Blitz (Blast Brothers #3) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,47
conference table. "Shouldn’t you be in Colorado?"
Brody was still grinning. "Not according to your fiancée."
At that word, fiancée, Mason's eyes softened in a way that made me want grab the nearest trashcan and hurl up my breakfast – except I hadn't eaten and I wasn't the queasy type.
Still, it was the principle of the thing.
When I looked back to Brody, he had that same look.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
It was time to get back to business.
"Listen," I said. "The festival thing, it's a good, wholesome look. It'll be the perfect thing to get people focused on something else."
Brody said, "You mean on someone else, meaning the crazy chick."
I felt my jaw clench. She had a name.
Mina.
And sure, I'd called her crazy. Multiple times. But I didn't like Brody doing it, especially when he was the one who'd inspired my latest brainstorm.
Last year, millions of fans had eaten up the drama between him and Arden, even in spite of the truth. They'd hated each other.
Until they didn't.
The whole thing had started back in high school, when they'd been hardcore enemies. Their animosity had carried over into the construction project and had made things more complicated than they'd needed to be.
But that wouldn't be me.
I had no history with Mina Lipinski.
I wasn't planning to get one either. Sure, I might give her a glance or two to get the audience thinking. But that's where it would end.
I finished the meeting by explaining to both of my brothers that if they were smart, they'd make Mina feel warm and welcome – not because I was going soft, but because she seemed like an honest person.
If she hated us, she'd have a hard time hiding it. And the goal was to generate positive publicity, not the other kind.
After saying my piece, I stood and wandered over to Mason's window. As I moved, I tossed a final warning over my shoulder. "And remember, no talk of her being crazy."
That last word – crazy – was still hanging in the air when I happened to glance out the window. Once again, I spotted Mina on the street below. Today, she'd parked maybe a block away from where she'd parked yesterday.
I frowned. Yesterday, she'd been crawling on her car.
She wasn't crawling today.
But that didn't mean she was acting normal.
I turned and looked back to my brothers. At something in my expression, Brody pushed back his chair and stood.
Shit.
Already, he was heading toward me – or more accurately, toward the window.
When he reached it, he looked out and did a double-take. With a puzzled expression, he said, "Huh. Well, that's something you don't see every day."
He was right about that.
When my only reply was an irritated look, Brody asked, "Is that a crown?"
I reached up to rub the back of my neck. "I think it's called a tiara."
Whatever it was, Mina was wearing it right now, as she stood inside her car with her upper body poking up through the gap left by the open sunroof.
I couldn't see her face, but I'd recognize the back of her anywhere, especially with her blonde hair and little white dress.
Brody and I were still staring when Mason joined us at the window. After a long moment, he asked, "Who the fuck is she waving at?"
I had no idea.
But she was doing a royal wave, stiff and formal, like she was Queen of England greeting her subjects.
But there were no subjects. There was nobody at all, just an empty street.
Brody asked, "Do you think she's celebrating?"
Mason replied, "She's doing something."
We were all quiet for several beats as we watched our new spokesperson wave to subjects only she could see.
Next to me, Brody said, "So… if I can't call her crazy, can I call her something else? Like…" He paused. "Nutjob?"
At this, I came dangerously close to sighing. But sighing was for pussies, so all I did was turn and leave Mason's office.
But I didn't return to my own. What I did was take the elevator down to the first floor, looking to repeat what I'd done yesterday – to walk over there and see what the hell was going on.
But when I arrived, there was no sign of Mina – or her tiara. Even her car was gone.
Huh. Maybe she was crazy. But there was no turning back now.
Chapter 33
Mina
During the next two weeks, I worked harder than I had in my whole life – and that included summers when I'd helped out on the farm.