How to bake a scandal
Sutt
like I'd won th
no
erest. Instead, I was stuck in a room that smelled like regret and overpriced espresso, watching him dissect me with the same en
nmedicated chaos gremlin." "Tempting, but my editor's on a cleanse. Let's dig
"You mean the things I pay th
e that hurt my cheeks. "See?
s, you two," she said, standing. "No blood." She paused at the door. "And
mb tapped once-sharp, like a metronome. "If I s
where. Maybe livestream you ju
d. "You'r
bout pa
"Fine. But if you leak my grandma's sc
ghts. I thumbed the frayed edge of my notebook, the one I'd bought at a gas
rough tapping the table edg
l. "People don't connect with titles. They connect with...
like it held answers. A
" he asked finally
stuff that happens bef
He said it flat, automatic, like h
y does your assistant keep texting me cryi
but the ghost of one, there and gone like a match struck in the wind. Tin
Since when did stone-faced w
ting his tie with too much
at's not even
luorescents. "You wanted ordinary.
ck, my coffee now colder than his person
-
had died a slow, lukewarm death. The neighborhood was all silent money-manicured boxwoods, dr
ned before I
at fit like they'd been sewn by someone
. "You know vampires slee
he cup. "You'll
ing a marathon or
urgical suite. A blender growled like it was angry at existence
ne toward m
een. "Is this breakfast
inach. Wh
"Jesus. Tastes like someone mowe
out blinking. "Yo
et used to a
ck in the armor, those laugh lines reappearing.
uttered, eyeing his blend
unter, arms folded. "Lif
a morning pers
n harder than I mea
ers working his shoelac
ord lodged i
e mil
still tacky from the s
ill to
is isn't about the article
on the doorframe. "Ca
lks, cracked at the toes. "If I p
rolling his neck like he d
shut. My knees we
on his ankle-thin and pale, cutting through his Ac
slow. "D
ne dad pushed his toddler on the slide, laughing as she squeale
ted
ke. Ethan slowed, barely winded, and
stinging my eyes.
t smiled
smelled like lavender and something unname
. "You're
ready retreating int
fee long abandoned. My phone buzzed-Claire: *He hasn't r