out of jail because you can’t face your family right now. It’s a smart move to call me. Cassidy would flay you alive and your mom would have way too much fun asking the police countless questions.”
“Lexi, no, stop. That’s not why I’m calling.”
“Are you sure. I promise to keep your secret for, oh, maybe a day or two,” I laugh into the phone, pleased with the annoyed sounds Harrison was making.
