“Before you found Flynn,” she said gently.
“Before I found Flynn,” I agreed.
“Come on,” she said. “We’re going to hang out on the couch, order up some dessert, and watch some fun movies.”
We settled in and Ash found something on Netflix, but I hardly paid attention. I kept glancing at my phone, waiting for Flynn to call. When I wasn’t thinking about Flynn, I thought about my situation. I still didn’t want children. But how could I…
“He’s fine,” Ash said, not taking her eyes off Jennifer Beals dancing on screen.
“How do you know?” I asked, feeling relieved that she was hell-bent on distracting me.
“Because he’s armed, and he’s got how many bodyguards with him?”
“You make a valid point.”
I sat up and reached for a bite of chocolate torte left over on the table when the elevator doors slid open. “Did we order something else?”
“No,” Ash said with a shake of her head.
It was Lacey, holding a bottle of vodka. “Hi,” I said.
“Hi. I thought I’d stop by and we could catch up and wait for Flynn to finish…” she trailed off when she saw Ash. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”
“Join us,” Ash said generously.
“Thanks,” Lacey said, setting the vodka down on the kitchen table. She made herself at home by opening the cabinets and pulling out three shot glasses.
“Ash knows all about Flynn,” I said to Lacey. “So you don’t have to worry about what you say in front of her.”
“Wow, okay,” Lacey said. “I didn’t think Flynn would’ve told you.” She looked at Ash.
“Well, when your best friend disappears for six weeks, you know something’s up.”
“Flynn told her about Dolinsky,” I said. “But I told her about the SINS.”
Lacey handed us shots, and I stared at mine for a minute. Ash wasted no time throwing hers back, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
“Ah, I’m not in the mood to drink,” I said, setting my shot aside.
“Trust me, you’ll want to,” Lacey insisted before downing hers. “Waiting for men to come back from these sorts of things will drive you insane. Drinking helps.”
“You’ve done this before?” Ash asked.
“Oh yeah. I’ve worked for Flynn for a decade. It’s part of the territory.”
“I’ll do another shot,” Ash said.
They did another round and then Lacey set the vodka aside. I sat back down on the couch with Ash next to me and Lacey took the chair. “Want some food?” I asked, gesturing to the half-eaten desserts on the coffee table.
Lacey grabbed a fork and said, “Yeah, I think I’ll go for that blueberry pie. Did you guys order every dessert on the menu?”
“Yep,” Ash said.
“I approve.” She stuck a bite into her mouth and nearly moaned. “This is so good.”
“I know,” I said, picking up the plate with the rest of the chocolate torte and digging in.
“So weird you’re eating that,” Ash said.
