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“I am not a liar pants. Are my pants currently on fire?”
Elizabeth opens her mouth to contradict me, but I hold up my hand to stop her.
“I’m serious. I’m fine. I’m not brokenhearted. Cedar and I aren’t – weren’t – a couple. We were friends with benefits. And now the benefits part of the equation has been eliminated.”
Elizabeth’s mouth gapes open. “I knew she was a liar, but I didn’t realize she was also delusional.”
Lilac purses her lips. “I prefer not to use the word delusional as it usually refers to a person with a mental illness, but I have to admit the word is used correctly in this instance.”
I rub my temples as I chant to myselfit’s not okay to smack your sister-in-law, it’s not okay to smack your sister-in-law.
Elizabeth claps. “Nailed it!”
I amend my earlier chant.It’s not okay to smack your sister or your sister-in-law. It’s not okay to smack your sister or your sister-in-law.
The chanting has no effect. My hands itch to kick everyone out of my office, lock the door behind them, and hide in here until my heart repairs itself.
Yeah, yeah, my heart. I’m not saying I’m in love with Cedar, but— Ah, crap. I’m in love with Cedar. When the hell did this happen? How did this happen? I’ve been protecting my heart from love since I was thirteen years old. This is a disaster.
“It’s happening,” Ashlyn says, and I glance her way to discover she has a phone aimed in my direction.
I slap the phone away. “What are you doing?”
“Duh. I’m recording this session since you don’t want my sisters here.”
“Do you not know what invasion of privacy means?”
She shrugs. “I prefer to ignore the existence of menial things such as privacy.”
“You’re worse than the gossip gals.”
She bounces on her toes. “Thank you. Can I use you as a reference on my application?”
Forget smacking. I’m going to kill her. I’m going to wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze until it erupts like an ugly ass zit.Pop!
Lilac steps in front of me. “No.”
I feign confusion. “No, what?”
“No, you will not kill my sister no matter how many times I may have wished to do the same thing in my life.”
Ashlyn gasps and clutches her chest. “My own sister doesn’t love me.”
“E-freaking-nough!” Elizabeth screams loud enough the door rattles.
Although, the rattling door may have to do with the people in the hallway trying to get into the room. Too bad for them I have a remote locking mechanism for my office door. It was the first thing I installed when I took over the bar. Because, unlike the rest of this town, I treasure my privacy.
“Let us in!” Aspen shouts.
Elizabeth marches to the door, but when she twists the knob to open it, nothing happens. I raise the remote I’m holding in my hand, and she glares at me.
“Open it,” she orders. “I won’t let them in.” When I don’t respond, she sighs. “Pinky promise.”
I click the button to unlock the door. As soon as the door opens, Aspen rushes forward, but Elizabeth holds her back.
“There’s not enough room for everyone in here.”
“Which is why I said we should wait and ambush her at her apartment after work,” Juniper says from behind Aspen. Ambush me? She’s off my Christmas card list.
