Eden chuckled. “Nice try,” she said. “You won’t leave me in the lurch if Tennie and Gabi are there at the same time.”
Randi grinned. “Of course I won’t, but why is it a big deal? They know about each other, right? I mean they met you at the same event at the same time.”
“Yeah, you know, it might be awkward if I felt sparks for either one of them.”
“Or it might be fun.” Randi chuckled. “I thought you liked Tennie.”
“I do, but it’s more like friends than—well—more.”
Randi went over and stood next to Eden. “Maybe you’re trying too hard.” She put her arm around Eden and squeezed. Her head gently fell onto Randi’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a moment and Randi felt her heart begin to race. Why couldn’t their connection be the one? Why wasn’t she enough for Eden?
“That was an amazing clue,” Eden said quietly.
“It was pretty good, wasn’t it.” Randi chuckled. “I was searching for a connection and it came to me when I sawbeachandhorse. ThentrainandTokyowere next. When I spottedtelescopeon the bottom row I couldn’t believe it.”
“That’s why you looked so confident when you gave me the clue.”
Randi nodded. “I knew you would get it.”
“I think the game is trying to tell us something.”
“Yeah, we are really good players.”
Eden chuckled. “Not just that. It made me wonder why we haven’t taken any of those vacations. Then it came to me.”
Eden raised her head and bumped her shoulder against Randi’s. “Someone keeps changing jobs before they have enough personal time off to go on vacation.”
“Oh yeah? Well, someone thinks she’s too valuable to the company to even take a long weekend to go away,” Randi countered.
Eden stepped in front of Randi and put her hands on her shoulders. “Okay! Right now, let’s make a deal that when you have enough time accumulated we’re going on a vacation.”
Randi looked down into Eden’s eyes and could see she was serious.
“Wait!” Eden exclaimed. “We could talk Analise into letting you have time off if we sell a certain number of Cari’s books this month.”
“She might go for that,” Randi said. “Okay.” She held up her hand and extended her little finger. “Pinkie promise.”
Eden chuckled. “When did we start doing this?”
“When it’s important,” Randi said.
Eden smirked and curled her little finger around Randi’s. “Yes, this is important. I promise to go on vacation with you.”
“When?” Randi’s breath caught in her throat when she saw the delight in Eden’s eyes.
Eden’s face softened with a smile. “As soon as we get you time off.”
Randi nodded. “I promise.”
Later that night, after Eden had gone home, Randi went through her checklist for Cari’s author event one more time. She and Eden had agreed to meet at the restaurant down the street for breakfast to go over any last minute details. Randi knew that wasn’t the only reason Eden insisted on meeting. She probably wanted to soothe any nerves Randi may be feeling since this was her first author event.
Randi had done events similar to this hundreds of times in her career. Yes, this was her first author event, but it was still a product they were bringing to customers. The reason this was different was because she was doing it with Eden. They were on the same team, working together for the first time in their careers.
There had been times when Randi needed volunteers for presentations or events and Eden had always been by her side. Somehow this time was different because they were both invested in Hook, Line & Reader. Plus, Cari wasn’t only their client, but also their friend.
Randi put her notes away feeling confident everything would go well.
She changed into her sleepshirt, brushed her teeth, and slid under the covers. Her thoughts drifted back to game night and Eden. She wouldn’t call it jealousy, but she didn’t like the way Gabi touched Eden. Randi could tell by the look on Eden’s face that she wasn’t enjoying it. Eden’s response didn’t surprise her; Randi was just looking out for her best friend.
