Page 54 of Positively Pricked

Chapter 18

Tiffany was all smiles as she scurried toward me in the department store. "Oh, my God!" she squealed. "It's been ages. Howareyou?"

I glanced around. "Me?"

But already, Tiffany had barreled into me and wrapped me up in a hug so tight that I could barely breathe. She laughed like I'd just said something funny. "You aresucha kidder."

I wasn't a kidder. I was confused as hell. The last time I'd seen Tiffany had been at that disastrous catering gig, when she'd acted like we were practically strangers. That had been nearly a month ago, and I hadn't forgotten, even ifshehad.

I pulled away and eyed her with suspicion. "What are you doing?"

She lifted both arms, showing off a colorful array of festive shopping bags. "Shopping, what else?"

I recognized the bags, and not only because they'd just been poking me in the sides. Every single bag sported the name or logo of some upscale shop that was well beyond my price range.

Of course, everything was beyond mycurrentrange, considering that I had no money and none coming in any time soon.

Unlike Tiffany, I wasn't here to shop. I was looking for a job.

Already, I'd hit dozens of stores, in hopes that someone was hiring.

No such luck.

Tiffany gave me a sunny smile. "So, you wanna grab some lunch and catch up?"

At the mere mention of lunch, my stomach gave a traitorous grumble. Looking to conserve my money, I'd been living on rice and Ramen noodles for the past couple of weeks. By now, I was so hungry for something different that even food court nachos sounded sinfully delicious.

Still, I shook my head. "I can't."

Tiffany frowned. "Why not?"

Because I can't afford it.

But I'd die before admitting such a thing.

And besides, that wasn't the only reason for declining Tiffany's invitation. My empty wallet aside, it was because Tiffany and I weren't on speaking terms, as she'd so nicely informed me at Zane's place, back when I'd been plucking crab cakes off the carpet.

I told her, "Because we're not friends, remember?"

Tiffany blinked. "What? Why not?"

"Oh, for God's sake," I said. "Don't act like you forgot."

"Forgot what?"

As if she didn't know.I crossed my arms and waited.

"Oh, all right," she finally said. "But what did you expect? Thereareprotocols, you know."

I felt my gaze narrow. "What kind of protocols?"

"Well…" She glanced away. "Like chatting with the help. It's like ahugefaux-pas."

I stiffened.The help?"Hey," I said, "I was a catering assistant, not a leper."

Tiffany sighed. "I know. Honest. But the senator, he'ssoimage-conscious. Do you know, he got all mad at me yesterday when I started chatting with some parking valet?" Tiffany gave a sad shake of her head. "Which totally sucked, because he was super-cute, too."

Obviously, she wasn't talking about her fiancé. Still, I couldn’t resist tweaking her at least a little. "Sorry, who's cute?" I put on my clueless face. "The Senator?"