Smokescreen

“Great. But Edward called me on Saturday. He pretended to be checking in on me and invited me to his and Rita’s house for dinner. After a few minutes of awkward conversation, he asked if you were visiting this weekend. My response was vague about not knowing your plans. Why would he call here?”

“He’s fishing, Mom. Last time I saw Erica I told her I was in a serious relationship. He’s curious. He’s not stupid, he knows it’s Stella, but he’s looking for a way to undermine her work. Linking her to me will give him ammunition if anything happens negatively with JOS.”

Her laugh surprises me. “Yes, he is indeed stupid if he doesn’t know. I’m pretty sure anyone within one hundred feet of you and Stella would pick up on the relationship.”

“Especially when she moves in with me next week.”

“What?” There’s a screech behind me, scaring the shit out of me. One hand immediately goes to my pocket where I keep the small handgun.

“Jesus Christ! Fuck, Laci! You can’t sneak up on people like that.”

“Max!” my mom yells through the phone.

“Sorry, Laci just appeared out of thin air. I’d better go.”

“I expect a call tomorrow to explain in more details.”

“Yep, love you.” I disconnect and catch Laci’s stare. She walks past me and into the house.

“Stella Bella! Where are you?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Laci—” I try to stop her but her eyes slice to me in warning so I shut up.

“You’re moving?” she questions Stella, whose face pales a bit at the surprise.

“How did you know? I only decided two hours ago.”

“That’s one hour and fifty-nine minutes you’ve had to call me. That’s what we do. We share everything. Instead I have to find out by eavesdropping on Max.”

I growl and Stella sends me a concerned look, then she burst into laughter. Laci joins in and I cross my arms, waiting for the punch line.

“Quit the dramatics, Lace, I was going to call you tonight.”

“Ladies,” I warn causing them to quiet and focus on me with amused looks. “Care to share what’s so funny?”

“Eavesdropping is Laci’s specialty. She’s perfected the art.”

“Well, sh

ould we inform Laci that I carry a firearm at all times and her little stunt could have ended very differently?”

“Come on, Stellax, lighten up. If you’d have been paying better attention, you’d have heard me drive up.”

“Laci! I told you to never use that term again. It’s terrible.” Stella shakes her head.

“Haven’t come up with anything better. Where’s some wine?”

“I’ll get it,” I volunteer and move to the wine chiller. “You girls go sit, I’ll bring it in.”

When I join them, Stella’s talking about our weekend and explaining every detail of my new place. Her excitement fills me with pride and I mentally think of the next weekend we can plan a getaway.

They take their wine and I force myself in the small space behind Stella, eventually situating her onto my lap.

“There are two other chairs in the room.” Laci points out.

“Have at it,” I suggest and sip my scotch.