Page 63 of Ashes of Us

“Only if I can actually get a reservation for Monday,” Danica smirked as she went online.

“Because the idea of her sitting there, sipping expensive champagne she can’t afford, while she waits for you to show up would be the ultimate revenge.

Otherwise, I'm just going to tell her what time to be there and that the reservation is under your name.”

“Normally, I wouldn't be on board with this type of thing, but since it's Heidi, go ahead.” He paused, and a slow grin crossed his face.

“I wonder if we can ask someone to be there and film the meltdown, because she will definitely lose her mind if they try telling her there's no reservation under that name.”

“Emilia would probably do it.” Danica had to admit; it was nice that Alex appreciated her sense of humour and pettiness to that level. Alex looked thoughtful as he brought up the reports on his computer but didn't say anything else about Heidi as they got to work.

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At five-thirty, Danica stretched out her back and started shutting things down.

Alex had identified a handful of things he wanted to be sure they addressed, and they had a decent idea of where to begin on Monday.

She hadn't been able to get a reservation at Harborlight, so she texted Heidi and told her to be there at seven and gave her an old reservation confirmation number she had on her phone from a few months before Alexander died.

At the time, he told her he was meeting with a potential business partner, but since she found out about Veronica, she was pretty sure it had been for a date.

Alex didn't look up from his work as she called Indie over and put on her leash.

Since Danica moved into his condo building, they had been driving to work together in his jeep unless one of them had a meeting or needed to run errands after work.

They had already established the routine of Danica finishing up at five-thirty, bringing Indie down to the park so she could do her business after all afternoon in the office, and Alex picking her up from the park exit at six.

They had gotten dinner together twice, and she was pleasantly surprised by how well they were getting along.

They worked together easily all day, then put their jobs aside when they left the hotel and talked about other things, sometimes for hours.

They found they actually had a lot in common, both enjoying rock and alternative music, enjoyed travelling, but hadn't been able to do much of it outside of what did for work, they both tended to put work above play, and didn't know what to do with themselves if they didn't have something to keep them busy, and to her surprise, Alex had gotten a purple belt in Brazilian Ju Jitsu in high school, which he told her in delight when she mentioned her blue belt in Krav Maga, and led to a whole other discussion about how much they both loved action movies with well choreographed fight scenes, agreeing that the plot could be shit as long as the fights were good and making plans to spend a weekend when it got cold watching all the John Wick movies in order.

“How would you feel about coming on a four-day weekend motorcycle trip with me, Xavier and Emilia at the end of August?” Alex's voice was almost too casual as he broke the comfortable silence they had been sitting in on the drive home.

“We're heading up to Hermit Island Campground in Maine for the Labour Day long weekend, as long as things keep improving with Gracie.”

Danica looked at him, not sure what to make of that.

“Camping? Like in tents?” She'd never stayed in a tent before.

She actually hadn't spent any time in the wilderness at all until she started going to the family vacation cabin with Jasper and his family, and while some of the family had stayed in tents or campers on the trip, she and Jasper had always made sure they had a room in the cabin.

“Yeah, camping in tents.” Alex gave her a deeply amused look, and she found herself pouting a little, feeling like he was making fun of her. “Emilia said you'd be resistant to that part.”

“I didn't exactly grow up in the Brady Bunch,” Danica grumbled, folding her arms. “Camping in tents, or in general, was not part of my life experience.”

“Do you think it was part of mine?” Alex nudged her with his elbow as he chuckled. “Can you imagine my parents and brother sleeping on air mattresses in a tent? Come on, it'll be a first for both of us.”

Danica wrinkled her nose. She wasn't resistant to the idea; it was something she'd wanted to try, but she wasn't sure if she wanted her first time to be in a situation where she couldn't leave without a hassle if she didn't enjoy it.

“Don't you need a lot of equipment to camp? How are we getting everything we need there on a motorcycle?”

“Both Xavier and I have saddlebags and top cases on our bikes, and he's been helping me find the right equipment. You just have to pack light.” He explained.

“Emilia wanted to come when Xavier told her about it, and I tried to back out, because I didn't want to be the third wheel, but Xavier suggested we invite you to balance things out.” He gave her a pleading look.

“Just think about it, talk to Emilia tomorrow on the way to Salem and get her thoughts before you answer.”

Danica took a deep breath and nodded. That was a fair ask. Get all the information before making a decision. “Fine, I'll think about it.”