Page 19 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

Having finished her rolls, she dipped her finger into the jar of chocolate spread, sucking that off too, exhibiting the most sexual consumption of dessert I’d ever witnessed.Although she sat directly across from me, she never once made eye contact or acknowledged me.

You want some chocolate, Alice? How about I tie your hands behind your back and feed you that shit off my–

Nope. Cut it out.

Then came the Frappuccino. She adjusted the straw so that she could sip the whipped cream off the top, making an obnoxious slurping noise with every pull.

“Alice,” I snapped, my voice harsher than I’d intended it to be. She looked up at me, straw still in her mouth, cheeks still hollow from sucking.

Oh, don’t you dare look at me like that.I snatched the drink away from her, pulling the straw out of her mouth. Her mouth popped open in shock.

“Genuine question, and I want aseriousanswer.”

“Sure, boss.”

“Are you going out of your way to annoy me, or are you always this obnoxious?”

She studied me, blinked, licked the chocolate off her lips, and said, “I’m trying to annoy you.”

“Well,stop,” I said, lowering my voice. “Because I’ve had a really long week and I’d like just two hours of you not being a little asshole.”

“Two hours is a long time,” she said. “I can do one, take it or leave it.”

“One, and eat some real food.”

She made a face, pretending to gag, but only for a moment. “Okay, fine, but give me back my coffee.” She reached for it, making grabby-hands.

I held it out of her reach. “After you’ve had a vegetable.”

She glared at me for a moment but rolled her eyes dramatically and stood to go through the buffet line. Honestly, I was surprised she did it, and a little trickle of satisfaction went through me as I watched her angrily pile lettuce onto her plate.

Sophie was making her rounds, gathering up trash and refilling napkins on the table, even though we all told her to sit down and eat with us. But it was who she was, always running around and trying to serve people. She giggled when she saw me holding Alice’s drink.

“I think she likes you,” she whispered as she took my plate.

“Oh, you got that, did you?”

She laughed again, and I shook my head at the idea of Alice and I being anything close to a couple.

“You should ask her out,” Sophie said.

“Sophie... Can you really see me with a brat?”

“Not really,” she shrugged, “but I think she really needs a Daddy.” She smiled shyly and walked off, gathering more plates as she went, greeting everyone by name.

She really needs a Daddy.

A pair of sky-blue eyes and a head of golden waves intruded my thoughts, but I pushed it away.

Well, that’s not me,I thought.If that’s what she needs, she won’t find it here.There were some roles I couldn’t fill. Not anymore.

I held Alice’s coffee while I checked my phone. After the situation with the girl at The Weston House, it was very possible I would have to go down there today or tomorrow, but I was hoping everything was under control.

I got a text from Becca.We’re handling it.

Reuben: I can come down if I need to.

Becca: No, stay with your friends. We’ll discuss it during our weekly meeting tomorrow.

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