The Slot (Rochester Riot #1)(19)

Kylie saluted, flipping her pink bangs with the motion. “Aye-aye, sir. Consider it done. I’ll lead the charge of Monica Lewinskys.”

Eloise laughed. Kylie’s sense of humor was off the chain. “Arrrr! Curb the enthusiasm there, matey. We’re not out of troubled waters yet.”

“With you at the helm, Skipper, what could possibly go wrong?” she asked with a waggle of her eyebrows. Seemed they were the only body hair she had that wasn’t pink. She’d confessed a few weeks ago that the carpet matched the drapes. “Can I be Gilligan? I’ve always wanted one of those cute white sailor hats.”

Eloise clucked her tongue and ignored the antics. “Well, we only have a week to pull this together, while the team is on the road and Murphy along with them. I’d like at least some of them on hand for the meeting, so we have to hold it the night they get back before the home games start. That reminds me, did you requisition the comp tickets for door prizes?”

“I’ll get right on it,” Kylie said with a nod but remained in her seat instead of returning to her desk. “You think Murphy will be pissed?”

“Ugh,” Eloise let out a fearful chuckle. “I don’t think it – I know it. But with any luck, he won’t find out until the meeting’s over and we’ve restored peace to the nation.” She chewed on the end of her thumb. “If so, I’ve done what he asked. He ordered me to make the situation go away. He didn’t say how.”

“You’re a genius,” Kylie stated, resting her chin in her hand. “I bow down.”

“If I were a genius, I’d have seen this coming,” Eloise said. “I don’t know how Sheehan got past the traffic commission to close off an entire intersection. I thought the proper planning procedures would have been followed, the residents surveyed, notified and given time for due process. To ask questions or make appeals. Doesn’t seem like any of that happened.”

“I walk past the construction now and then,” Kylie said. “I noticed some of the shops nearby were boarded up. Why would that be?”

Eloise nodded. “I heard something about certain businesses selling out to Murphy. He must have needed the extra right-of-way to construct the parking tower and pedway.”

“What if that wasn’t the reason?” Kylie waved her hands in the air as if to stop the sky from falling. “What if he just wanted to eliminate the competition? Buy the bar next door, and bingo, there’s one less place for customers to spend their money.”

“Makes sense. Sounds like something he’d do. I just hope they got fair market value.”

“From Sheehan?” Kylie laughed. “They probably took a supply of Irish Whiskey in trade.”

Eloise joined in her laughter. “No doubt.”

When their giggling faded, Kylie gathered her notes and leaned forward with her elbows on the table. “Sooooo?”

“Sooooo what?”

Kylie’s eyes crossed. “I preside over your calendar, boss lady. I know every move you make; you had a dinner date last night.”

“I did.” Eloise chirped, rising from the table and pushing her chair in.

Kylie waited.

Crickets.

“That’s it? That’s all I get?” She pursed her lips as if she’d sucked down a lemon.

“Yup,” Eloise said, crossing over to her desk. She didn’t feel like she could talk about it so soon, even to Kylie. The rioting emotions surrounding the evening still felt too raw to articulate.

“Oh come on, El. I’m dying here.”

Eloise chuckled in exasperation. “Expiring again? You sure you’re not a cat in human form? You must have died eight times already. Careful – only one left!”

Kylie took the ribbing with good humor. She held up fake claws and made a hissing noise. “Fine.”

Eloise changed tactics. “Why don’t you tell me about your love life, Thomasina? I know you love to regale me with tales of your social adventures, but you’ve never mentioned anyone special.”

Kylie held her notebook and file folders in the crook of her arm. “That’s ‘cause there’s several of them. I can’t do them all justice. At least three at a time, in rotation. That way, I never get so attached I go all bat-shit stalker on any of them.”

Eloise blinked, nonplussed. “Really?” She hadn’t expected that kind of answer. It made her all the more dejected at her own man-situation. Three? How did Kylie even keep all that straight? Ugh. Who needed men anyway? Kylie’s mouth curled into a grin that rivaled the Cheshire Cat’s. Ironic since she now had to hold on to precious life number nine.

“If you’re going to withhold information,” Kylie said, “you’ll never know now, will you? C’mon, tell me. Who were you with last night?”

Eloise cast her eyes to the ceiling, then back to her assistant. Kylie looked at her expectantly. “Oh all right. I had dinner with Cole Fiorino.”

Kylie’s jaw dropped in delight. “How’d it go?”

“Not that well. I think I pissed him off.”

Kylie’s eyes appeared to spin in disbelief. “Pissed…? Now, why would you do a crazy thing like that?”

Eloise tossed her brunette mane behind her shoulders but didn’t confess. It would be too easy to say that his smooth and fluid movements were so sexy she thought she might explode from wanting him. But instead, she’d ran scared. “Just because he’s gorgeous doesn’t make him compatible.” She rubbed her wrists, a dry, itchy feeling coming over her, and reached for a squirt of lotion from the bottle on her desk.