Page 14 of Love vs The Ooze Monster!
That improved his mood and redirected his attention. A pleased grin crossed his handsome face. “Formality is never necessary, on my end. You should’ve been calling me ‘Boyd,’ all along.”
In her head, shehadbeen. But keeping the veneer of respectable distance had seemed wise, until she was completely sure about him. …And now she wasn’t so sure about him, at all. He’d fired her! She would simply never get over it.
“Mabel.” Boyd’s voice was intense, now. Persuasive. “Whatever happened with Sylvester… Whatever lies you told me… I believe you when you say you didn’t mean me any harm.”
“If I’d wanted to harm you, I wouldn’t have gotten you that deal with the Morellis!” She agreed hotly. “None of my lies wereagainstyou. They were to protectme.”
“I believe you.” He repeated. “We can work out the problems between us. I’m sure of it. You just have to come back to the warehouse.”
She shook her head, still angry. “Out of the question.”
“I need you there.”
“You don’t need me.” She adjusted her glasses. “Well, youdo,because I’m the only one who knows how to run things properly. But, you have no faith in me to do that, so…”
“I do have faith in you.” He rushed to assure her.
“You accused me of spying for my repugnant step-cousin!”
Boyd’s forehead compressed, unable to find a convenient loophole to deny that fact. “Sylvester and I don’t have the best relationship. I should have cooled down before I spoke to you about that letter I found. I just saw his name and it set me the fuc…heckoff.”
“Sly has that effect on a lot of people.” Mabel admitted.
Her step-cousin was her least favorite person in the world, which was quite an accomplishment. There were quite a few detestable people in Volstead. It made being a criminal all the easier, really. You never had to feel much guilt about choosing victims, because there were so many assholes to choose from.
“And youdidlie to me, Mabel. That’s what started this whole thing.”
She wasn’t going to accept the blame for his idiocy. “If you think that, then you probably made the right choice in firing me, Mr. Cassiday.”
“I didn’t fire you.”
Mabel ignored that denial, caught up in righteous indignation. “I was getting entirely too comfortable at the docks.” Withhim. “Exploring opportunities will be good for me.” She gave a decisive nod, even though she didn’t believe a word of that nonsense.
Finding a new job would be a nightmare and it set her plans backmonths. Mabel enjoyed keeping to a schedule. She wanted to stay with Boyd, but the big dummy had completely wrecked the happy dreams she’d been spinning. And after all the trouble she’d gone through for him!
“I’ll give you a raise.” Boyd offered.
“I’m not interested.” On the street, an ice cream truck rattled by and she raised her voice to compensate for the noise of the engine.
Sometimes, Mabel got Mrs. Patten’s point about the downsides of modernity. Lew had loved cars, but she missed the popularity of horse and carriages. The quiet sounds of them were getting rarer and rarer, as the twentieth century rapidly progressed.
Boyd wasn’t done trying to bribe her. “I’ll build you a corner office. And we’ll figure out extra vacation days.”
“I don’t have time for a vacation.” She had too much to do right here in Volstead. And she loved her job. Herformerjob. Mabel loved going to the warehouse. She loved the docks. Loved bootlegging. Loved being with Boyd. She just flat-out loved…
Drat!
Mabel frowned. “Maybe if you’re hiring next year, I’ll apply again and we can see.” That was a logical plan. She’d consider everything and figure out if Lew had beencompletelywrong about Boyd or justslightlywrong. And, in the meantime, she’d concentrate on claiming the rest of her inheritance.
Boyd blinked. “Nextyear?” He repeated, as if that notion was just insane. “No. I want you back,now.”
She rolled her eyes. “Everything at the warehouse is running like a top. The organizational systems I implemented will see you straight through the fall, with minimal oversight. We’ll reevaluate in January.” It was very sensible.
“We can’t wait until 1923 to deal with the O'Shaughnessy situation.”
That drew her up short. “What do we have to do with those killings at the speakeasy?” Their primary business was in distribution, not retail. Correction:Boyd’sprimarybusiness was in distribution. Mabel’sformerbusiness. At least until January. “According to Frances, the police suspect a gangland murder.”
Or a vampire.
