Page 17 of Fake Dating an Orc Cowboy

Rosey gave me a bemused look. “What did you give him?”

“I assume we should give everyone who assists us a token of our appreciation?”

She lifted her case and laid it on the bed, unzipping it. “A tip?”

Tip . . . I noted the word in my mind. “Yes, that. You gave Miguel a slice of money. I didn’t bring slices with me, but I did bring orc tokens of appreciation.”

“He seemed pretty happy with whatever you gave him.”

I tugged another nugget from my pocket and held it out to her.

She stared down at it lying on her palm. “Please tell me this isn’t real gold.”

“I cannot do this for you because itisgold. We mine for . . .” I started to tell her the story we’d all been told to share, but didn’t feel comfortable lying to her. “I brought some with me.” That felt neutral enough and it was true. “Prior to arriving at the airport, I placed it in the bag they took from us to place inside the guts of the plane.” I waved to the open side pocket where I’d tugged the plastic bag out and stuffed into my pocket after we’d collected it from the long spiraling strip of material spinning around and around with bumping luggage.

“To avoid the metal detectors? How much did you bring?”

“Enough for incidentals.”

She shook her head. “Incidentals, huh? Maybe let me leave the tips and hold onto your tokens of appreciation. You might need those when we get home.” She laid a colorful dress across the bed and lifted out a small bag decorated with flowers. “The staff don’t make much here, so it’s common to give them a tip to thank them if they do something for you, but gold nuggets would be considered too much.”

Not where I came from where it was like any other rock lying on the ground.

“Don’t worry about tips,” she said. “I brought plenty of ones.”

“I’ll reimburse you.” Why hadn’t I thought to study this online? Then I would’ve known about this tip and perhapsknown how many slices of money to bring with me. “Orcs barter. We don’t use slices to pay for services.”

“Cards must be a new thing for you too. And again, I’ve got us covered. You weren’t expecting a Cancun vacation, and you’re doing this as a favor to me. I don’t expect you to reimburse me for anything.”

Yet I would. I’d find a way once we returned home.

She took her small floral bag to the bathroom and returned to finish unpacking in silence.

I followed her lead.

We’d just placed our suitcases inside the closet when her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She tugged it out and stared down at it.

“Are you going to look?” I asked.

“I know who sent the message.” She gazed up with stark sadness on her face. “Macy.”

“Your sister will be excited to know you’ve arrived.”

“Yeah.” Her lips thinned as she swiped into the message, reading it to me. “Are you here yet?!” Her gaze flicked to mine. “My sister adores exclamation points and she’s a little loud, so be prepared for her to gush about almost everything. She’s a sweetie, though. I love her a lot.” She continued reading. “Bring Ostor down to the swim-up bar! Come have drinks with us! Everyone’s already here, and it’s gorgeous!!!” Rosey dragged out the last word, injecting considerable enthusiasm.

I expected her to sag on the bed. Instead, she smiled, though it also held a touch of sadness.

“Three exclamation points, Macy?” she grumbled. “It looks like we’ve been summoned.”

I raised an eyebrow. “To what?”

“Macy wants us to meet them at the swim-up bar.” She rubbed her belly as if it pained her. “I’m excited to see my sister. Jacob? Not so much. I’ve avoided him since he’d pulled measide with a forced look of regret and explained how he’d met someone else, someone who also happened to be the person I grew up sharing everything with except guys. Macy.”

“I imagine you’ll feel awkward at first. As if you must force the same cheer that’s part of your sister’s everyday personality.”

“Good point. I should pretend to be Macy to get through this.”

“Be Rosey,” I said, my voice scraping up my tight throat. “She’s amazing.”

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