Page 67 of Turnabout Is Fair Cosplay
The florist brings out my succulent crown, and I gasp. All the soft greens and sagy pinks are breathtaking.
“Allow me,” Mike says, placing the crown on my head.
“Some pins for the lady,” the florist says.
Mike nods his thanks as he slides a few bobby pins in place, securing my crown. He brushes my hair back, and for a moment, I swear his hand lingers on my shoulder.
“How do I look?” I tap my phone to the florist’s card reader and thank him.
“Like a Del Mar princess,” Mike says, holding open the door.
“Tell me about your hustle. Did you buy a kayak? Are you going to paddle couples from Kansas into La Jolla’s famous sea caves?”
“Why do you think I’m fixing up Grandma’s beach house? Vacation rentals with an epic view of the ocean. If I can rent it out twelve days out of thirty, I’ll be just fine.”
“But where will you live?”
“On the road. There are Shakespeare festivals across the country and plenty of friends with couches.”
“You can’t be serious. Living out of a suitcase?” I hate the idea. Even more, I hate the idea of not having access to that view, Mike’s library, or the man himself. “What about a—”
I stop myself before sayingwife and kids, but Mike’s looking at me expectantly, seriously. “What about this?” I ask, recovering. “Won’t you miss this? La Jolla is your home. You have roots. Red licorice at your grandma’s beach house. You can’t just leave it!”
“Why not? You left lawyering.”
“That’s different!” I snap.
“Sure.” Mike folds his arms and leans against the passenger door of his truck, all smug and smirking. “After I graduate, I’m taking a year off to travel the world. Learn some foreign languages.”
“But the memories.”
“Don’t worry. You can’t sell those.” He cocks his head. “You’re going all sentimental on me. Careful now. You’ll give away that there may actually be a beating heart in there.”
My heart is beating out of my chest, but Mike can’t know that.
“You want a ride to your next client?”
“Take me home,” I demand.
We drive back to Neptune, and there is a part of me—a big part of me—that wants to pretend that this is my new forever. That I’ve found happily ever after right now. But that’s ridiculous, because I don’t have anything, let alone forever, with Mike, and I can’t have a forever at Neptune if he plans on renting it out as an Airbnb.
So why do I want to pretend?
Chapter 23
I follow Mike into his kitchen when we get back. I’ve got ten minutes before I have to head to Mitzy, and changing my shoes will take only two. While he heads into the hall, I run my hand over the new white cabinets. “Look at you moving up in the world,” I call. “What’s next? Countertops? The kitchen sink?”
I help myself to an open pack of Oreos I find in the newly installed pantry cupboards. Oreos are not as good as the cookies that were in the jar the other week, but I’m not choosy when it comes to sugar. “You wouldn’t happen to have any more of those snickerdoodles, would you?”
“No,” Mike yells from down the hall.
“Oh.” I bite into my Oreo. “Tell me where they’re from, and I’ll pick some up after my last walk today.”
Mike returns with a bottle of sunscreen in his hand. “No.”
“What’s that for?”
“You.”
