Page 99 of Wicked Player
Chapter Thirty-Three
“You’ve outdone yourself again, Clara,” Eric is saying. “These strawberry muffins are the best.”
“Thank you, Eric. You’re the best customer.”
“I bet you say that to all the boys,” he teases. Yes, he’s flirting with me. He’s been pretty open about his attraction to me, and his sister Eloise keeps telling him to leave me alone. They’re twins, in their late thirties. And they don’t look a thing alike. She’s a tall redhead, blue eyed and slim. He’s short and stocky with dark brown eyes and receding dark hair. But they’re thick as thieves, always hanging around town together. Rumor is they both still live at home with their parents. I don’t judge because I live in my mom’s house too. She’s just not there, but it’s still officially her property.
“What happened to the Cobb salad?” Eloise asks. “It’s not on the menu anymore.”
“I like to mix it up once in a while,” I explain. “I’ll bring it back, I promise.”
Just as they’re waving goodbye, my cell buzzes. It’s Cassie. I’ve already filled her in on all the latest Clara-Colton drama, but she’s insatiable.
“So I was thinking,” she says as soon as I answer. “You’re obviously really important to him if he introduced you to his dad. And his dad said you were the only one he met since his last serious girlfriend.”
I wipe the counter, as I have thousands of times before. “Yeah,” I argue, “but if I’m so important, why is he still having those parties?”
“Because the man likes to have fun,” she points out. “And since I was there, I can attest that his parties are not exactly wild… not exactlyEyes Wide Shutstuff.”
I laugh. “So you’ve been tooneof his parties, and now you’re an expert?” I tease.
“Well, you’ve been to two,” she says. “Have you seen anything naughty?”
I smile. “Not really, but it is a fact that he chooses a woman to spend the night with every time.”
“Well, maybe he’ll stop doing that,” she says. “Maybe he’ll just choose you from now on, like he has the last two times. Everyone hates you by the way.”
“What?”
“All the women at his parties secretly hate you,” she tells me. “They talk smack behind your back. Some of them haven’t figured out that we’re besties.”
I can’t believe my ears. “What do they say about me?”
“Do you really want to know?”
The doorbell clangs, and I’m irked to see a new customer walk in. “Yes!”
“You sure?” she asks again.
“Listen… I’m going to put the phone down to help a customer, and you better not go anywhere.”
I drop my phone, and assist the customer who just came in for a coffee and a muffin. I busy myself serving him, and quickly get back to my phone, brimming with curiosity. “Spill!”
“Well, the redhead said you weren’t all that, and then Victoria pointed out that you have gorgeous eyes. Another woman, that tiny blonde, chimed in and said you were a waitress at a café, implying… I don’t know what, that you were… simple. I told her you owned that café, and that shut her up.”
“What a bitch.”
The man at the counter cocks a brow.
“So sorry,” I say. “Your coffee will be ready in a minute.”
“Then Sarah said you had a nine-year-old, and that you got knocked up at sixteen. I quickly corrected her, and told her that he was seven, and you got knocked up at twenty, not sixteen. There’s a big difference,” she goes on, outraged. “So anyway, just stupid stuff like that.”
“I hate people,” I say quietly.
“Me too. They’re just jealous bitches.”
“True.”
