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Working with Allie again would be amazing, but James would be my boss. My son’s father would be my boss, without knowing he had a son. If I agreed, though, it would put some pressure on my stupid ass to tell him the truth before my start date. My stomach swirled with the chocolate mousse I’d finished earlier, and I took a sip of water.
“When would I start? I have a few things to take care of in the next two weeks.”
Buying time seemed like a viable option.
“It’s up to you. We’re completely flexible. The department’s set to begin operations as soon as we have Kendra.”
“The kidnapped girl you’re rescuing next week?”
He nodded.“The new department is a necessity. Human trafficking will concentrate on saving sex-trafficked women. There are girls as young as seventeen, pregnant and alone, without medical care, losing babies, trafficked and passed on from one man to another.”
I froze. My stomach squeezed and pushed up, jerking my shoulders forward.
“Laura? Laura, what’s the matter?”
I grabbed the closest thing within my reach, which was James’s jacket, and threw up inside the pocket. My vomit spilled out.
James passed me a napkin while holding back my hair.
“I’m so sorry.” I heaved in air while wiping my mouth.
“Don’t worry about it. We should go to the hospital—”
I wiggled my finger left and right. “No, no. I’m fine. I know it’s not the food. Olivier has a clean record.”
“Then what is it? Do you feel ill?”
“I’m not sick, James.” Fortunately, Allie and Tristan appeared from around the corner just then and walked back to our table, hand in hand.
“They’re coming back.” I said.
“Whether you agree to the job, say nothing to Allie. It’s supposed to be a surprise. But I really hope you agree.”
He reached for my hand and took it between his. The warm touch sent comfort through my veins and trepidation to my heart. What was happening here?
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked.
The answer was nothing. I’d planned to pick up Foxy from Emma’s and go home, but she offered to watch him until the morning, so I was free. He smoothed his hand over mine as Allie and Tristan came up to the table. Tristan wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer to her body.
“I’ve settled the bill, but we have one more pit-stop tonight. We’ll take Allie’s car, and James can take mine.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To play dress up.” Allie hooked me under my arm. “Wow, you don’t look so good. What’s that smell?”
“I need to use the bathroom.” I pulled Allie along with me.
“And I need to get rid of my jacket,” Julian laughed.
“We’ll meet you in the parking lot,” Tristan called out behind us.
Thankfully, the Marina had a fancy bathroom with mouthwash.
“Why did you throw up?” She tucked my stray hair behind my ear.
“I don’t know how long I can keep lying to him.”
“Maybe it’s time to tell him the truth.”
