Catch - Deborah Bladon Page 0,15
for two,” he continues. “Look into a two-week vacation in Fiji. I’m thinking of a five star resort with a private villa. The best food, massages, the works.”
Envy tugs at me, but I shake it off because I’m not here for anything but a job. It doesn’t matter to me who he’s heading to Fiji with.
Maybe it matters a little, so I push for more details. “What are the dates for this trip? I assume it’s a romantic getaway, so you’re thinking of rose petals on the bed, maybe moonlit dinners on the beach?”
“Yes, and yes.” He nods, and another burst of glitter falls from his hair. “Departure date is this Saturday. I want this to be a honeymoon to remember.”
My eyes dart to his left hand, but his ring finger is bare.
Did he get married last night? Is his wife somewhere in the office missing half of her clothes?
I glance over my shoulder at the darkened corridor and closed office doors.
“I know better than to fall asleep in my office chair.” He stretches his arms over his head. “My back is fucked.”
“You owe a hundred to the fund,” I mumble.
“I owe a hell of a lot more than a hundred.” He huffs out a chuckle. “You heard me fighting with that glitter cannon, didn’t you? I must have let a few choice words escape when it fell on the floor.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. There are enough clues to piece together the mystery of what Keats did last night and this morning, but I don’t want to put in the effort.
Maybe this is why Jamie came to work late some days.
Glancing up, I force a smile. “I’ll get to work. I’ll put together a few options for your honeymoon so you can choose one. Oh, and congratulations to you and your wife.”
He laughs, tossing his head back. “What the fuck, Maren? You think I got married?”
“Two hundred,” I say while my cheeks bloom pink in embarrassment. “You said I should book a luxury honeymoon. You’re dressed in a tuxedo. You didn’t have pants on when I got here, and you have an empty bottle of champagne and a glitter cannon in your office.”
“Woah.” He holds up his palm, and I get a glimpse of something written in black ink.
I tilt my head to read it, but he drops his hand to his side. “I officiated a wedding at midnight. I came back here with the happy couple to notarize their wedding certificate. The groom was carrying a magnum of champagne. He spilled half the fucking bottle on my pants, so I took them off the second the newlyweds left.”
I nod, not wanting to say anything to interrupt his train of thought.
He stares at me for a second before he sighs. “I used to keep an extra pair of pants in the cabinet behind my desk. I was looking for those when I found the glitter cannon. It was supposed to be a gift for Stevie’s birthday, but my brother told me no way. Anyways, I must have worn the spare pair of pants home one day and forgot to bring them back.”
I don’t have words, so I keep listening.
He exhales sharply. “I accidentally knocked the cannon out of the cabinet when I was searching for the pants and glitter went everywhere. I kicked it and whatever was left inside of it shot me in the face.”
As if on cue, another sprinkle of glitter rains from his hair onto his nose and cheeks.
“I need to get someone in here to clean up that fucking mess.” He motions toward the door of his office. “I know, three hundred. I owe three hundred goddamn dollars. Four now.”
I bite back a laugh. “So, you’re not married?”
His eyes widen. “Heck, no.”
Something inside of me relaxes. “How often do you officiate weddings?”
Scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he shrugs. “Whenever I need to. The couple I married last night was eager to make it happen before their twins arrive.”
“Twins?” I swallow hard. “That’s a lot.”
“They’ll handle it.” He half-laughs. “We’ve been friends since high school. They work at his family’s diner on the Lower East Side. I stop in there whenever I’m craving a plate of fries and a greasy cheeseburger.”
He swats his hand against his hair to knock more glitter loose. “They’ve never charged me for a meal, so when Brandi and Chuck said they were planning on heading to City Hall to tie the knot next week, I