Page 16 of Kiss Me at Midnight
“Superheroesarereal,” Grandma Dotty insisted. “I married one. And if you’re lucky, you’ll snag one, too.” She gave Jud a significant look. “Don’t settle for a sidekick. Aim high.”
The boat shuddered as the engines started up, and then quieted as the motors settled into a low rumble.
Lily’s cell phone chimed with a text message. She gave it a quick read before climbing the stairs, growing more agitated with each step. “You didn’t tell Dad you were leaving? He’s asking where I am and if you’re with me.” She’d ignored his calls and texts all morning. And she hadn’t answered the door when he’d knocked. Her father could be exhausting, and Lily was already exhausted.
“Running away from home is on my bucket list.” Grandma Dotty tsked. “Check that one off.”
Lily tapped out a quick message. “I just texted him that we’re both fine.”
“Drat. You know what happens when you answer his messages…” Grandma Dotty clapped her hands at least ten times. “Call-mageddon. Your father refuses to acknowledge personal boundaries unless they’re his own. I turned off my flip phone. Follow my lead and turn off your cell phone.”
“But…”
Jud gently plucked Lily’s phone from her hand. “I’m with Dotty on this one.” He turned it off and handed it back to Lily. “We have enough to worry about and he knows you’re both fine.”
There was that, she supposed.
They reached the second level of the yacht, which had a bar with a bartender, and a swanky lounge with white chairs and couches on whitewashed wood floors. It opened to a viewing deck over the rear of the boat.
Rachel sat on a couch with her feet curled up, leaning into Paulo. They both held champagne flutes. They looked content.
But were they in love?
“Champagne?” the bartender asked.
“Not for my grandmother,” Lily said firmly as she took a glass of champagne from the bartender. “No drinks the entire trip. It interferes with her meds.”
“Fine.” Grandma Dotty harumphed. “I promise not to drink, but I don’t promise not to dance or sing. Now, first things first. I’d like an egg salad sandwich.” She nodded toward the bartender, who picked up a phone and relayed her order, presumably to the kitchen.
The yacht slowly pulled away from its moorings.
“We talked about sidekicks earlier?” Dotty’s brow furrowed as she focused on Jud. “But that man in the suit on the dock isn’t your sidekick.”
“No. Darian is my agent.”
“You could do better,” Grandma Dotty said crisply, turning her back on a tray of shrimp cocktail. “Like that kickbutt sidekick of Titanium Talon’s. That woman. She wears an owl costume.”
“It’s actually meant to look like a world war two fighter pilot uniform,” Jud explained. “That’s why she’s called Aviator.”
“That’s right.” Dotty snapped her fingers. “Aviator. But I don’t get the uniform impression. Her lady bubbles are ringed to look like owl eyes.”
Lily choked on her champagne, agreeing with her grandmother but that didn’t mean she wanted boobage to be the topic of discussion with men present.
“That’s…not…right.” Jud frowned. “Her costume is a nod to the men who served in World War Two.”
“That’s a stretch,” Lily felt the need to stick up for Grandma Dotty regardless of it not being an appropriate subject for a social gathering. “Her costume is brown with darker armor around her…”
“Snuggle pups,” Grandma Dotty finished for Lily, moving toward a fruit bowl.
“Man lures,” Rachel contributed from the couch, placing a hand beneath her abundant assets for emphasis and smiling, reminding Lily of her sense of humor. Maybe the time Lily had spent worrying about how Rachel would react to her presence had all been for naught. “I agree. She looks like an owl.”
“Aviator isnota bird,” Jud insisted.
“Then explain the dark circles around her Lily-hammers.” Grandma Dotty held up two apples.
“It does seem sexist, like they want men to notice her Big Kahunas.” Rachel grinned.
“When she runs, you might call them bouncy castles.” Lily couldn’t resist playing along.
