Page 76 of Dark Rover's Gift

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FENELLA

"Have fun." Din pulled Fenella into his arms. "And be careful out there."

She rolled her eyes. "What possible dangers can await me in wholesale vegetable markets?"

"Oh, I don't know. You seem to be a magnet for trouble."

There was something to what he was saying, but since she was traveling with Kyra, her sisters, and Max, Fenella doubted that anything worse than sore feet awaited her.

"I'll be fine." She stretched on her toes and kissed his dimple. "Max is coming with us. I'm sure he will be armed to the teeth."

"I hope so." For a change, there was no note of jealousy in his tone at the mention of Max.

"You know, you can still change your mind and come along." She pulled out of his arms. "It would be fun to explore the city together."

He sighed. "I wish I could, but I have a virtual stack of final papers to grade, and each is about a hundred pages. It will take me weeks to go through them all."

"Poor baby." She cupped his cheek. "Well, good luck with that. I'm planning on having lots of fun with Kyra and her sisters."

"Are any of the girls joining you?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask Kyra when she called to invite me. I was too surprised by the gesture, but I assume that the girls are staying behind to watch their younger cousins."

Kyra had said that it was an opportunity for Fenella to get out of the village, and she knew how stifled Fenella felt about being cooped up in the small community.

The truth was that the urge to escape and disappear into anonymous crowds had subsided since she'd started her job at the Hobbit, but some of it was back after a whole day of inaction on Monday.

Well, there was the action in bed with Din, but that had only filled up a couple of hours. She'd visited the gym, had taken a swim in the pool, and even checked out Ingrid's design center to see which houses were available, but none of that had been enough to stifle the simmering disquiet under her skin.

"Do you want me to walk with you to the parking structure?" Din offered.

"I know the way. Start on those papers, Professor."

When she got out of the elevator on the parking structure level that Kyra had indicated, Fenella immediately spotted the group of ladies clustered together right outside the entrance. Next tothem, Max stood with another guy she didn't recognize, who was leaning against a pillar.

"Am I late?" Fenella said as she joined the group.

"You are right on time." Kyra patted her shoulder. "We are early because we are all excited. Jackson is picking us up with his van."

"Awesome." Fenella nodded at the sisters, still learning to match names to faces. Soraya was the eldest, and the one she remembered most easily. She nicknamed her the dragon mom. Yasmin was easy to identify by the grief that was etched in the lines around her eyes. But she wasn't sure who Rana was and who Parisa was.

"Morning, Fenella," Max said. "Let me introduce you to Theo. He's going to accompany us today."

The guy dipped his head in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Fenella. I've heard so much about your readings at the Hobbit Bar."

She smiled. "You should come this weekend and bring an object. I'll do a reading for you."

Max cleared his throat. "We might leave for Egypt beforehand. I don't think that arrangement will take an entire week."

"Right." Her smile wilted.

Normally, she would have been super excited about a trip to a place she hadn't visited yet, but working at the Hobbit was satisfying in a way she hadn't experienced in any other job before. She'd always loved bartending and everything that came with it, but her nightly performances and the attention and laughter they garnered kind of rounded the experience, turning the bartending from a job to a calling.

It was so silly to think of it that way. It wasn't like she was saving lives or making life-changing discoveries. But this was what made her happy, her little corner of the universe that she was the star of, where she shone.

"The Hobbit is not going anywhere," Theo said. "It will still be there when you return from Egypt."

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