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Then he hung up. I was going to have to have words about his phone etiquette. He was obviously not alone in the car and any excess words would have been inappropriate, but what had that all meant anyway?
I went back to the table and sat nervously scrolling my phone, hoping he would at least give me a clue. Was I going outside? Was he coming in?Please don’t come in!A fresh beer appeared in front of me; I really shouldn’t drink any more, but—
“So, is the boyfriend coming?”
“Please don’t,” I hissed at Sadie.
“Hey, I’m being polite. It’s always nice to meet a partner.”
“Says the woman who won’t even show me a photo of her girlfriend.”
“Some things are private!” she huffed.
“Exactly!”
Sadie went red and fiddled with her phone and I let out a little smile. I could be pushy too, but I was getting nervous.
And rightly so because here was Con, walking down the stairs with…Inspector Stella Rubin.
“Hey!” I stood up, not knowing what to do, as the table had fallen silent, and Con looked as shell-shocked as I felt.
“Oh,” he said.
I wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but not this. Definitely not this. I went into overdrive, giving Stella Rubin an awkward hug. We hadn’t met before, but she clearly knew who I was, and me calling her Stella made her grimace. Her name wasn’t Stella. I knew that, but I couldn’t make my head function.
“Caroline,” Con whispered in my ear as I did the most awkward round-table introduction to my colleagues, who were all gulping like goldfish.
“I hate you.” Sadie burst out, staring angrily at Con, who was looking a little bemused.
“I do apologise,” he stuttered, then he laughed. “Hello, Sadie,” he said.
Now it was my turn to do the fish impression.
“You know each other?” I squealed out as Sadie got to her feet.
“That was rude. Sorry,” she said.
“No offence,” Con said politely. “Is Tara here too?”
“On location. Fucking five-day shoot. Bloody awful, especially this weekend. She was supposed to be here.”
“Wait!” I said. I wasn’t sure how I was still talking, and if I’d been hot before, I was positively melting now. “Your girlfriend is Tara Marie?!”
“Yep. And Connor here is her fake bloody boyfriend. It’s…I can’t even describe it. It doesn’t sit well with me.”
“She always says you’re the most jealous person in the world.” Con smiled, sitting himself next to Sadie like he was staying when we definitely were not. I was not going to sit here and…
“Is this seat taken?”
Caroline. I sighed. I was sitting in a Korean restaurant next to Inspector Stella Rubin. My life had just gone off the rails. Again. Weird.
“You know these people?” Otis drunk-whispered across the table.
“Caroline, this is Otis,” I said, deciding to get it over with. “Head of chemistry and physics. He’s a bit drunk, so ignore everything he says.”
Forewarned was forearmed, but Otis actually shook Caroline’s hand and then Con’s hand and mumbled something about loving his work, and Con…
The rainbow-coloured T-shirts he and Caroline were wearing were not subtle. If they were attempting to fly under the radar, it wasn’t happening here. Sure enough, within minutes, someone at the next table got up and asked for a photo.
