Page 23 of Boss Level

“They know what caused it but not how it happened.” She never looked up. “Elliot and Luna are working on putting up some new fences.”

Fences…? Ah, to keep people out.

“So it’s not all hands on deck?” The concern Dominic watched her with matched my own.

She shook her head. “Just the two of them. And presumably Link.”

Inspiration struck. “I know the perfect distraction.”

“If you saysex, I’m kicking you out.” Judith looked one-hundred percent serious.

“Give me some credit. The last thing you want is to be mid-orgasm when your phone rings.”

She finally looked at me, and rolled her eyes. “Sure. That’s my only reservation.”

If she had the excess energy to be sarcastic, then her mind wasn’t completely occupied with the problem, but odds were she’d work herself up until it was.

“Let’s go to Denny’s,” I said. “Grab your laptop, in case, and we’ll go drink coffee and eat French fries.”

“We don’t do shit like hang out at Denny’s at eleven on a Thursday night. We’re not teenagers.”

Dominic trailed his gaze over her in a way that sent heat rushing through me. “You sure?” There was a softness in his teasing. “What else are you going to do while you wait? Watch TV? Doomscroll social media and read the thoughts of all the people bitching about how your game is down?”

I loved when he and I were on the same page.

With a huff, Judith crossed her arms. “Maybe. I hadn’t thought about it, but you say that like it’s a bad thing.”

There was no way she didn’t know what she wanted to do next. Judith’s plans had plans.

“It is a bad thing.” I grabbed her hand and her phone, and Dominic grabbed her laptop bag.

When we made it downstairs and saw that the hotel’s twenty-four-hour diner was open, we decided to stop there instead. “Bring us three coffees, lots of those little flavored creamers,” I told the waiter as he showed us to one of many empty tables.

“You got it, boss.” He set our menus on the table and left.

Judith snagged her computer from Dominic, slid into one side of the booth, and managed to take up the entire seat between her and the bag. Dom and I sat across from her, as she set up her laptop.

I didn’t expect any different. I grabbed the menu. “What are we having?”

“There was mention of fries.” Leaning in, Dominic read over my shoulder.

Under the table, I nudged Judith’s foot with mine. “They have mozzarella sticks. Sampler platter with potato skins.”

She raised her eyebrows but didn’t look up from her work. “I’m not really hungry.”

Yeah, I’d heard thatmanytimes before. At least a couple today. “You can help pick, or I can pin you down and force you to eat.”

That got her attention, and she met my gaze with an even stare. “You wouldn’t.”

I might. I arched an eyebrow and otherwise let silence be my answer.

“Sampler platter sounds good..” One corner of her mouth tugged up. “This crash is already giving me heartburn, might as well embrace it.”

“Way to be positive,” Dominic teased.

The waiter returned with our coffee and to take our order. He hesitated for a moment when Dominic told him to leave the pot, then shrugged and set it on the table.

When he left again, Dominic dumped a packet of sugar into Judith’s drink, and I followed with three of the little vanilla creamers, before I stirred it all together.

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