Page 73 of Clean Out of Luck

“I was wondering if you laced them with some undetectable poison—or worse, a laxative.”

“Please, anything I do would be a lot more sophisticated than that,” Claire says as she packs up her purse. “I’m going home. You should go back to your lair, too. There’s not enough time in the day for a new project.”

I have another missed call from Wade. It’s the fourth one.

I should just ignore him, but Phoenix texts again. Threatening to come home.

Well, today I’m going to go confront Wade. Tell him to…to…actually, I’m not sure what I need to tell him. Do I want to tell him off for kissing me?

Well, that would just be weird since I asked him to do it.

Tell him to do it again? No, not that. That sounds desperate and needy. And while I might be both of those things, I don’t want to come across that way.

But then again, he’s called me several times, and Phoenix is threatening me if I don’t answer him.

“I need to stop by the fire station,” I mutter more to myself than Claire.

“Did you go out with Jack?” she asks slowly.

“No, he never really followed up.”

“Good. Then he’s fair game.”

I look at her, stunned. First of all, I’m shocked she wouldeven bother to make sure I’m not interested. Second, I never realized she was capable of any range of human emotion besides contempt. “Youlikehim?”

“Don’t look so surprised. He seemed sweet.”

“I thought you might eat someone like that for breakfast.”

“Or maybe we’ll end up being just right for each other.” She smiles genuinely for the first time since I’ve known her. I didn’t know she was capable of that, either. It’s impressive.

Apparently, she does have a range of emotions beyond snark and annoyance.

I’ve seen a few flares of pettiness but never genuine happiness. This is strange and unusual behavior for her.

“Jack, huh?” I just stare at her.

“He reminds me of a beagle.”

“I don’t know how a man reminding you of a dog is the way to your heart, but whatever floats your boat.”

“Thanks. I need his number from you. Oh, and I found a misplaced comma in the email you sent this morning to Higgin’s law office.” Now Claire’s petty smile is back.

I grab my small backpack from under the desk, stuff my purse inside it, and march out the office door. I do not need to listen to her criticisms. We’re notorious for our comma disagreements.

Before I head home, I’m going to take a quick detour.

One that involves stopping by Station 7 and giving Wade Hendrix the dressing-down of his life. How dare he talk to my brother? That low-handed, sneaky…

I pedal my bike as fast as I can. I have someone to chew out about life.

Now, if only I could avoid asking him to kiss me again.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Wade

The day has been tooquiet. Cats on roofs and small kitchen fires…no big deal. It’s the calm before the storm. I had a feeling in my gut that something would change.

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