A Geek Girl's Guide to Arsenic by Julie Anne Lindsey

Author:Julie Anne Lindsey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Thirty minutes later, Surly Wench swarmed with activity and I’d made calls to Grandma’s attorneys, Petal at Earth Hugger and Nate with my good news. Dan arrived along with others in navy jackets and undeniable authority. I slipped past Dan questioning Lisa at the front door. He gave me a formal nod, and I curtsied.

Fairgrounds security corralled a growing crowd of onlookers snapping photographs with their phones. Ugh. I pulled my cape up to my eyes. I didn’t need my face included in their crime scene collection. Grandma would kill me with her bare hands.

I picked up the pace and skirted along the storefronts toward Guinevere’s Golden Beauty. I was officially late but with excellent reason.

“Mia.” Jake’s voice echoed in the crisp fall air behind me. He caught up before I had time to turn and seek him. “Hey. Good work back there.”

“Thanks.” I pinched my lips to keep from babbling. Compliments weren’t Jake’s thing and they were certainly never sent in my direction. “This is my stop.”

“Right.” He nodded absently at my family’s booth, scanning the area and avoiding eye contact.

Bree leaned her elbows on the counter and dropped her chin into waiting palms.

I spun my back to her and straightened to my full height of five-four. “Hey, I was wondering...”

“No more investigating. You did a good job finding that berry. Your family’s company is off the hook, now it’s time to let me handle this.”

We were off the hook for murder, but I still had a PR firestorm going, six weeks before Christmas. “Fine, but that’s not what I was going to...Listen...” Nerves coiled in my tummy. Why was I sixteen in zit cream and braces with him? I shook it up. Woman, up, Connors. “Tonight’s the big finale of Pioneer Days at Horseshoe Falls. Everyone will be out enjoying the weather and the games and there are usually fireworks.”

He tilted his head slightly, as if he was trying to pick up a signal. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. The fireworks are pretty good, if you can take the cold. It’ll be chilly by then. So, I wondered, maybe, if you aren’t busy...” I motioned in the direction we’d come. “I mean, obviously you’re busy, but if you have some time or get hungry later, I could buy you a lemonade and a kabob. You know, as an apology for making you so crazy all the time.”

He narrowed his eyes and turned his lips down.

My heart sputtered frantically. It was stupid. I was stupid. The creeping sensation in my hair was probably the IQ points leaking from my brain. “Never mind.”

“I could eat later.” The expression on his face was fatal. He’d told me once it was his thinking face, but from where I stood, it looked like he wanted to smash something.

I probably didn’t want to know what he was thinking. “Okay. Good.”

“When?”

“I’ll be home at seven. Bree’s staying here until nine for me so I can be at Horseshoe Falls for the finale.” Stop talking! He didn’t ask why.

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