Page 66 of Make Me Sin (Bad Habit 2)
She pins me with a look. “Yeah. Happy.”
My heart swells. It gets a little harder to breathe.
“Not only that, he stopped smoking. Just quit cold turkey one day weeks ago. After that, he started writing all these songs, which according to Nico, are incredible. And . . .” She pauses, gazing at me meaningfully. “His hoochie mamas haven’t been seen hanging around. In months.”
I whisper, “Months?”
She shakes her head. “Apparently not since the day we came into your shop to talk about the wedding flowers.”
“The day he left with the dishy brunette from the candle aisle, as I recall you saying,” Grace points out.
“Which he made sure you saw, didn’t he Lo? Almost as if he was making a point.”
I think about Kat’s question. In retrospect, it does seem possible. “So what do you think it all means?” My heart is in my throat as I wait for her to answer.
“I think,” she says softly, “that you’re not the only one in over your head.”
Grace waves the waiter over. When he arrives, she rests a hand on his arm and looks at him in desperation. “Vodka. Straight. Make it a double. Get it here in less than two minutes and I’ll tip you twenty bucks.”
He sprints away, on the job. While she waits for his return, Grace props her elbows on the table and drops her head to her hands, moaning.
Inside my handbag, my cell phone rings. It’s an unknown number.
“Hello?”
“You ran out on me the other day. And you’re not answering my calls. We need to talk.”
It’s Eric. He soun
ds tense and unhappy. I close my eyes, already feeling defeated. I’m not looking forward to the conversation we need to have. “Yes, we do.”
“I’m off in an hour. I’ll come to your place.”
He hangs up before I can say no, or suggest somewhere else. Feeling panicked, I look at the clock on my phone. Eight thirty. If Eric gets to my place by ten, I’ll still have a few hours before A.J. shows up.
Unless he decides to come earlier.
Or Eric won’t leave.
Kat asks, “Who was that?”
I slip the phone back in my purse. “Eric. He wants to talk. He’s coming over to my apartment in an hour.”
“Tonight? You’re exhausted!”
“He didn’t give me a chance to say no.”
“Have you talked to him since the fitting?”
I shake my head.
“Well, I don’t think you should be talking to him at your place, alone. Nico said he got a really weird vibe from Eric the other day when they talked outside before you left.”
Remembering the look in Eric’s eyes, how angry he was, a chill runs down my spine. “What kind of weird vibe?”
“Like a stabby vibe. Like he was ready to kill someone.”
Into her hands, Grace mutters, “I told you.”
