A_Killer Cup of Joe by Jennifer Templeman

Author:Jennifer Templeman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Idyllwood Press
Published: 2013-09-28T05:00:00+00:00

***

Despite the fact that she knew she hadn’t been great company, Ellie was glad to have been able to spend some time with Joe. He didn’t seem to mind when her brain got stuck in the enormity of what she was walking into and even refilled her cup when she finished her first drink to extend their time together. She knew she was hiding here, taking the ostrich approach to preparing for her assignment, but she hadn’t been ready to get home where she knew the rest of the evening would be spent running through every possible scenario for how the trip to California could fall apart. Trying to stay in the present, Ellie took the last sip from the immense mug in her hand and set it down on the table with a satisfied sigh.

Joe took the sound as the compliment it was intended to be and grinned in return. “You know, being with you reminds me why I spent nearly a year in Italy learning how to do this. I didn’t see a single museum.”

“I figured it was to feed your own addiction,” she said, feeling punchy from all the extra caffeine.

“Probably,” he agreed, “but it’s nice to have someone else to blame for a change.”

“Feel free to push it my direction,” she volunteered. “I don’t mind being the fall guy.”

Assuming the joke was evident in her sarcasm, Ellie was surprised when Joe leaned forward, shifting from the laid-back guy she’d known him to be and becoming suddenly much more intense. Before she could ask what had flipped his switch, he spoke up.

“You say that as though it’s a regular occurrence. Who’s pushed blame in your direction?”

Wishing she could snap her fingers and erase her comment in order to get back the relaxed atmosphere from earlier, she attempted to blow it off. “I think we’ve all had stuff pushed on us at some point. I wasn’t speaking specifically, just generally.”

He narrowed his eyes, and Ellie felt as though she could literally see a scale in his mind, weighing what she’d said against his experience with her thus far to see if it rang true or not. “What’s been pushed off on you?”

Realizing she wasn’t going to get him off this subject unless she gave him an example, she searched her brain and just blurted out everything that came across her mind. “Nothing major. My parents’ inability to get along, the five pounds Phillips gained last winter, my boss struggling to validate the amount of work our department does, and the potential for a killer to get away if I don’t manage to pull off my objective this weekend.”

“No wonder you downed both those drinks without buzzing around the room,” Joe surprised her by responding. “With all the weight you carry, you probably needed the juice to give you the energy to just keep moving forward.”

“It’s not like that,” Ellie argued, categorically disagreeing with the idea that she was oppressed by the expectations of others. “I’m sure if you gave it some thought, you could come up with things that you’d been blamed for as well.

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