Page 74 of Reckless Kiss

“She let you in?” Jason said, joining the call. “Sorry I’m late, guys, been to the movies, and the film lasted longer than I expected.”

“What did you go and see?” Daisy asked.

Archer groaned internally. If his brother said Deal with the Devil, he would shrivel up and die.

“Deal with the Devil,” Jason said.

Jason’s face was impassive, but Archer knew his brother and Jason going to the movies to see the film that starred Archer’s maybe wife, who he was avoiding, was not a coincidence.

“Oh, I want to see that film. Is it any good?” Daisy replied.

“Erica Taylor is phenomenal in it. I can see why shewon the Oscar. Just a shame that all the negative press about her overshadows it.”

“That’s awful, isn’t it? I think the other woman is faking that pregnancy. It all seems like a publicity stunt for her to get ahead in acting,” Daisy said.

“Who the fuck is Erica Taylor?” Luke asked.

“She’s a movie star. Where have you been, living under a rock?” Jason said.

“No, just off-grid. We do it when we have time off from the rigs.”

Archer was leaving them to squabble while he and Jason had a staring contest. Archer wanted to know how he knew.

“So, Luke is in Scotland. Daisy is in Italy. Where are you, Jason?” Archer asked.

“London.”

“You’re all much nearer than I thought,” Archer said.

“We’re getting ready to come to the island. Have you set the date?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, it’s in three weeks. Did you know Reverend Chivers has retired?”

“Blimey, I’m not surprised he must be ninety by now,” Luke commented.

“Yeah, I suppose. It seems odd not to have him on the island. He’s featured in our lives so much.”

“Who is his replacement?”

“Reverend Wendy Sprite. She was mighty suspicious of my whirlwind romance,” Archer said.

“They must see many arranged marriages in their line of work. It’s their job to ensure you’re going into the marriage for real reasons.”

“Except I’m not. I felt like I was going straight to hell telling her lies.”

“How did Erica feel about it? It’s a shame you’re not marrying Erica Taylor. She’d win the lady reverend over,” Daisy said.

“Yeah, shame,” Jason said, sarcasm dripping from those two words.

“We fought. I don’t know how she feels. I’m not even sure if we’re still getting married.”

“What did you fight about?” Daisy asked.

“I thought she was a writer, even mentioned it, and she never corrected me,” Archer replied.

“What does she do for a living?” Daisy asked.

“She’s an actress,” Archer replied.

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