Page 12 of Locking Down Qetesh

"That's not what I was doing," I said quickly. "I...can't really explain."

"One of the complicated things?" he guessed.

"Yes."

He nodded, and the two of us headed towards the restaurant. It wasn't particularly busy, which wasn't a surprise given that it was only just midday and a random Wednesday. Having seen it at other times, we were lucky.

A waitress showed us to a table at the back, where Jacob asked to be seated so we were out of the way of the other customers.

"Do you think you're going to get better service or worse because of who you are?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "Depends on how much the chef likes me. Normally, when I take a new job, I try to come and eat at the hotel before I start working there. That way I can get a totally unbiased view of the food and service."

"That's smart. And something I'll save in case I ever decide that I'm done working for myself."

"Is that likely?" Jacob asked.

"Not really. I've not always run Lock and Key parties, but I've worked for myself for longer than I can remember. Not that it was easy at some points in time, but I always managed. And it was better than being a wife."

He raised an eyebrow. "Not the getting married type?"

"It's complicated."

He chuckled. "I'm starting to think that's what you want people to think your main personality trait is."

"It's better than what they do assume my main personality trait is," I muttered.

He gave me a questioning look, but then glanced down at the menu. "So what do you have time for? Full three course meal and coffee?"

"Are you sure we have enough to talk about for three courses?"

"I should hope so if you're going to be at Ella's pre-wedding weekend," he joked. "And you did say you're complicated, I've found that can lead to a lot of conversation."

"Three courses it is." I scanned the menu, though I already knew exactly what I was going to eat.

The waitress reappeared and took our order, before disappearing to get our drinks.

"So, Ella's pre-wedding weekend," he said. "Any idea why she's calling it that and not something snappier?"

"I don't think she's come up with a better name for it, and she hates the term hen party," I responded. "I think the intention was to find a better name, but now it's next week and she hasn't come up with one, so it's kind of stuck."

"Fair enough."

"I didn't realise you were going."

He nodded. "I was always supposed to be," he said. "No doubt she was planning on introducing us then, but our jobs beat her to it."

"They really did."

Our drinks arrived, and I smiled at the waitress. Not having eaten here before, I had no idea if this was her normal level of service, but it felt like it. And it was still good.

"So, how are you finding working for Jinx?" I asked.

"Great, actually," Jacob said, picking up his sparkling water and taking a sip. "I wasn't sure what to expect, especially when I found out that Aine is a first-time hotel owner, but it's all running smoothly so far."

"It might be her first time owning a hotel, but it's far from her first time owning a business. That's the thing with gods, we tend to have a lot of experience."

"Aren't you supposed to say that in a suggestive tone?" he joked.

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