“Yes, so that we’ll have more time together.”
Right.I just nodded. That was not at all the reason. “So…where are you with that?”
“Well, I’m on break.”
This guy was always on a break. “I’ll talk to you tonight then.” I thought my tone was dismissive, but Nigel’s head didn’t move.
“But I thought we could hang out just us bros right now,” Nigel said.
What about what just happened in the foyer made him think I wanted to hang out with him or Tanner right now? “I’m busy.”
He just stared at me. “What if I supplied the dirt right now?”
I sat up in my bed. “You got something?”
“Oh, I’ve gotlotsof things.”
Why did that sound so sexual? “Spill it.”
He looked behind him and then back at me. “Not here,” he whispered. “It’s not secure.”
Wow, he must have actually found something good. I climbed out of bed and opened up the door for him. He’d only stuck his head into my room. And now I realized it was because he was hiding the fact that he was wearing a floor-length trench coat over his lederhosen today.
“Here,” he said and shoved a matching trench coat into my hands. “Put this on.”
I unfolded the coat. “And why exactly do you want us to look like a pair of child molesters?”
“It’s a covert operation.” He slid on some sunglasses and handed me a matching pair. “Slip on your disguise and meet me at the docks.”
Before I could ask him any questions, he hurried off. Why the hell were we meeting at the docks? I knew he preferred to do stuff like this in person. But why wasn’t Tanner’s apartment secure?
I sighed and looked down at the trench coat in my hands. I wanted to weigh the options, but there was really no decision here. If this is what Nigel wanted to do, I had to do it. I needed that dirt on Poppy in order to get out of this mess.
I slipped on the trench coat, put on the sunglasses, and walked down the hall.
Tanner was sitting in the formal dining room flipping through his binder full of women. “Good heavens, Matthew,” he said with a laugh. “There’s no reason to give up women and prey on young boys. I’ll find you a suitable match.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know I look like a pedophile. Nigel made me wear it.”
Tanner flipped a page of his binder. “It’s best not to pander to him. Remember what I told you when you first moved in, just think of him as being one with the furniture.”
I knew Tanner always said that. But I was pretty sure Nigel was his other best friend.
“I know it’s hard because he’s a very vocal piece of furniture. But if you give him a little leeway he’ll go rogue. In the twenties, I gave him his first day off and look how that has escalated. He barely works an hour a day now.”
“The twenties? So like...last year or something?”
“Hmm?” Tanner looked up from his binder. “Yes. The twenties. That’s what I said. We’re living in the twenties.”
Okay.“Well, he does seem to have a lot of scheduled time off.”
“See what I mean? The next thing you know you’ll be pulled into all his shenanigans and forgetting the task at hand.”
“And what’s the task at hand?”
“Of that there are many.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Never ending, really. But I’m focusing on Kennedy’s replacement right now. Quick question. Do you have any feelings for Kennedy’s mother?”
“What? No.”
