Bad Boy Blues - Jessica Lemmon Page 0,14
Lou opened a second lawn chair and set it next to the one she’d been lounging in.
“Cute dress,” she said as Elli served them each a Devil Dog with napkin.
“Thanks. I start my new job at Cup of Jo’s Monday.”
“Well, look at you. In town for two weeks, and you’re already employed.” Lou tapped her Devil Dog with Elli’s in a “cheers.”
Elli took a bite of the sinfully delicious cake and watched the boats on the water in the distance before turning to her new friend. “What do you know about Brady?”
After Lou finished chewing her bite and swiping her mouth with a napkin, she shrugged. “Good looking. Great cop. Never seen him with anyone long-term.”
Elli chewed on that statement and her Devil Dog.
Lou’s eyelids narrowed. “Why do you ask?”
“He offered to show me the lake today.”
“Oh, really?” Her neighbor grinned. “Considering a fling with a hot cop while you’re here?”
“No! No. Of course not.” Elli shook her head. That had “bad idea” written all over it in giant letters. No matter how good it sounded out loud. “He was being friendly. I’m not looking. Trust me.”
“I hear you on that.” Lou nodded in solidarity.
A fling was exactly what Elli didn’t need. A job? Yes. A temporary stay on the lake in order to recover her independence? Sure thing. But a great cop who was good looking—although Elli thought Lou had those two adjectives reversed—no, Elli didn’t need that in her life.
“Plus, if you end up staying long-term, having a fling could end up being awkward,” Lou added.
“Yeah.” That was wise. Elli needed some wisdom in her life. “Although, I won’t be here too much longer. Just until… I have to go home to Chicago. My mom keeps calling me and reminding me that Dad put in a good word for me at his office. No way could I see my Dad at work every day, but I do need to find a responsible job, you know?”
Lou snorted. “I used to have one of those. I left it to follow a passion, which I highly recommend doing at least once.”
It occurred to Elli she didn’t know what Lou did for a living. “What do you do?”
“Travel vlogger.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I share video diaries of my trips. Though I do some blogging as well. I love to write.”
“Wow. That’s the coolest job I’ve ever heard of.” Elli had no idea anyone could make a living vlogging.
Lou grunted. “It’s cooler when you travel. Haven’t done that in too long. But I have a lot of video and blogs banked from when I did. I’ve featured Evergreen Cove plenty. It’s a pretty cool place to live or visit.”
“It really is,” Elli said wistfully.
“I hear you on the responsibility thing. I’ve been thinking about returning to the world of finance, which is not a passion, but it does pay the bills.”
Lou’s voice dipped into an almost remorseful tone. Elli hoped Lou didn’t have to give up what she clearly loved—travel—for finance. But who was she to give advice? She was just now figuring out her own stuff.
On her walk home from Lou’s, Elli thought about all they’d talked about. Specifically, about Brady’s invitation to see the lake. She didn’t want to give him the wrong impression, especially since she’d likely bump into him a time or three after she started working at Jo’s.
The smartest decision was to sit this one out and keep her distance. If she had no intention of finishing anything with Brady, there was no reason to start.
Brady hadn’t stopped thinking about Elli since she brought him coffee a few days ago. She’d been sweet and trying damn hard. And she liked him. He could tell by the furtive glances she gave him whenever he’d smiled at her. He could read people, and he’d read Elliott McKinley like oversize words on a billboard.
She was cautious, thanks to an ex-boyfriend who sounded like he needed his ass kicked, but she was also interested.
Brady had never intended to be a summer-fling kind of guy, but that was where he’d ended up. He’d had a long-ish-term girlfriend a few years back, but after three months of dating, Meghan had bailed on him and the Cove in one fell swoop. Before she’d left, she’d told him she couldn’t handle his wacky schedule. Part of him thought that might be true, but he also knew Meghan couldn’t stand that he was never fully off the clock. He was always watching his back, hers, or someone else’s. He had