Burning Down the Spouse by Dakota Cassidy Page B

her jacket. “I’ll hold you to that. It’s good to get out, and coffee’s cheap. Plus, the refills are free. Now give me your phone. I’ll put my number in it. Call me if you ever need to talk, okay? Otherwise, I’ll see you next week.”
    Frankie obliged by handing Jasmine her aunt’s cell phone. “It’s my Aunt Gail’s phone. I don’t . . . well, I can’t . . .”
    “Afford one of your own yet.” Jasmine clucked her tongue between pearly white teeth. “You will. Soon enough. When you can, I’ll show you how to bargain hunt for the cheapest, yet most efficient cell plan.” She punched in her number and smiled when she handed it back. “Oh, and while you’re hunting for a hobby,” Jasmine said, looking down at the woodworking magazine she’d grabbed after deciding crocheting just wasn’t for her, “try decoupage. It’s cheap and you can use fun, inexpensive things like holiday napkins on sale for half off to do it. You should see the fabulous President’s Day mirror I have in my bathroom. Anyway, see you next week, Frankie.”
    Decoupage. “Next week,” she mumbled, watching the sassy sway of Jasmine’s confident ass leave the conference room.
    “I see you met Jasmine?” Maxine asked her from behind.
    “In all her outspokenness.”
    Maxine’s laughter filled her ear. “She’s really something, and just an FYI, she’s come a long way since I first met her.”
    “Because of you.”
    Maxine shook her head, the soft curls of her hair brushing her shoulders. “Nope. I had nothing to do with it. Okay, I had a little to do with it, but very little. I only helped her maximize skills she didn’t know she had and use them in the workplace. She did the rest.”
    Curious, Frankie asked, “What does she do?”
    “She’s a bookkeeper.”
    “Where?”
    “Fluffy’s House of Ill Repute.”
    Frankie’s snort escaped before she could stop it. “You mean the strip joint in the next town over?”
    Maxine’s grin was wide when she thrust her hands into the pockets of her black linen trousers. “Even strippers need to be paid. Jasmine’s a whiz with numbers—we put that to good use while she takes accounting courses at night. For now, it’s an honest living, if unconventional.”
    Again, Frankie smiled, her facial muscles sore from overuse.
    “That looks good on you.”
    “What?”
    “A smile. It really is okay to smile. Nothing bad will happen when you do.”
    “Nothing bad was happening to me when I was in bed. In fact, it was a whole lot less tiresome.”
    Maxine laughed again, tucking her hair behind her ear to reveal modest diamond studs. “How was your first day, anyway?”
    “In a word?”
    “One would be fine. An entire sentence wouldn’t go ignored or unappreciated.” She followed her wish with a grin.
    “Overwhelming.”
    “The Antonakases will do that to you. They’re a noisy bunch, but they have hearts the size of Texas.”
    Yeah. One in particular had something the size of Texas. Something that had littered her thoughts all day long since she’d taken sensitive to astronomic proportions. “They were very nice.”
    “You have no idea how nice. You met Hector?”
    Frankie nodded. He was so quiet in his corner of the kitchen he’d almost freaked even her out. “I met him today.”
    “Then here’s a little something you should know about your boss Nikos. He’s a really great guy, a decent one. It’s no secret Hector was a gambler and an alcoholic, but because he was some friend of a friend of the Antonakases, Nikos hauled him into a state-run rehab and then hired him at the diner. He’s been clean ever since.”
    Frankie had little time to chew on the fact that Nikos was all things beyond supreme hotness before they were interrupted.
    “Max, honey? We really have to get going if we’re going to make the airport in time for Connor,” said a tall, rugged-looking man in jeans and a down jacket who’d just entered the room.
    Maxine’s eyes lit up the moment she