Page 131 of Smooth Sailing

She had black-framed glasses perched on her nose, the lenses circles that seemed too small to be useful in correcting vision.

The slash of red that was her mouth shone stark against vampire-white skin he could see was made that way by her natural color and whatever makeup she put on. Her skin was beginning to wrinkle in places, showing her age, and she seemed down with that. And she had those black eyeliner things women were doing these days that kicked out the sides of her eyes, but hers were pronounced almost cartoonishly.

Against the odds, she worked those too, along with all the rest of it.

She didn’t have anything near a “normal” vibe, part of why Hugger instantly dug her. The other part was she looked like the kind of woman you’d want to know.

“Hey, Annie,” Diana called. “Looking for something?”

Annie’s head shot up like she didn’t hear the front door open and two people arrive. She then stared at them as if she didn’t know what human beings were (though, it could be she couldn’t see them through the tiny round lenses in her glasses).

Total blank for Hugger, and the same for Diana, who was on her payroll.

Something cleared, and Annie said, “Oh, hi, Diana.”

Di tugged him to the opposite side of the receptionist counter. “Looking for something?”

The woman appeared massively confused. “I am?”

Diana gestured to the reception desk.

The woman peered down at it like she was supposed to see something there, but she saw nothing there, not even the desk.

Jesus Christ.

Di had warned him her boss was “a little vague,” but damn.

“Oh!” Annie exclaimed. “Right. I’m out here looking for the Bernardi invoice.”

“I sent that last week,” Diana told her. “It’s on the spreadsheet.”

Annie raised her tiny-lensed glasses to Di. “Did they pay?”

“I don’t know. They pay by check. I sent it on Thursday and I haven’t been here for two days.”

Annie’s attention listed to the door and she mumbled, “I forgot to get the mail.”

Shocker.

“I’ll get it,” Di offered.

“I’ll get it,” Hugger declared.

She looked up at him. Annie looked up at him.

Di noticed Annie noticing him so she said, “Annie, this is Hugger. There’s been a situation with one of my father’s clients. A possible threat. Not a credible one,” she said swiftly, even though Annie had zero response to the mention of a threat. “So until we know that isn’t an issue, Hugger is going to hang with me. I hope that’s okay.”

“Will you go get the mail?” Annie asked him.

What she did not ask was about this “situation” or anything about the fact her only employee needed a bodyguard.

Damn, this bitch was a trip.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Great,” Annie said then dropped her attention to the desk again. “Now, what was I looking for?”

Holy fuck.

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