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At this point, the server is being fairly obvious with her come-on. I’m not even going to look at Liz.
“Steak is fine,” I agree quickly. “Medium and a side of fries.”
As she sashays away, I peek a glance at Liz, and if looks could kill . . .
“You’re here, holding a baby, and she’s flirting with you!” she exclaims. “And you’re just sitting there blinking your pretty blue eyes at her. Unbelievable.”
“I didn’t flirt back. I can’t help it if I’m irresistible.” I have to hide my smile behind Matthew’s head. I put him back on my shoulder and pat his back.
I won’t deny being pleased with Liz’s small display ofjealousy.
“Why don’t you just get her number and be done with it? She’s cute, perfect hair, perfect butt,” Liz says grudgingly.
“Are you going to be my wingman? Help me hook up with her?”
“I don’t think you need a wingman, Maverick.”
I let out a bark of laughter at the dryness of her tone. Matthew looks up at me with the sudden noise, and I continue rubbing and patting his back. “Why isn’t this baby burping?” I whisper.
I pat his back a little harder, and his little eyes look at me innocently.
And then he opens his tiny little mouth to burp. But he doesn’t burp. Instead, vomit explodes from his open mouth like a massive volcano eruption. Lots and lots of sour-milk-smelling, stinky vomit cascades onto me.
And it goes everywhere. On my neck, running down my shirt.
Liz busts out laughing. She’s practically in hysterics as she frantically pulls out some wipes and burp towels. As though those tiny baby wipes are going to help the fifty gallons of wet baby stink gushing rivers down my neck and chest.
“I’m so sorry, Ethan. He doesn’t usually spit up that much. Let me take him, and you can clean up.”
“Yeah, you look real sorry. Are you done laughing yet?” My lips lift in amusement. Even though I’m sitting here covered in baby vomit, I can’t be upset. I’m glad that Liz is laughing and happy, even if it’s at my expense. “I’m going to the restroom to see if I can get this off of me.”
Standing up, I catch the eye of the guard and nod toward the bathroom. Liz is cleaning off Matthew’s face and doesn’t notice as the guard moves closer to her.
I pass the server on my way inside, and she sniffs as I walk by. Ha. I guess I’m not so attractive to her now that I smelllike puke.
It’s a one-person bathroom, so I wait impatiently as the current patron takes a lifetime to do his business. Once it’s my turn, I go in and use wet paper towels to clean up as much as possible. Not that it helped much.
I look at myself in the mirror. “Oh yeah, looking good, you handsome stud. Liz is gonna want to crawl all over you now,” I say in a taunting voice. I have to laugh in spite of myself. I’m covered in baby vomit and talking to myself. Nice.
There’s no hope. This shirt is destined for the garbage, and the stench coming off my body is enough to make me want to hurl in the nearby toilet.
As I’m winding my way through the inside tables, I glance through the windows near the front. Liz is still sitting there, and her gaze is focused on the table. Thinking nothing of it, I look past her and notice my hired bodyguard as he runs past the table.
He is running like his ass is on fire.
Looking back at Liz, I’m now close enough to see something is wrong.
Heart in my throat, I run the rest of the way out of the restaurant and abruptly halt when I reach the table outside. Liz is there, face pale. “What happened?” She doesn’t say anything; she just points to the table.
And that’s when I notice the white note card sitting there.
Chapter 12
Liz
We had another meeting with Peyton, the private investigator, this morning. It went as well as it could’ve, given we still have very little information to go by. She’s still conducting her investigation. She’s cleared most of those closest to us. But she hasn’t been able to completely clear Trent just yet. Trent’s father has political connections, making it more challenging to obtain the information she needs.
The scare at the café yesterday is still fresh in my mind. I pull out my phone and take a look at the photo of the note.
