Page 31 of Definitely Not a Thing

“Morning,” I greeted with a smile. “Thank you for making time.”

She gave me a dry laugh in return. “Man, please. I didn’t have a choice – that Jeanie chick is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”

My eyes went wide, and I leaned in. “Nooo,” I whispered. “Did you find more red flags?”

“Enough to lead a communist revolution.”

“Don’t tell me that,” I whined, and Shia shook her head.

“I’m sorry to have to – look at this,” she said, opening her laptop to turn the screen in my direction. “She’s had two more complaints in the time since you flagged her. One was just late, but the other… the groceries didn’t have bags. She just put the stuff on the doorstep, scattered, and a neighbors dog got into it and got sick.”

I dropped my head into my hands. “We’ve terminated her account, right?”

“For thethirdtime, yeah,” Shia explained. “I’ve got the security team trying to figure out how the hell she keeps getting around the background checks.”

“Threetimes?!”

“She’s persistent, if nothing else. And well-reviewed at the none-delivery deliveries.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

Shia smirked, clicking around a bit on her screen before she turned it to me again. “Read this new review.”

“I’m scared.”

“Just read it,” she insisted, and I accepted the challenge, focusing on the words she’d directed my attention to.

My mouth fell open halfway through the second sentence.

“This reads like a damn erotica. I’m not grown enough for whatever this is,” I said, pushing it away. “It’s for sure not about groceries or take out.”

“Oh, she’s been taking something out for sure,” Shia laughed.

“Flag that girl’s license, social, birth certificate, diploma, library card, hell, her shoe size – whatever it takes to keep her off my shit before she gets me raided by VICE.”

“Can you imagine the headline?”

“Yes, actually,” I huffed. “Lewd Lesbian Lunches Linked to Local Logistics.”

“Groceries Gone Wild,”Shia countered, making me laugh even harder.

“Yeah, yeah – exactly the branding we’ve been going for!”

If it wasn’tactuallyserious, the humor of it all could be a great marketing tactic – and Shia was the perfect person for it, as my Partner Relationship manager. She was the one who worked closely with the people providing the services on Proxy – making sure they were prepared and happy.

We joked a little longer about our Jeanie woes, but then someone else’s laughter – familiar laughter – cut through the air, pulling my attention.

I immediately found the source.

Hunter.

I was tucked into a corner, out of direct view from most of the shop. I could see him, but he couldn’t see me.

He was several tables away, leaning in close to the woman he was with. They’d pulled both chairs to the same side of the round table, obviously wanting to be next to each other. Laughing, grinning, googly-eyes, all that.

Oh.

“Uh-oh,” Shia muttered, clearly having followed my gaze, seeing the same thing I’d seen.