Page 109 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

Cassel makes a noncommittal noise as he hurries off while Leland badgers him about gun safety.

“Do I even want to know?” I ask.

“If you want to know invividdetail, just ask Leland. But Cassel shot The Fence. It was a huge ‘tragedy’ and shocking that Leland has even forgiven him. If I’d done that, he’d have staked my ass to that fence.”

“That does sound like quite the tragedy.”

The others eagerly hurry back to the table as Tavish turns to me. “You feeling better now that the Miller meeting went smoothly?”

I debate that. I mean… I guess I never really feltsuperthreatened. I felt a bit anxious, but I don’t think Miller even paid me any attention when he had the others who were clearly a whole lot more concerning breathing down his neck.

“Yeah… I think I am.”

“Good. When we’re done with this nonsense, can I take you on a proper date?”

I nod. “Yes… please. I want that… really badly… if you do.”

He gives me a grin. “I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t want to, trust me.”

“Thought maybe it was a pity date,” I tease.

“Jackson’s the only one you’ll find me pitying.”

“As you crochet clothes onto his naked body?” I joke.

Tavish looks horrified by this. “I wouldn’t do that. Nope. You shouldn’t believe any of that.”

“You know it doesn’t bother me, right? You were allowed to like and flirt with people before you met me. It’s… questionable flirting at the very least, but… everything you’ve done is questionable.”

“That’s understandable,” he says as he turns to the door. “But I promise it was nothing. I did it to harass the weasel. Nothing bothered him more, so I found myself doing it for kicks and… it just kind of became a thing. But I promise it didn’t mean anything.”

“Tavish, you really don’t have to reassure me.” I slide up behind him and press my lips against his ear before he passes through. “And after dinner, how about I take you out for dessert?”

“Oh fuck… I don’t think I’m actually hungry for dinner now. I might as well go straight for the dessert,” he mutters.

“It smells too damn good in here to skip,” I say as I slide past him, leaving him behind and loving the way it makes him give me such a longing look.

TWENTY-SEVEN

ELLIS

“We’re going to head out for a bit,” Tavish says. “We’ll be back tonight.”

Leland suggests, “Why don’t you take the murder van? Micah needed something at the house anyway, so we’ll pack in his car. He said he loves it when we harass him.”

“Did I?” Micah asks.

“That’s what I heard,” Leland says as he tosses the keys to Tavish, who catches them. “It’s honestly best to take the murder van anyway, in case you need to get rid of a dead body or abduct anyone. Trust me. You can pack that fucker to thebrim.”

“How… many…” I pause. “You know what? I don’t care. This is information I don’t ever need to know. Should never know.”

“You want to know how many people and/or bodies have been in that van?” Leland guesses.

“A little bit.”

“Not enough,” he says, and with that, he gives us a wave. “Have fun. Be safe. If you’re going to murder someone, make sure you do it swiftly and efficiently.”

And now it’s just the two of us.

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