Page 50 of Bones

You have a green thumb. I have a poison one.

I chuckled. “You won’t hurt anything.”

I hurt that guy. And maybe the whole business. You shouldn’t have fired him. I should’ve?—

My hand covered hers to still her typing. “He’sthe one who fucked up. It’s on him, not you. Got it?”

She nodded.

I didn’t need words to know it was a lie.

She picked up her book and pretended to read, and I gave her that space.

For then.

Grabbing a menu and another hot chocolate, I brought both over. “Decide what you want to eat.”

She pushed the menu across the table without glancing away from her book.

“The charcuterie plate is served with the same raspberry habanero jelly I have at home.”

She dragged the menu back, still without looking at it.

I headed into the kitchen to see Chris typing on his phone. “Already got a few replacements in mind. I’ll have them each work a night, see who lasts and who gets voted off the island. That cool?”

Before I could answer, Kev came in. “He’s gone, but he tried to pull aHalf Bakedand ask if anyone else wanted to go with him.”

“And?” I prompted.

Chris did a jerk-off motion—because upscale or not, all restaurant kitchens were the same. “Like anyone would give up this gig for that douchebag.”

Kevin lifted his chin. “That about sums up their responses.” We started back to the office, and he waited until we were out of earshot to say, “Soooo about you stepping back…”

“I’ll wait till the position is filled.” I thought about how that would delay my plans with Aurora and take time from her.

Un-fucking-fortunately.

And then I thought about the apprehension still sitting heavy in my gut. Memories of Marissa’s fake laughter echoed in my head.

Or maybe not…

CHAPTER NINE

HEARTBREAK HOTE—CABIN

AURORA

“Go sit.”

I didn’t.

“Aurora,” Deke said, his deep voice filled with warning.

I ignored the warningandhim.

Deke stood at the stove, prepping pasta sauce that smelled spicy enough to make my nose tingle. Unlike most times when he cooked, he actually had a recipe for this dish. I peeked at it again before grabbing the heavy cream he’d need soon. Pouring some into a measuring cup, I returned the carton to the fridge and ventured close enough to set the cup within his reach.

A critical error.

---