Page 5 of Sofa King Wanted

“Shh!” she hushes me.

“Ope, sorry,” I whisper.

“You know why he's here?”

“I'm not really sure,” I lie, not wanting word to spread about any of this. Mrs. Nelson tilts her head, eyeing me up. Yikes, she should do interrogations because I already want to spill everything. “I'm working on finding out.”

“Are you going to seduce him?”

“No.” I haven't developed a plan yet, but perhaps that’s not a bad idea. If he falls in love with me, he can't arrest Rhodes because he'll be under my spell.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you could seduce him anyway.”

“Hey, rudeness,” I say, and Mrs. Nelson shrugs.

“You know what I'd do?” She picks up her coffee and looks over the top of it at me. “I would sneak into his hotel room and have a look around.”

Mrs. Nelson is full of good ideas this morning. Not like the one she got when she and the rest of the Stitches decided I should be the new sheriff. Those women get things done, and it’s a little scary when you think about it.

“Are you saying I should break into an FBI agent's hotel room?” I pick up my own coffee and take a sip, but as soon as it hits my lips, I have to fight not to gag. I put it back down and dump in a bunch of sugar.

“I didn’t say to break anything.”

“Hmm,” I say, thinking. The second sip of coffee isn’t as bad as the first. “I’m meeting with him today.”

I check my watch, and I really should get over to the station. He wants to check my files, but I need to make sure it’s okay. I only have one, and it’s barebones.

“He’s coming in.” Mrs. Nelson elbows me in the side. I peek over my shoulder to see him walking into the diner. “I’ll distract him. You go search his room.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, I’ll keep him here.” She nods like she’s done this before.

“Fine.” I chug down the coffee before shoving the rest of my donut into my mouth.

“Holy hell, Georgia. You don't need coffee and sugar,” Jenny chides.

“You could have said that before I consumed it all.”

Mrs. Nelson shakes her head at me. “Like I said, don’t break anything when you're in there.”

“I won't.” I hop off the bar stool, but my elbow hits the coffee, and I knock it over. The cup breaks into three pieces, and my head snaps up to Mrs. Nelson. “That didn't happen.”

I drop money on the counter and head for the exit.

“Sheriff,” Neil says, holding the door open for me. He's wearing another one of his fancy black suits. Is that the FBI uniform?

“Morning!” I chirp. Wow, tone it down, Georgia. Why is my voice so high?

“Are you okay?”

“I'm great, better than great, really.”

He smirks. Oh no, he’s on to me. “You sure?”

“Yep, had coffee for the first time. It's hitting me hard. Anyways, I've got to go.” I try to dart away, but he keeps on talking.

“Are you headed to the station?” Neil’s already trying to get information out of me. Dang, he’s good.

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