Page 22 of Midnight Serenade
I sighed. Well, I guessed I’d never know.
I went and pounded on the bathroom door. There was a loud yelp, and a sound like a bar of soap dropping onto the shower floor. I smiled evilly. “Micaela, you’re using all the hot water, and I could have died out here a million times already! There could be assassins in my bedroom at this very minute!”
I heard Micaela growl and mutter under her breath, and then she yelled, “Kazi is on duty right now!”
“Kazi is staring like a lovesick cub at the water,” I informed her.
“Kazi, stop staring at the water, you midget, and guard our girl!” Micaela yelled.
Kazi sighed and came in, nosing the door closed. I locked it for him and rubbed his sea-damp fur. “I was just teasing her, Kazi. You can stare at the waves all you want.”
He huffed and licked me. I guessed I was forgiven for cutting short his enjoyment of the ocean. I grabbed a towel out of the dirty clothes and wiped his fur down until he was dry. “You need a bath. You smell like wet fur still. Feel okay about taking a shower before my shower?”
He snorted and nosed my hands, and I took that to mean that he’d love a shower.
I laughed and went to grab my pajamas.
I guess I’d see how things went with Sebastian tomorrow. I mean, I couldn’t botch things up any worse, could I?
Famous last words.
Chapter 9
Grace & Sebastian
We got up early the next morning and went down to breakfast. I wasn’t really one to have sugar in the mornings—it made me queasy—so we all went to the same diner where I’d met Rafe and piled into a booth, with Kazi at our feet. We ordered, and as we were waiting for our meal, Rafe and Sebastian caught up with us.
“Hello, lovely ladies,” Rafe said as he slid into the booth next to Micaela. “My slave driver has given me a reprieve for a few hours and I’m going with you guys on your excursion today, if you’ll have me?”
Mama looked at him over the rim of her cherry-red glasses. “And who might you be?”
Rafe smiled disarmingly. “A friend of the group.”
“Hmph.”
I hid my smile by taking a drink of my water. Mama was especially feisty this morning. And she was pouting a little because Micaela had gently asked her to leave her bat in the suite today, promising that she would take care of anything that came my way.
I fully believed it after watching Micaela’s workout routine yesterday. I’d had to go with her to the boxing gym becauseshe couldn’t leave me alone. Not only could she run any thugs you cared to name into the ground, but I also didn’t see them surviving her right hook. I’d hit the bag at the gym a few times, but Micaela had nearly knocked it off the chain that hooked it to the ceiling.
I’d left from that experience with my head in the clouds and had gone straight to my suite to fix some chapters that needed to be updated to show off Micaela’s fierceness.
I fidgeted with the straw wrapper and glanced at Sebastian, who’d said a soft good morning to everyone but was being awfully quiet otherwise.
“Did you sleep well, Sebastian?” I only realized I’d said the words out loud because I had the sudden, violent impulse to shove my foot into my mouth.Seriously? That’s what you wanted to ask him? I sighed. I might be more socially awkward than I’d feared. Maybe all those times I had to hide out in a police precinct had stunted my social growth.
Sebastian’s forest green eyes, warm with emotion, held mine. “I did, Grace. Thank you. Did you?”
Umm, no I did not. I was up all night thinking about him.
I shook my head and grimaced. “Not so much. Mama snores.”
“Grace Evelyn Liora, you take that back! I do not!”
I laughed and patted her hand. “I was just teasing, Mama.”
Sebastian smiled at our interaction. “Are you ready for the turtles today?”
Excited didn’t quite cover how I felt about our excursion. I’d wanted to swim with turtles my whole life. I had to wonder if this was a popular excursion, or if Sebastian was a good guesser? “I’m super excited about today. It’s literally a dream come true. Thanks for setting everything up again.” I smiled shyly and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Next time I get to pick and plan the excursion.” I held my hand out to him to shake on it. “Deal?”
