Page 62 of Your Coffin or Mine
I stare at her in confusion. “Creepy?”
She blinks and looks at me like I’ve grown another head. “Yes, emphasis on creepy. As in, I saw something move in that lake around this place on the drive up. It was huge.”
Neither Doyle nor I react to her apparently having seen Nessie in the moat outside. Yet another issue we haven’tdiscussed.I’m surprised he broke through the top layer of ice. He’s probably hungry.
Doyle looks at her and frowns. “Alligators.”
She mirrors him and a determined glint flashes in her eyes. “Right, alligators, not creepy at all. Wait... alligators in Romania in the middle of winter?”
Blithering idiot! If he’s going to lie, couldn’t he come up with something more believable? He’s not usually this daft.
The frown on his face transforms into a cold and calculating smile. “Rest assured, you and all the guests are perfectly safe here.”
Her eyes flit between us as if to gauge our sincerity. Doyle, oddly enough, looks like he’s wishing for her quick and imminent death.I like her.
She uncrosses her arms and leans across the table. “Fine. But let’s get this straight here and now. I am the chef in this kitchen, and you two will stay out of it.” She jabs a finger at Doyle, her face alighting in anger swiftly. “Do you know how disgusting it is to be doing that here?”
I blink in confusion just as he turns to look at me.
“Most airborne sprays shouldn’t mix with food, and by the smell of it, it’s toxic. Get out. For real, just get out,” she says as she grabs a washcloth and begins cleaning and wiping the counter like a madwoman.
“Are you, an employee, tellinguswhat to do?” Doyle stares at her like an idiot and the anger on his face clears. I bite back a smile and pull him from the room.
“Yes. I take food safety very seriously. I’m surprised you haven’t poisoned yourself yet, if this is what you get up to in here.” Then she mutters under her breath, “Should I hide the oil from these two, so they don’t start rubbing it on each other?”
“I can’t just leave you here until you sign a contract and speak with me properly,” Doyle insists.
“This should be interesting,”I drawl, letting my grin fly.
Doyle eyes me with disgust. “Oh, you think that was funny, do you? Take care of Nessie and Hilda tonight,” he says under his breath. “The guests will be here in the morning, and so will the new hotel manager. We can’t have this happening again.”
“I’ll have a talk with thealligators,” I say as I walk away.
He sighs and I grin.Alligators indeed.
Chapter 20
AUBREY
I twirlthe rose in my hand, grappling with my emotions. This feels like a first crush, the kind where you’re skipping on the clouds, and the possibilities are endless because the person you like actually likes you back and... I am scared shitless.
I stare out, unseeing the grandeur before me, sitting in one of the bloodred antique chairs in the hallway near my room. Whoever came up with this color scheme really went all in with the burgundy walls, gold sconces, and dark wooden furniture. It truly is like a gothic fairytale castle around here, a fairytale just like the castle’s owner.
Me:
Thank you for the rose. It’s beautiful.
How can such a grump be this sweet?
Vlad couldn’t know, but this simple rose actually means a lot to me. I thought Chad had ruined flowers for me forever with the endless romantic scenes he would construct. Even after the first, when I realized it was all an act, I still somehow found it adorable. Then it quickly became an annoying situation wherehe would show up late to wherever he wanted to go live, then push a bouquet of flowers into my hands a few seconds before the camera was rolling—the jerk.
In the end, I couldn’t argue against making more because he wasn’t wrong; they did get a lot of views.
My phone buzzes, and I look down to see a message from Bernadette.
Burnie:
You are going to have to hold me back from destroying this man. I want to reach out and slap his bitch ass upside the head. Tell me you have seen this before I kill maim destroy!
