Page 86 of Bodyguard By Night
The fact that I was included in that group left me disconcerted and even more annoyed.
I lost sight of her while paying. My heart galloped for a moment before I caught her in the merchandise section with her phone in hand. She was probably making some sort of short video.
“Do I need to worry about her?”
I looked back at the person ringing me out. Her husky voice was as no-nonsense as her all-black attire.
“No. I’m sure she’s already figured out all your social media accounts to tag or whatever she does. She’s an online…person.” I didn’t even know how to describe what Chaos did.
The woman laughed. “Now you sound like my husband. Our kid is forever talking about social media stuff, and he gets this glazed look on his face. But we appreciate any free bumps online. I’m Macy, the owner of this place and the restaurant next door.”
“Chaos—Willow—is an—”
“Wil’s Way?” Came another voice. The woman had jet black hair and dark eyes. “I thought that was her.” She nudged Macy excitedly. “I’m going to go give her some swag.”
Macy rolled her eyes. “She’smysocial media person. I just smile and nod, it stops the chatter.”
“You’re a smart woman.” I stuffed a ten in the tip jar and took our drinks. By the time I got to Chaos, she was chatting with the dark-haired woman as if they were long lost friends.
A few selfies later, she finally noticed me. “Hey, Grumpasaurus. Did you meet Rylee?”
I held out the iced coffee. “Briefly.”
“We’re going to meet next week for a collab.” She took the iced drink as she shoved stuff in her bag with her other hand. “Halfway to Halloween is soon. We’re going to do some summer bats!”
I had no idea what that all meant, but my life was not going to be my own for the next few weeks—or months. I already knew that for sure. “Guess we need to set up a calendar.”
She rushed at me, looping an arm around my neck. I immediately curled my arm around her lower back. “I thought I was going to have to convince you with all of my wiles.” Her voice was soft at my ear.
“Oh, we’ll be doing some trading, Chaos. Don’t worry about that.”
She pulled back enough to give me a breathless look. “Quid pro quo then?”
Rylee’s eyes went huge. “Are you guys a thing?”
Chaos spun around, sliding her delectable backside against my zipper. I twisted my fingers in her beltloops to keep her in front of me. No need to show off my not-so-small problem. “Uh, we’re under the radar.”
Rylee looked up at me then down at Chaos before she clapped. Then she mimed zipping her lips. “I won’t say a word.”
I had my doubts about that.
“C’mon, Chaos. The tux awaits.”
Rylee’s eyes went huge.
“Not us.” Chaos shook her head vigorously. “My sister is getting hitched.”
I could tell she was on the verge of oversharing and lightly squeezed her side.
“Soon.” She glanced up at me, her gaze dropping to my mouth for a moment before she returned her attention to Rylee. “But I’ll email you about coming back.”
“Sounds great.”
After a few more pleasantries, we finally managed to get out of the café.
“Can we walk to the tux place? I want to get a little more footage.”
I nodded and let her do her thing. She twirled around on the sidewalk as she took in all the shops. The bakery with a line out the door—and a duck statue in the window with a large pastry in its mouth—an art store, a baby clothing store, and finally. the funky sign with Vintage December etched into a slab of beachy driftwood.