Page 61 of Fall Into Temptation
She came out sneezing and swearing, platform boots first followed by black and white striped tights and then her corduroy romper.
They helped her down, and Gia offered Ellery a drink from her water bottle while Eva picked cobwebs and dust bunnies out of her dark hair.
They were so busy whispering none of them noticed when the door opened.
“Aha!” Bobby shut the door behind her and crossed her arms. “Who wants to go first?”
“Hello, Bobby,” Ellery said coolly.
Eva tugged Gia out of the line of fire. They backed up against the conference table and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.
“Hello, Ellery.”
The women stared each other down for nearly a full minute.
“Girl, what the hell?” Bobby broke first. “You knew the rules. Why didn’t you just tell us about Mason and let us do our thing?”
“I planned to!” Ellery said defensively. “I just got swept up in it. I mean we’d barely started dating, and then he was proposing and it was just magical. And I was so excited.”
“You should have told us.”
“I know. And you shouldn’t have kicked me out.”
“I know,” Bobby agreed.
“What’s happening?” Eva whispered to Gia.
“Shh,” her sister shushed her. “They’re communicating to solve their problem.”
“That’s weird,” Eva hissed back.
“Shut up.” Gia nudged her.
“I’m sorry,” Ellery said offering her hand to Bobby.
“I’m sorry, too,” Bobby said, shaking Ellery’s hand.
“See? That’s how grown-ups solve their problems,” Gia said smugly.
“What are you trying to say, smarty pants?”
“You’re asking everyone their advice on what you should do about Donovan. Why don’t you just go talk to him about it?”
“Shut up,” Eva sighed.
“Now, what are we going to do about this disaster with Eden and Davis?” Bobby asked.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Donovan stared through the open door of his office at the teenage tuba player sitting glumly in the cubicle cell. The kid had been caught red-handed with the empty vat of dish soap used in Monday’s fountain sabotage under his bed. To teach him a lesson, his parents reported him to Donovan and were refusing to pay the kid’s fifty-dollar bail.
It made Donovan’s life just a shade worse than it already was.
Instead of sleeping in his own bed tonight or finding a way to wrangle another overnight invitation from Eva, he’d be hitting the lumpy couch and listening to this kid recap the entire storyline ofThe Lord of the Rings.
Sometimes his job just plain sucked.
He picked up Eva’s book and found his place.
