Page 38 of Level With Me
Eli popped a fry in his mouth. “That Lila?”
“Yeah.”
“Did I get you in trouble?”
“I got myself there.”
“Shouldn’t you go after her?”
“Nah.” I shook my empty glass. “Let’s stick to the plan. Shit-faced, right?”
Eli grinned. “Yeah boy.”
9
CASSANDRA
My brother was being an ass.I still wasn’t sure about Blake.
“I’m so sorry this has been such a bust,” Lila said as we strode from L’Aubergine. She seemed truly embarrassed at how the dinner had turned out.
“This is par for the course for our family,” I’d assured her.
“No,” Jude said, yawning. “There was no yelling or Griff breaking up a fight, if he’d been here. So, you know, totally civilized.”
“We didn’t even really get to talk about the ghost, though,” Chelsea said, her phone in her hand. It was buzzing with texts once more. Clearly, my sister wouldn’t be going home to watch a sad-sack movie on her own like I planned to do.
Lila looked confused. “Ghost?”
She’d missed the earlier conversation. “It’s bonkers. And deeply untrue, of course,” I assured her.
“I’m going to head out,” Chelsea said, her thumbs flying on her phone.
“Do you need a ride back to your place?” I asked Lila.
“No, I’ll take our car,” Lila said.
We exchanged a grin then. I respected a woman who’d leave her husband behind if he was being an idiot.
Even if he wasn’t actually her husband.
The envelope in my pocket burned suddenly, and I swallowed, smiling as naturally as I could as I walked her to the front of the hotel.
“Blake’s not normally like this, by the way,” Lila said, clutching her bag at her waist.
“Like what?” I asked. I couldn’t help myself.
“So… grim,” Then she seemed to catch herself. “Sorry. Not appropriate for client talk.”
“Honestly, our family is never really appropriate about anything,” I said. “If one of us can do something awkward, we absolutely will.”
Lila seemed relieved. Not for the first time, I found myself keener than I should be to know the story between them, now that I knew they weren’t together. Did she care about Blake? Was it he who didn’t want to be married? He’d made it very clear he didn’t have romantic feelings for her.
I recalled the server who’d come in to look after us when Reese left. She’d been pretty, her ample cleavage on full display. Reese had sought advice from me on this particular employee before. “Trish is extremely flirtatious, but she’s kind of like that with everyone.”
“How’s her performance?” I’d asked.
“She’s one of my best staff.”
