Page 14 of Sugar and Spice
“Sounds perfect,” I assured Bunny. “We’re in.”
“Awesome! See you then. Don’t stay up all night, you two.” She wiggled her fingers at us in goodbye and then was gone, hurrying after her film crew.
“What the fuck did we just agree to?” I asked, leaning back in my chair to stare up at the ceiling.
“Do you think she’s going to make us fight, Hunger Games style?” Daisy asked, sounding thoughtful.
I sighed and crossed my arms. “I fucking hope not. You’re going to finally kill me, aren’t you?”
“For ten grand maybe, but for one hundred and ten grand? Fuck yes. You’re a dead man walking, Austin Finnigan.”
“Hell,” I muttered, but I was unable to stop myself from chuckling. Daisy didn’t mean it. I didn’t think so, at least. She looked cute smiling at me over the table. Our night had already been a wild one, but I liked being able to sit and have dinner with her—even if we were discussing the probability of her murdering me for cash.
It was worth it, even if every dollar offered by Bunny and her crew was bringing Daisy one step closer from leaving Clarity forever.
CHAPTER7
DAISY
“Daddy, you have to trust me.”
My father sighed but he kept walking alongside me all the same. “You need to explain it to me again, then.”
“I don’t have time to, not today.”
“And why not? You tell me that you are married to Austin Finnigan. A man you have hated since you knew how to hate anyone or anything, and I’m supposed to just go with it? Why are you doing this, Daisy? And with your camping gear?” He looked at the backpack I wore and tsk’d at me. “Something is going on and I don’t like it.”
I crossed my arms and looked down at my feet, shifting the backpack on my shoulders. I had packed for any eventuality given that winter in Alaska was harsh for days, and all it took was one change in the wind to bring a storm right down on our heads. There was snow on the ground, not a ton, but enough that it crunched beneath us when we came to a stop at the end of our road. The square was only a block or so away and having this conversation that close to Bunny and her crew was the last thing I wanted to do.
“I had a change of heart…”
“Overnight? You were talking about how awful he was just the other day. You threw his butter in the river, and-”
“Daddy, look, I know all of that’s true,” I said, holding up my hand and clearing my throat, “but I need you to believe that I have had a change of heart where Austin is concerned and that this is what I want. It’s what I need right now. And having you on my side, on Austin and my side,” I stressed, “against this film crew is what is best, Daddy.”
My father’s face scrunched up but he nodded at me all the same. “Is this what you really want?”
I nodded. “It is.”
“Fine. Tell me what I need to say.”
“That Austin and I hated each other, but now are in love and married and that’s just the way life is. But, word to the wise, if you can avoid that woman with the clipboard, do it.”
“Oh, all right.”
I threw my arms around him, hugging him. “Thank you, Daddy!”
“Sure thing, sweetheart. But when this is all over you owe me the longest most detailed explanation that the world has ever seen. I mean it, Daisy.”
“You got it. I’ll even make you pot roast.”
He nodded at me with a smile on his face. I’d brought out the big guns. Pot roast was his favorite. “Now we’re talking.”
We set off walking again and when the square came into view we saw that Bunny and her crew were already there with Austin. A small group of townsfolk had appeared and were looking on in curiosity. “Looks like it’s a full house already.”
“They’re curious,” he said. “Even without the film crew the news that you were getting kissed on by Austin Finnigan would have been enough to bring them out.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “He wasn’t kissing on me,” I insisted.
