Page 26 of The Spy Ring

NINE

Tiffany

“Of course, cake,”Aria said as if it was the most obvious answer. She spread her arms back on the bench, shaking out her platinum blond hair to enjoy the breeze.

It had been almost a week since Jagger dropped the bomb of us being married and the almost equally embarrassing bomb, of me stripping for him.

I had refused to step outside my apartment since then until David begged to go to the skate park. I said I would go with him if he promised not to actually use his skateboard inside the park.

Henrik thought it would be a wonderful gift to give my boy—who was still working on building his strength—a gift of a skateboard.

I almost punched Henrik. But I said David could practice standing, gaining his balance, and in time, learn to do a trick. That it might help him build his core and leg muscles.

“I asked if Morgana could marry anyone else, who would it be?” Grace said as she pushed her short black hair behind her ear.

I invited the ladies to join me. Only Aria and our latest recruit to the group, Grace Jensen, could come. She was the receptionist at Mimir and apparently, Henrik was scared of her. She had a crush on him and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

Aria and her boyfriend, Alex, had run into her in Vegas back in June. There was some problem with all of them trying to get home, so they decided to drive cross-country together. That’s when they grew close to Grace.

We all sat on a bench in the park and I watched my son move toward the skate park. The heat of the last few days had gone away, leaving a beautiful, warm, summer day.

“And she answered the question. Ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.” Aria waved her hand at Grace.

I giggled at Morgana’s deep love of cake.

“Has she decided on what cake she wants for the wedding?” I asked.

“Yes, but she wants it to be a surprise,” Aria said but shook her head. “As her maid of honor, I feel I need to know these things. Especially, considering the location of the wedding and reception.”

“Edgar is in charge of the flowers,” Grace said holding her hand over her eyes to shield the sun.

“Why would Edgar be in charge of the flowers? Isn’t he the best man?” I asked.

Aria nodded. “Yes, but he told Henrik he knows of a great florist.”

“Okay,” I said but didn’t ask any more questions because I got the feeling someone was watching me.

“That guy is staring at you, Tiffany,” Aria said and I turned to look in the direction of where her head was turned.

I gasped as I realized she was right. A guy in dark gray running shorts that hit mid-thigh and a form fitting bright blue T-shirt leaned against a tree near the bike trail watching me.

“That man is cut.” Aria continued her impressed assessment of his body.

He pushed off the tree and began to jog in our direction. All of us quickly whipped our heads around, taking our eyes off the approaching man.

“Looks like Tiffany might have a hot date tonight,” Aria singsonged.

“I don’t think he’s about to ask me out. Besides, who goes up to a stranger in a park to ask them out on a date?” I said rolling my eyes.

“That’s how I got my date,” Grace said.

“What? You never told me you had a date.” Aria leaned forward, placing her hand on Grace’s shoulder.

“Last week I decided to go for a walk after work. I eventually found a bench that looked out over the lake. Some guy came up and sat. We got to talking and he asked for my number. We’re going out on Friday.”

“All right, Grace! You just might have a date for the wedding.” Aria lifted her hand for a high-five and Grace, with blushing cheeks, slapped it.

“Hello, ladies,” a familiar deep voice said.

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