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Chapter 15
Never turn down a free piece of cake. ~ Phoebe’s rules for becoming a better person
I walk into You Cheat, We Eat the next morning to find the place dark. Huh. Weird. I know I’m earlier than normal. Who can sleep when the man of your dreams kissed you silly before taking off for the night? Not me. I tossed and turned all night while dreaming about Ryker’s mouth and wondering how good his mouth would feel on other parts of my body. Goosebumps break out and tingles erupt at the sexy thought.
Get it together, Phoebe. Time to work and earn some money so you can afford to live somewhere you don’t have to share a bathroom with men who cut their toenails in the sink and leave the evidence just sitting there waiting for the next person who uses the room. I flip on the lights and walk to Suzie’s desk.
“Surprise!”
I scream, drop my bag, and back away. After two steps, I twirl around and run full out to the door. Someone puts their arms around me and pulls me away from the door.
“Leave me alone!” I scream and thrash around.
“Phoebe! Phoebe! It’s me. Hailey.”
I open the eyes I didn’t realize I’d squeezed shut to discover Suzie and Hailey staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. I think I have. “Sorry. You scared me.”
“Yeah. I got that when you tried to claw me.” Hailey holds out her arm and pulls up her sleeve to reveal scratch marks. “Good thing it’s winter. If I was wearing short sleeves, I’d be bleeding.”
“I’m sooo sorry.” I’m such an idiot. I don’t even know why I ran. They startled me and instinct kicked in.
“I wish I’d had my camera ready. I bet two women clawing at each would get like a million hits on YouTube.”
Thank the powers that be Suzie didn’t have her camera. I can’t have my face showing up online. There’s a reason I don’t do social media. And it’s not the lame excuse about fearing spyware I told these two. I haven’t the first clue what spyware is.
“Ta da!” Suzie holds out an envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and you’ll see.”
I rip the envelope open to discover my test results from the Private Detective Exam. When Wally told me my background check was ‘good to go’, I couldn’t complete my private detective license application fast enough.
“Ninety-five percent?” Hailey reads over my shoulder. “Phoebe’s a genius. I barely passed with eighty-five percent.” You need a score of eighty-four percent to pass.
“I’m proud of you,” Hailey declares before engulfing me in a hug. Suzie joins us and makes it into a group hug.
I feel all warm and fuzzy inside and it’s not because I passed the exam. No, this friendly hug is making me feel like I might have found a real friend. Two real friends in fact. Before these two, I never hugged my friends. Although based on how Hailey and Suzie act, I don’t think those women can be categorized as friends. No, catty women who are only too eager to spill your secrets the second you’re not around does not a friend make.
Suzie dislodges herself. “Plus, there’s cake. Cake for breakfast!” She trips on air but manages to keep to her feet as she rushes to Hailey’s office to grab the cake.
She dishes out slices of cake and we settle into the chairs in front of her desk to enjoy the chocolate goodness.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Suzie says with a shake of her head.
My lips turn down in a frown. I know I’m not your average PI, but I’ve been doing a good job here. Hell, I managed to get a picture of Stan Brown. A feat two investigators before me couldn’t accomplish.
“Get rid of your frowny face. I’m not talking about you acing the PI test. You may be gorgeous, but you’re no dummy.” She points to my half-eaten piece of cake. “I’m talking about you eating cake. Not only eating cake but eating cake in the morning!”
At this point, I’ve learned to not refuse food, no matter how many gazillion calories it contains. I don’t know why I still think about calories. Considering how many meals I skip, calories should be the least of my concerns. But counting the calories of every single morsel of food to enter my mouth is another habit my mother ingrained in me. Ugh. I need to research how to evict my mother from my mind because she is still living there rent free.
“Our girl’s growing up.” Suzie sniffs and rubs a finger under her eye to catch a nonexistent tear.
“Are you sure you’re the one who studied drama?” I ask Hailey.
Suzie ignores my comment. “She’s making jokes and everything.”
“The uncles want to throw you a party,” Hailey says.
