Page 21 of Cream and Punishment
And, boy, had I wanted to. There was only one person I’d wanted to talk to when that horrible article came out. One person I wanted to rant to about Richard Besserman long before things came to a head. But I couldn’t. Her job—and in this case, hersafety—took precedence.
So I’d dealt with it myself. I’d gotten myself into that mess, so I’d get myself out of it. I always did.
“Ah, those were good times,” Hattie mused to herself, her dark eyes twinkling behind her spectacles.
I furrowed my brow. “Why are you talking about it like you were there?”
The corner of her mouth inched up in a sly smirk. “I’m afraid that’s a government secret you won’t get out of me.”
The fact that Hattie knew government secrets wasn’t as shocking as it should’ve been. She was an enigma in nearly every conceivable way. And, in retrospect, knowing Hattie was involved somehow with Lex’s past undercover assignment made sense.
Of all the women in our friend group, I’d found Annie at the bookstore where she worked part time, and, after days of agonizing over coming off as creepy or overbearing, had finally worked up the courage to invite her. Lex had brought Kris and Hattie into the fold long before then. Kris, she’d met at the gym. Looking back on it now, my sister had been dodgy and vague when explaining how she knew Hattie. Huh.
“The point is,” Annie butted in, getting us back on track, “you movea lot. And you’ve told us about it literally zero of the times.”
“Sorry.” I shrank in on myself.
If I’d known it would upset them so much, I would’ve waited to move. Maybe. Probably not.
Sweet apple chutney. Iwasimpulsive, wasn’t I? But I had good reasons.
Okay, maybe notgoodreasons, but they were still reasons.
And what was so bad about taking action? I did enough overthinking when it came to analyzing every social interaction I had throughout the day. What was the harm in turning that off every now and then and just going for it? It felt freeing after so much time spent in overdrive.
“But it all worked out, right?” I offered, desperate to move the attention away from me. “Now, since Lex isn’t here, I think it’s a perfect chance to discuss the plans for her bachelorette party, as well as when we can reschedule it to.”
Hattie perked up at this, a devilish grin spreading across her face and her glasses catching the dim lighting. “Jonas is already on board. The date can be pretty flexible, too. I think the hardest part will be finding enough dresses, especially ones big enough.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “McBride actually agreed?”
Jonas McBride, the FBI equivalent of Lex’s manager as far as I was concerned, was a grumpy, no-nonsense silver fox of a man I’d met exactly once. If I hadn’t seen the way his gruffness melted away around Hattie, I would’ve forgotten all about him.
Kris shook her head in amazement, her black bob swinging like tassels. “Why aren’t you and him together? If you can convince him to do something like this, he must have it bad for you.”
“He doesnot,” Hattie protested, avoiding our eyes and fidgeting with her drink. If I wasn’t mistaken—which was a very real possibility where reading people was concerned—she was almostbashful. Hattie was many things. Mischievous. Clever. Playful. But she wasnotbashful.
“Oh, come on,” I prodded. Someone walked past with a plate of food, the scent of barbecue and onion mingling with the loaded nacho toppings on my fries. “There’sgotto be a story there. All I’ve gotten out of you is that you and McBride went to high school together back in the day.”
Hattie shrugged. “And that’s all you’ll ever need to know.”
Kris and I groaned while Annie shrugged it off. She would. Up until today, she hadn’t shown the slightest interest in any guy, and not for lack of trying to get her attention on their part. If Hattie didn’t want to share more, Annie would be the last one to prod for more information.
Kris and I, on the other hand, were all about the mushy, gushy love stories. Hearing or reading others’ stories helped me to live my own vicariously through them, since I clearly wasn’t going to experience one any other way. For Kris, the love stories reminded her of her own.
Must be nice.
“What about a friendly wager?” I offered. “If we beat you at any of the games here, you tell us. And if you win, you get to keep your secrets and additional bragging rights.”
“No dice,” Kris cut in. “She’ll kick our butt on any of the games here. They’re more her generation.”
“Dang straight,” Hattie confirmed with a wink.
Well,crab nuggets. That was the best I got.
“How about,” Hattie offered, dark eyes twinkling behind her spectacles, “a story for a story? I tell more about how Jonas and I know each other if you tell why you were wearing a scarf around your head and ducking out of the squad Christmas party early.”
I narrowed my eyes.Well played, Hattie. Well played.
