“Please excuse me.” I dug through my purse, grabbed my phone, looked at the caller ID, and snapped it open. “This better be good, Henry.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Fiona, but we’ve got a tip on a possible location for Siren and Intelligal. The chief wants you here ASAP. We’re going to go after them and see if we can shut them down.”
I was about to respond when Johnny’s phone started to ring. I recognized the tune as “I Won’t Back Down,” by Tom Petty. He gave me a sheepish grin and answered the 80
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call. Johnny listened for a moment, then turned away from me and started speaking in a low, hushed voice. I focused on Henry. “All right, I’ll be there as soon as I can. But tell the chief that he’s going to pull one of my shifts for interrupting my date.” Sometimes, I wondered whether my father used his psychic radar to monitor me a little too closely, especially now that Travis was gone.
“You’re out on a date? That’s wonderful, Fiona!” I could almost see Henry beaming at me through the phone. “It’s about time you started dating again. Are you having a good time? Did he take you somewhere nice? He should try to make a good impression on the first date. Did he bring you flowers? Or chocolates?”
I rolled my eyes. Ever since he’d hooked up with Lulu, Henry thought he knew a thing or two about love. Like most men, the computer geek would be forever clueless.
“He made a terrific impression. See you soon.” I hung up. Johnny finished his call and turned to me.
“That was Henry. He . . . keeps an eye on the store for me at night. There’s a problem with one of my suppliers. I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut the evening short and go deal with it.”
Johnny shook his head. “This seems to be the night for emergencies. Bella called. One of my business managers is concerned about a potential investor. Seems he wants to back out of a previously negotiated deal. I’m afraid I have to leave as well.” Regret tinged his voice, as though he didn’t want the evening to end.
I didn’t either. To my surprise, I’d been having a wonderful time, memories of Travis and all. There was more to Johnny Bulluci than just a handsome face and hard body. A lot more. I wanted to see him again. Soon. So, I told him.
“I’d like to see you again too, Fiona. Why don’t we meet up Monday night?” Johnny asked. “Unfortunately, I have to H o t M a m a
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work this weekend, or I would suggest we get together sooner.”
Tonight was Thursday. Monday, Monday. I flipped through my mental calendar. Work in the morning, followed by an afternoon of PR as Fiera, then a benefit that night. I shook my head. “I can’t. I have to attend the annual fundraiser for the Bigtime Observatory. It’ll be so boring, all those scientific astronomer types talking about star charts and aliens and whatnot, but I already sent in my RSVP.”