Page 77 of Last First Kiss

“And yet it’s staying on the menu,” Jordan grinds out.

“What’s next? An inflatable pool? A video game station?”

Forget flipping the desk on him. Jordan’s going to choke Javi with his bare hands.

Someone knocks at his office door. Kami waves from the other side before opening it. “Everything good in here?”

Both Jordan and Javi instantly sit up taller.

“Great!” Jordan half shouts.

“Couldn’t be better,” Javi says assuredly.

Kami trades glances between them. Jordan wonders how long before she figures out their smiles are fake. That she almost witnessed a homicide.

“All right,” she says. “Javi, could you excuse us for a sec? I need to speak with Jordan privately.”

Javi jumps up. “No problem.”

He rolls the menu up—all Jordan’s hard work—like it’s a brochure he never plans to look at again and slips it into the back pocket of his slacks. Smiling politely, Javi shuffles around Kami and says, “We’ll continue this later, Jordan?”

“Sure,” Jordan chimes. His grin says,I’d rather swallow broken glass while being set on fire, naked.

Javi closes the door.

Kami slides into the chair he abandoned.

“What’s wrong?” Jordan asks.

He can see it in her face. The tension around her eyebrows. The uneven set of her lips. She tugs on the locket at the end of her necklace. It’s an anxious tic of hers Jordan’s catalogued over the years.

Kami exhales heavily. “Everything?”

“On a Friday? That tracks.”

She smiles weakly. It’s a start. Jordan says, “Should I go get the bowl of green M&Ms from your desk?”

Now, Kami laughs. “That won’t help. I do need a favor, actually.”

“Okay.”

“An unrelated-to-work favor.”

Jordan’s eyebrows lift. “Whatever you need.”

Relief floods her face. “It’s for Mikah,” she says. “He has a big U12 soccer game at four. I planned on attending, but I’m too swamped. Eric just got back. I need to stick around. Help him get caught up.”

“Do you need me to step in? I can help Eric.”

He tries to disguise the excitement in his voice. This would be another chance to prove himself. To show he’s ready for the events manager position.

Kami bites her lip. Another anxious tic.

“No,” she says. “My parents usually go to Mikah’s games, but they’re vacationing in Hilton Head. And Nic’s busy—”

Jordan peeks guiltily at his phone. He still has unfinished action items for Nic’s basketball tournament.

“—and Suraj just finished a twenty-eight-hour shift,” Kami continues. “He needs sleep.”