Page 74 of Late Nights & Love Lines
Rowan:It’ll wash out. For most people. But you may get a salon bill for the blond.
Alexei’s impatient ass hovers over my shoulder to stare at my phone.
“What the fuck?” he asks, taking the phone from me.
We grapple with it for a few seconds, but the asshole has the leverage of standing over me, and he zooms in on the photo.
Our squabble has Beck rising from his chair too. “What’s going on?”
Alexei tosses my phone to Beck, and he doesn’t even attempt to hide his grin.
“Who did this? And what did they do?” Beck asks.
I grab the phone out of his hands as another text comes through.
Rowan:Don’t take away her trip into town tonight with her friends.
Rowan:I mean, I can’t dictate how you punish her, but what I have in mind will be the punishment of all punishments without isolating her from her new friends.
Rowan:I’ve got this, just wanted to give you a heads-up because Lottie is pissed.
Rowan:Ah, and Leo isn’t thrilled about the state of the showers.
Rowan:And Maria might be looking for you.
Rowan:But I’ve got Seren handled.
Rowan:Bye.
“What is she, an Olympic texter?” Beck mutters. “How the hell did she get all those messages out before you typed a single one?”
Before I can type a reply, Leo walks in. His face is equal parts amused and pissed off.
“She’s creative, I’ll give her that,” Leo says, dropping into one of the conference room chairs.
“What the hell did she do?” I’m staring at the photo of three very pissed-off nannies. All three are dyed red—their hair and skin.
“The good news is it’s temporary dye. The bad news is my bathhouse now resembles a bloodbath.”
I stare at my phone in a state of shock.
“She unscrewed the shower heads and filled them with dye tablets so when the water turned on, it sprayed through the quick-dissolving casing to the dye tablet. They had been at the beach, so the nannies were in their bathhouse when it happened. She only targeted that one, thankfully.”
“Thankfully? My daughter dyed human beings, and you’re sitting here grinning as though there’s a bright side?”
He shrugs. “I figure you’ll get enough shit from Lottie because two of the nannies you chose for tomorrow have already bailed.” Leo’s gaze shifts from me to Alexei. “And for some reason, Maria had to shower there too instead of going back to her cabin on the other side of camp.”
Alexei mumbles a half-assed apology and storms out of the room. I’m also closing in on the door.
“Sure,” Beck calls after me. “It’s not as though we have a billion-dollar deal on the table or anything. Go do what you’ve gotta do, and then get your ass back here so we can finish this shit.”
I run into Beck’s wife Stella at the front door. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a big teddy bear who values family above all else, so take care of whatever you need to. We’ll see you tonight.” She pats my arm.
“Thanks, Stella. I think Seren’s trying to kill me.”
She laughs and despite myself, I chuckle too. Parenting is not for the faint of heart.
“Nah, she’s just a kid going through a tough time. Tough times still call for tough love sometimes though.” She leans in conspiratorially. “I heard about the dye. I don’t envy your walk into camp, but it’s kind of impressive.”
