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Oh god... how many nights would I lie awake wishing Lee had looked at me the way he looked at Margo. At the many faceless women he left the Grudge with ...
“Not really.”
Emma dipped her chin and shot me her bestyeah freaking rightlook.
I sighed. “Fine. A long,longtime ago.” I turned my back to her to clean my mess in hopes of changing the subject.
“Well, do you want to grab a bite to eat? We can talk all about it then.”
I paused. “I can’t. I’m meeting Charles for a late lunch.”
“Charles? Why?”
I shrugged. “I bolted after the auction, before we could talk. I wanted to clear the air and let him know that these dates with Lee were just his idiotic way of protecting me from Royal King.”
Emma pressed her lips together and stood. “That’s not what it looked like from where I was standing.”
“Well.” I looked around, unsure of what else to say. “It was.”
“Okay. If you say so...”
“What?”
She lifted her hands. “Nothing. I gotta run. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
* * *
After closingthe shop by three p.m., most of the Outtatowner residents were back in their homes, prepping for dinner or a quiet Sunday night in, and tourists were making their own dinner plans.
By then the visitors were dragging their overly tired children off the beach, and purchasing custom pottery was low on their priority list. Slightly defeated after another day of meager sales, I locked up and climbed the stairs to my apartment so I could change to get ready for my date with Charles.
Not a date.
Somehow, after the events of last night, calling it a date felt misplaced.
Wrong even.
I checked my phone again, still no texts from Lee all day, which was fine by me. I was still mad at him, but a tiny part of me was irked he hadn’t called. Lee had not reached out to explain himself—to explain that kiss and what thehellhe had been thinking.
I did, however, have five missed texts from Katie and Lark, collectively. Mentally tired, I left them onReadand promised myself I would text them back once I had a better handle on the situation myself.
Stripping off my clay-splattered canvas pants, I slipped into a pair of straight-legged jeans, cuffed at the bottom. My silky white cami had delicate lace trim and a trail of flowers. The coordinating long mauve sweater would ward off any chill inside, but was still lightweight enough that I wouldn’t die of heatstroke on the walk over to the Grudge.
Satisfied that I looked feminine and put together, I locked my apartment door and headed out.
As I looked down the road before crossing the street, I spotted Duke storming up the sidewalk. I paused to take him in—his suit jacket and pants were comically short. I waited for him to storm toward me, and a little laugh escaped me.
Relief washed over me. If the Kings and Sullivans were back to ridiculous pranks, maybe it was all fine. Back to normal. Maybe I’d had some sort of fever dream where my best friend pressed me against a wall in a darkened alley and kissed thefuckout of me.
Duke was irate and spread his arms wide when he heard my laughter. “Does this look like a fucking joke to you?”
My eyes went wide. “Duke, I...” Another small laugh escaped. “I have no words.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is the only suit I own, and before taking it to the cleaners, it fit.”
I looked over his large frame, having sympathy for that kindhearted beast of a man. “We can fix this.”
I looked him up and down once again, considering how I was going to hide the fact that his suit was about three sizes too small for him.
