Page 69 of A Dirty Business
I grated out, “You don’t say?”
“Oh yes! And they’re here—” Cue a repeat of my cursing episode. She kept on, having no clue. “Or one of them. I know there’s two owners, but I know Ashton. I’ve only heard of Tristian, but Ashton and I used to model back in the day, during college. We kinda bonded because we were both going against our family wishes, you know. Doing our own thing for a while, but then he went out to Cali for a few years. We recently reconnected. What a wonderful surprise. Justin”—she turned to him—“I bet he has no idea you’re my cousin.”
This seemed like a great idea.
I needed to take lessons from myself. If I thought it was a great idea, do the opposite. I should’ve stayed for breakfast and borne through a morning of Healthy Chelsea Montell. It would’ve been better than this.
“Come on. Justin, you probably know most everyone here ...” She faltered, seeing Justin’s arm curving around Kelly’s waist. She blinked a few times before another smile came over her, this one softer, gentler. “Who’s this?”
He’d already done introductions, so his head inclined toward Kelly. “This is my girlfriend.”
A whole new wondrous look came over Vivianna. She blinked a few more times, her eyes darting to Kelly’s hands before lifting back to Justin. “This is serious then?”
His arm tightened around Kelly. “It is. She’s moving in with me.”
“Oh.” Another few blinks before she swallowed, her neck stretching from the motion. “So this isn’t a random or casual stop-in, huh?”
“It’s not, no.”
Kelly shot me a look, biting her lip all over again.
Viv’s disdain was thick as she glared at Kelly, then to Justin. “You drove all the way here to dropthison our lap?” Her tone turned clipped, and her hand gestured to Kelly when she saidthis.
Gone were the niceties.
Justin’s arm moved from behind Kelly. He took a step forward as Kelly moved back a step, her head lowering as she gave me another fleeting look.
Oh, fuck. I was hoping I was reading my best friend right because she wanted a breather from this sudden weird interaction. I cleared my throat. “So, huh, Viv. Where’d you say our boss was? Maybe we could get the rest of the night off.”
She seemed dazed, so it was a pause before she responded. “Wait. Tonight?”
I nodded.
She looked to Justin and Kelly for affirmation. Justin said, “We’re all supposed to work tonight.”
She shifted back on her heels, her very high heels, and why was she wearing heels? She was a model. Good grief. That wasn’t jealousy on my part. Nope. It’s not like longer legs would’ve helped me in my life at all.
“Viv—” Justin started.
I finished, “Hey! Vivianne.”
She was glaring at Justin but drew in a sharp breath before her head snapped in my direction. Her eyes were sparkling from irritation. “It’s Vivianna.”
“Right.” I laughed. “You should probably know what my day job is. I’m a parole officer, so I’m really hoping that you don’t have any parolees in there, and if you do, they can’t be drinking or doing drugs. I mean, I know some parolees are allowed alcohol, but that’s pretty rare, so if I see it, I gotta report it.”
Her eyes were blinking rapidly. “Excuse me? What?”
“Yeah.” I kept on, sounding casual. “Normally in situations like this, on my day off, I don’t like to cause waves, but you know, you’re being a bitch to my best friend, so that ship sailed. Like”—I whistled, the sound before a bomb drops—“sofarsailed that you can’t even see the yacht thing of whatever was happening before. And also, you’re pissing me off.”
“Oh, good god, Jess.” Justin dropped his head, muttering under his breath.
Viv’s eyes were latched to me, glaring. I was fairly certain she’d tell us to leave, or that’s what I was hoping for. “You’re a parole officer.”
“Yep. Excuse my demeanor. If I wasn’t pissed right now, I might give you two thumbs up. But when you started referring to my best friend as ‘this,’ that made me more in the mood where I can show you the teeth that I do still have.”
“You’re out of your jurisdiction.”
“It doesn’t quite work like that. Parole officer. There are some differences, but the main one is that I can’t give you a ticket, so you’re safe to speed in front of me.” I was smiling as I said every word, still sounding casual, like I’d just finished giving her a weather report.
