“Pizza?” Her eyes are wide as she bounces in excitement.
“You got it. Make sure you use the restroom and grab your coat. It’s a little chilly tonight.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” Evie salutes me and runs upstairs.
Kelsey steps into the room, and I turn to her. “You wouldn’t believe the number of calls I received today.”
“Oh?” She picks at her nails.
“There’s no other word to describe the voicemails besidesdisturbing.”
Kelsey wrings her hands. “I tried to stop it, I swear.”
“Wait.” I hold up my phone. “You had something to do with this?”
“Isn’t that why you’re talking to me about it?”
“I just wanted to talk to another adult about it.” I point upstairs and lower my voice. “Evie doesn’t need to hear what these women are saying.” I press play on the most recent voicemail and hand Kelsey my phone. She blushes and her eyes go wide with horror about halfway through.
“I think I’ve heard plenty.” Kelsey steps closer, peering up at me with her soft hazel eyes flooded with guilt. “I’m so sorry. I did something stupid when I was upset. I remembered about it too late to take it back.”
“What did you do?” I groan.
She pulls her phone out of her back pocket and scrolls for a minute before handing it to me.
My eyes gape at the screen as I look at an advertisement with my face and phone number.Doctor for hire. In-home visits only. Here to help with your every need.
It takes everything in me to stifle my laughter and keep a stone-cold expression. I thought she was funny before, but this takes it to a new level. I can’t laugh yet, though. She needs to sweat it out a little longer.
“I called the newspaper, and they’re going to put a redaction out, but you might want to change your phone number in the meantime.” Kelsey places her hand on my arm. “I’m really sorry. If I could go back in time and never send the email, I would.”
She bites her lower lip, waiting to see how I’m going to react. I’ve never seen her look this vulnerable. I’m sure she already felt awful the past few days, so I let out all the laughter I’ve been holding in until I can hardly breathe. Her expression morphs from scared to confused as she watches me.
“You’re…not…mad?” She pauses between each word like she’s tentatively testing the waters to see if I’m about to let out a roaring wave of anger.
“It’s hilarious.” I point at her phone again and chuckle. “Who even thinks of putting out an ad like that?”
“I was worried it might impact your business. If it does, you can dock it out of my pay.”
“I mean, it may not be the best for business, but if you’re already having the newspaper put a redaction out, there’s not much else you can do. Besides, maybe some of my twenty-seven callers have children they can bring into my office.” I smirk.
“This isnotthe reaction I was expecting.”
I step closer to her, our chests almost touching. “Game on, Anderson.”
“What?” Her voice is breathy.
My smile grows knowing that my nearness made her breathless. Maybe she doesn’t hate me as much as I thought. Or maybe that grocery store clerk was right about there being a fine line between enemies and lovers.
“You heard me.” I reach down, cupping her chin and tilting her head up to meet my gaze. “You just started a war.” I let go of her face and step back, crossing my arms and flexing my muscles in a way I know will have her staring. “Don’t worry. I won’t play dirty.” I wink. I don’t think I’ve ever winked at anyone in my entire life, but Kelsey Anderson has a way of making me react in ways that surprise even me.
She sighs, dragging her eyes from my arms back to meet my gaze. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
“Not if I can help it.”
Once Evie is fast asleep, I research prank ideas online until I find the perfect one for Kelsey. I order everything without a second thought, not caring that I’m throwing money out the window. It will be worth it when I see the look on her face.
“You have someone here to see you, boss,” Nadine says.
