Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Dream pointed at me and opened her mouth.
“Put your fuckin’ hand down,” Eric growled.
That growl was hot too, as ever, but this time it was also mega freaking scary.
She put her hand down but asserted, “He said ‘babe,’ and Jess, your take-no-shit friend, took his shit, did what he told her to do and shut up.”
“Actually, I don’t think Jess was right about what Eric was saying,” Luna stated. “I think he said ‘babe’ to share that this shit is between you and me as sisters and to remind her she should butt out. And in normal circumstances, he’d be right. Except Jess is more of a sister to me than you ever were, so it’s the other way around.”
Ouch!
“These bitches actually take no shit,” I heard Shirleen murmur.
“I like it,” Daisy murmured back.
Dream, however, looked like she’d been slapped, and verbally she had.
“I guess I know where I stand,” she said.
“I would hope so, since you put yourself there,” Luna shot back.
That was definitely a score, and Dream knew it, which was why she turned on her foot and semi-waddled out.
For my part, I turned to Luna. “I’m sorry, Loon. It wasn’t my place to intervene, and I made it worse.”
“You know,” Luna replied, “I think half her problem with me is that I have you, and Raye, and Harlow, and she doesn’t have anybody, and she’s jealous as fuck.”
I’d say this was a good bet.
Harlow had gotten close and she asked, “What’s the other half?”
“No flipping clue,” Luna said.
Raye was also there. “You okay?”
“Par for the course,” Luna mumbled.
It was then, Tito was there, behind the bar with Luna and me.
“You haven’t had lunch, Luna,” he noted.
“It’s been busy,” she muttered.
“Lucia has set up a chef’s table in the kitchen.” He held his hand out to her. “Come.”
She took his hand, shot a look at all of us, and Tito led her out from behind the bar to the kitchen.
“I wasn’t sure about the Santa guy,” I heard Daisy whisper. “He looked like a gangster at the funeral, and he looks like a Jimmy Buffet impersonator now. But I think I like him.”
“I hear that,” Shirleen replied. Then she said, “Excuse me,” got up and walked right into the kitchen.
“Should I go get her?” Cap asked Raye.
“Not on your life,” Raye said to Cap.
Cap smiled at his woman.
I turned my attention to Eric and smiled at him.
Then I tapped the menu and asked, “What can I get for you, baby?”
Eric took a stool.
Cap took the one beside him.
Daisy scooched over.
And we heard Tex bellow from the cubby, “Can’t anyone read in this town or has the sun fried your brains? It says sugar cookie peppermint mocha and I…don’t…deviate!”
Which made Daisy laugh her amazing bell laugh.
But the rest of our laughs were just normal.
FOURTEEN
GENERALISSIMO HOT GUY
It was a little after 7:00, our shift was over, so Harlow and I were walking to our cars.
I had a lot on my mind.
The least of which was that, when she came on shift, I’d quizzed Shanti about the Oasis Christmas decorations.
She’d told me that Bill and Zach (our self-appointed community organizers and Oasis shared-space decorators) had asked Dreamweaver Inc. (our landlord) if they could put up holiday decorations.
Dreamweaver had answered by giving them a budget and the number to a storage unit where they could haul the stuff they bought when the holiday was over.
Yeah.
It sounded crazy, but our landlord was just that awesome.
As much as I could still marvel at how awesome our landlord was, again, that was the least of what was on my mind.
The majority was twofold.
First, that morning I hadn’t done what I promised myself I would do. Jump out of bed, hit the grocery store, then go back to Eric’s and make the mocha icebox cake so it had plenty of time to ferment (or whatever) by that evening, so Eric and I could eat it.
The second was, Eric had come to lunch, but I hadn’t heard from him since, and before he left from lunch, we hadn’t made plans for that night.
Things had been intense, and we’d been pretty up in each other’s space even before I got my head out of my ass. So maybe he needed a break.
But I thought he’d been pretty taken by my nightie, my copious pastitsio consumption interrupted his plans for me (and I would be remiss not to note that Eric had three helpings too), and I’d gotten the impression that morning he was all in to get back on track with those plans, ASAFP.
Despite wanting to see him, if he needed space, I could give him space. It’d give me time to get to the grocery store to get the cake ingredients and throw that baby together.
Man, I sure was glad I owned a springform pan, even if I’d never used it.