throat, choking as I swallowed it back down. (In all fairness, it was probably hangover related. Still, that much perky, youthful enthusiasm is a lot to swallow first thing in the morning.) “He’s got dark brown hair, and he’s all tan from riding his bike, you know? He’s kind of messy and rough, but he got me a drink and sat next to me at the party. We just hung out and laughed and it was really fantastic. I probably would’ve kissed him, but my mom called and asked if I could come home. She had to go into work at the hospital and she needed someone to watch the kids.”
“Huh,” I said, wishing my brain would kick into gear. Usually I felt frustrated with Randi’s mom over stuff like this. The woman had a good job, and it didn’t seem fair that she constantly guilted her oldest daughter into babysitting. When I’d first hired her, Randi had been planning to go to college at Central. Then she’d come in one morning a few months back and told me she’d decided to take online classes instead.
Bullshit.
I still didn’t like her mother very much, but maybe this time it was a good thing she’d dragged her out of the party. I wasn’t so sure about an older guy connected to the Nighthawks.
“I think you need to be careful,” I said, frowning as I pulled a container of heavy cream out of the cooler. “You don’t know anything about him, and we’ve got no idea how dangerous the Nighthawks really are. And yes, I know I hired Cooper, but it’s not like I’m dating him. He’s just another tenant.”
Randi rolled her eyes.
“You don’t understand.”
Oh, I understood a hell of a lot better than she realized, poor kid. She wasn’t the only one stupid enough to fall for a biker’s crap.
The sound of someone pounding on the main shop’s locked door interrupted us, the string of bells ringing painfully. For an instant I thought it was Talia coming to kill me, then I remembered Carrie and Margarita planned to stop by before Margarita left town. Seeing as I’d caught a ride home with Joel, they were probably dying to hear the details.
Randi peered through the kitchen door.
“It’s Carrie and some other lady,” she confirmed. “Are you going to be talking to them for a while?”
“Probably,” I said, head throbbing.
“Then would you mind if I walked down to the gas station and grabbed something to eat? I didn’t get any breakfast this morning.”
So much for getting a jump start on filling the orders. Clearly this wasn’t my weekend.
“Sure,” I told her, giving in to the inevitable. “Take your time. Let them in on your way out.”
Looking over my checklist, I considered all I needed to get done that day. Too much. Way too much for a woman with a hangover.
“You look like hell,” Carrie said brightly, sticking her head through the doorway. I blinked, because she looked fantastic. All perky and happy and obviously full of far more energy than was decent. Margarita stepped past her, holding a cup of coffee out toward me. God, she was even worse—somehow she’d managed to do her hair and full makeup.
“Why aren’t you hungover?” I demanded. “I feel like something a cat coughed out.”
“Vast quantities of caffeine,” Margarita declared. “And vitamin C. You should try it. I’d get an IV if they’d let me. We brought you food, too. Grab a seat.”
“I need to work.”
“You need to eat,” she corrected. “Now sit your ass down. The stove will still be there when you’re done, I promise.”
She and Carrie had already grabbed stools, pulling them up to the center island. I sat across from them, reaching for one of the wrapped sandwiches. I opened it to find pepperoni, prosciutto, and salami, with a heavy mixture of mayo and mustard oozing out the sides like pus.
“I can’t eat this,” I said, gagging as I dropped it.
“That’s mine,” Carrie said, laughing as she handed over another wrapped sandwich. “Yours is a veggie wrap. See? I’m not a total sadist.”
Margarita laughed, opening a meatball sub that smelled like death. I took a bite of my wrap, then set it back down. Yeah. Eating wasn’t gonna happen. Not yet.
“Too soon?” Carrie asked, her voice sympathetic. I nodded mournfully, which hurt my head. When the fuck is that Tylenol going to kick in? “So what happened last night? You and Joel were eye-fucking each other when we left. Please tell me you got