Page 8 of Last Date

Allister gave a husky laugh. “Who could forget that Pikachu hoodie he wore? It was fantastic.”

My face warmed. “Believe it or not, I still have it.”

“Seriously?” Allister laughed merrily. “That’s amazing.”

Peter laughed too. “Pikachu, huh?”

I shrugged. “Everyone was wearing that stuff back then.”

“Anyway, I figured I’d lure Kip aboard my boat with promises of champagne and caviar.” Allister surprised me by slipping his arm loosely around my waist. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Peter smirked. “You should wear your Pikachu hoodie.” His tone was unusually snarky.

“Maybe I will.” I forced a smile, wondering why Peter seemed less warm than usual. Hopefully Merrick hadn’t said anything to him about our awkward conversation the other day.

Allister smiled down at me. “It took some convincing to get Kip to agree to join me on Valentine’s Day. He couldn’t seem to understand why I’d ask him to be my date. Which is crazy. I suspect he has no idea how sexy he is.”

My face felt like it was on fire. “Oh, well, that’s not a thing.”

Laughing, Allister let go of me. “All I know is I’m happy he finally accepted.”

“I do like sailboats,” I said.

Allister pushed his lip out in a pout. “Hopefully you like me too, just a little?”

“Of course.” My laugh was self-conscious.

Allister nodded approvingly. “That’s more like it.”

I gave a weak smile. “I’m actually really looking forward to Friday.”

“Me too,” Allister cooed.

“Sounds great.” Merrick’s voice was clipped. He turned to Peter. “Shall we go inside?”

“Sure.” Peter forced a smile. “Good seeing you, Allister.” His gaze moved to me. “I guess we’ll see you inside, Kip.”

“Right. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Unless I sneak off to my car.

They brushed past us and disappeared into the restaurant. “Was it my imagination, or did Chief Dawson seem to be in a bad mood?” Allister had a thoughtful expression.

“He has a stressful job.”

“He certainly does,” he murmured. “Plus, rumor has it he and Mayor Rodriquez have been arguing lately.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “It seems Chief Dawson isn’t thrilled with some of the city council’s development plans. Not that he has any power in that department.”

“What doesn’t he approve of?”

“Oh, Ascot Development wants to build apartments down at Plunder Cove. Chief Dawson thinks it’s wrong to build there when the citizens of Pearl Cove love that beach so much.” He sighed. “I suspect he’d prefer Pearl Cover never move into the twenty-first century.”

“Apartments at Plunder Cove?” I tried not to show how much I too hated the idea of anyone building on that beach. “I wouldn’t think the people who own beachfront cottages there would be thrilled with that idea.”

“We can probably get them over to our side with the right amount of money as incentive. The problem is the environmental kooks. I have some nut named Bob Tiegerman who’s harassing me lately. He runs some loony grunion-obsessed group.”