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Diego tossed Otto a cookie. The dog caught it in midair. Officer Stevens helped himself to one off the cooling rack. “Your friend here”—he smiled, gesturing at Marin—“enjoyed a nice long romp on the Mall with Agent Keller this afternoon.”
“Get out!” Diego’s eyebrows nearly shot off his forehead. “You go, girl.”
“That’s not what happened,” Marin argued. “I went for a runby myself. Agent Keller showed up when I was about to reenter the White House grounds. End of story.”
The sous chef laughed as though he didn’t believe her, while Officer Stevens looked at Marin speculatively.
“Just a word of warning, Chef,” the officer said. “Neither of you worked on this side of the House when President Manning and his family arrived. But you’re a sweet person, and I think you should know that Agent Keller comes with a bit of a reputation.”
Guys that good-looking often do. Marin had already heard the “Prince Charming” reference earlier in the day, but something about the way the officer was looking at her made her uneasy.
“There’s a rumor he was reassigned because he got too close to the president’s daughter-in-law, if you catch my drift.”
Officer Stevens’s words landed like a lead weight in Marin’s stomach. That explained Bita’s over-the-top reaction to seeing the agent yesterday. Pressing the rolling pin into the dough, she vigorously worked it into a thin, round shape.
Who cares? The guy is too good-looking and arrogant for his own good. It wasn’t like he was going to agree to take her to Ava’s wedding anyway. Except, earlier on the South Lawn, she’d felt something happening between them. Just for a moment. But it wassomething. She sighed in frustration. More than likely, she’d only imagined it, and it was nothing rather than something.
Marin rolled the pin over the dough until it tore.
“I think you’ve been at that too long.” Diego reached over and gently took the rolling pin from her hands. “Why don’t you handle the baking for a while?”
Otto was still sitting patiently in the doorway next to the double ovens while his handler had wandered out to chat with one of the agents patrolling the floor. Marin took off her plastic gloves and idly buried her fingers in the thick fur on the dog’s head.
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea,” Diego quietly tried to reassure her.
Marin opened her mouth to respond, but the ringing of her cell phone cut her off. She swore under breath when she saw Ava’s number pop up on the screen.
“Don’t answer it,” Diego warned.
“I have to, or she’ll call every ten minutes.”
Marin pointed to the ovens as she pressed talk. Diego gave her a withering look, but he did as he was told and went back to watching the cookies bake.
“Hey there, Ava,” she said. “I’m still at work so I can’t talk. Is everything okay?”
“It’s after seven on a Thursday night, Marin.”
“Tell me about it. And I have a couple of hours more of baking to get done.”
Her cousin scoffed. “No wonder you are still hopelessly single.”
Marin ground her teeth. “Ava, can we talk tomorrow or this weekend? I really do have a lot to do here.”
“The most important thing you should bedoingis finding a date for my wedding! But that will never happen because you’re too busy making strudel for the Mannings.”
“For your information, Ava, I already have a date for your damn wedding!”
Diego’s eyes went wide with surprise. Marin was a little stunned at the lie herself, but she just couldn’t take another minute of her cousin’s bullying.
“Seriously?” Ava asked. “What’s his name?”
“We can play twenty questions when I’m not on the government dime, Ava. I’ll talk to you next week once we’ve gotten through Easter. Bye.” Marin shoved her phone back into the pocket of her chef’s jacket.
“You know I love you, Boss, but I’ve already told you I’m not taking you to that bridezilla’s wedding. I’m beginning to think you shouldn’t go, either.”
Marin waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, I heard you. Unfortunately, she’s family. I have to go. But I’d like to point out that I fill out your annual performance rating.”
She chuckled at Diego’s mutinous expression. “Relax. My lie bought me four more days of peace and quiet. I’ll just use them to find a date. It’s a holiday weekend, yet this place is still teeming with guys who all like me as a friend. Surely I can convince one of them to do me a favor and go with me to my cousin’s wedding. Heck, I’m even willing to resort to using baked goods as bribery.”
