Page 97 of On the Run
“Right.” I cleared my throat and rolled my eyes just a little.
Good Lord, the things I did to hook up with a hot guy.
With one particular hot guy.
Withthisparticular hot guy, who’d be the one and only guy in my life from here on out, if I had anything to say about it.
“Dear Not So Virgo, I know what will make the man you love agree to pretty much anything, especially when it’s something he’s already agreed to and wants as much as you do.”
Beale quirked an eyebrow at me, and I reached up to push his hair off his face.
God, he really was beautiful. God, I really was lucky.
“Blow jobs,” I whispered encouragingly. “They change lives.”
Epilogue
Help Me Hagatha
(Hagatha’s private files)
Dear Aunt Hagatha:
Is it possible to be happier than we are right now?
Beale in Bed
(As in,ourultra-plush bed.)
(All alone.)
Dear Beale,
Your methods of reminding me when it’s time to stop working grow more devious. I approve. I’ll be there in thirty seconds. Don’t start without me… or actually,do.
I love you,
Toby
* * *
“Four point eight million!”Jonquil exclaimed, her eyes as round and wide as the martini glass in front of her as she took in the latest fundraising tallies. “Four point eightmillion?”
Marius Wynott and Dale Jennings exchanged an approving smile. My brother Rafe grinned and said, “Hells, yes.” Shannon Tate, who was back on the Key for the summer to reopen her art gallery, shook her head in amazement. My dad’s eyes got so shiny, he had to mop them with a cocktail napkin and nearly turned over a pitcher of beer in the process. Mason, who Toby had drafted to be part of the committee using what he called Best Friend’s Privilege, saved the beer and only looked a little startled when my dad yelled, “I love this bar!” and turned to cry into his shoulder instead.
The Whispering Key Bridge Fundraising Committee now met biweekly at Fisher’s Wreck, Bobo Fisher’s new beachfront bar. Shocking literally everyone, Bobo mixed a mean martini, and since Bobo was dating Jonquil’s niece, Corey, that meant the committee got their first two rounds of drinks comped.
Since I was living with the head of the committee, this also extended to me, though I happily drank water and passed my drinks on to Toby. A tipsy Toby was a playful Toby, and a playful Toby tended to do wonderful, horrible things like smudge dirt on his forehead to simulate breeding plumage, jump into bed on top of me, throw my book on the floor, and tell me he’d been a naughty plover.
Suffice it to say, I was really glad the actual snowy plovers wouldn’t be breeding again for a solid six months, because I wasn’t sure I could even see one without hearing Toby whisper, “Breed me, plover hunter,” in my ear and having exactly the response you’d expect.
Toby leaned against my side in the red pleather booth and sipped his dirty martini happily. My bracelet of protective stones was back on his wrist where it belonged, and he insisted he’d never take it off. “No offense to Scotty at the Bean, who supplies me with my daily coffee and is therefore the most important man in my life aside fromyou, but this was a definite upgrade in meeting locations.”
I wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pull him more firmly against me. The Bean didn’t have booths like this. “Agreed.”
“Trey.” Jonquil clasped Toby’s iPad to her chest like a beloved child. “Is this…Canthis be right?”
He nodded. “The fine accountants at Trout, Comstock, and Purchess don’t lie, sweetness. I’m fairly certain they don’t even know how to joke.”
