Page 16 of Tattle Tail
His gaze drifted to the direction Peaceable departed, but he could not see her in the crowd.
Another smack to the back of the head.
“Oww! Knock it off, Sunshower in a Marigold Field.” He rubbed the back of his head.
“Oh, the full name. You must be upset.” His sister did not sound concerned. “Look, Zero has that gala thing coming up. Are you bringing a date?”
“I was.” Although after last night, he doubted Serena would go with him to the gala, even in a friend capacity. He needed to find a new date.
“Just make sure they’re, you know…” Mari waved a hand around, searching for the right word.
“Boring?”
“I was going to say respectable. This is a fundraiser for Rebel’s Song. I don’t want it to be Joe’s Trashy Date Show.”
Joseph’s brows went up. Maybe Mari did read about last night’s scene in the news feed. “That is some very judgmental language. You owe my date an apology.”
He had intended to keep his tone teasing, but the words came out far more serious than he meant.
Marigold sighed, then bumped her shoulder into his again. “That was harsh, but seriously, this is important to Zero. No antics. No scenes.”
“Translation: boring.”
“I don’t make the rules.”
“You are literally making the rules right now,” he protested.
Sisters are the worst.
“And you’ll need to wear an evening suit,” she said.
Swirling nebulas, could it get worse?
Chapter 5
Peaceable
“You lied to your mother.”
Peaceable stared at the screen. All evening, she dreaded the message from Joseph, the one calling her out on the lie that got out of control.
He was not supposed to be at the market. Her mother was never supposed to meet her fake fiancé.
“Incorrect. You do have a cargo run tomorrow,”she responded.
“And I’ll be back in time for dinner. Therefore, liar, liar, pants on fire.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she ignored it and wrote,“We need to talk.”
She hesitated to invite him to dinner. When she pictured Joseph in her home, something inside her purred at the notion. She wanted him here. It was not a sensation she had often experienced.
Telling herself that they needed more privacy than they’d get in the company lunchroom, she sent the invitation. “Dinner. Tomorrow, since your schedule is free.”
“We’ve got a lot to discuss, sweet pea.”
She was in a hole and didn’t know how to stop digging.
Joseph
