“Ugh.”
“She’s being nice. You stink like a wino. Go take a shower so we can clean this up.”
London forced herself off the couch. “You don’t need to clean up. I’m fine.”
“Sure,” Nikki said.
She didn’t have it in her to argue, so she went to shower. The hot water helped but she couldn’t remember the last time she ate. Food would probably be better than coffee, but she really wanted the coffee.
When she got back downstairs, the empty wine bottle was gone, her dirty coffee mugs were clean, and there was a breakfast burrito waiting for her. “Damn, you guys work fast.”
“Nikki had food ordered before we got here. And it looks like it was a smart move. You have nothing here but wine and coffee.”
“I’ve been busy.” London waved a hand and unwrapped her breakfast burrito.
“What’s with the pity party?” Nikki said.
London swallowed her food and the fast-forming lump in her throat. “I worked all day and night last night on the topper. And I totally fucked it up. I was tired and couldn’t focus.” She shook her head and tugged at the sandwich wrapper. “I was caught up in my own thoughts about Ezra, and...” She sighed and pointed to the workbench. “It’s not fixable.”
“Okay.” Nikki gave her one of those so-the-fuck-what looks.
“I let you guys down. We can’t do the Moore job. That would’ve been a ton of money to help people.”
Audrey patted her leg. “Shit happens. We considered not doing this one anyway. No big deal. We have plenty of others.”
“But we all wanted this one.”
“Fuck it. We can get him some other way,” Nikki said. “The topper was what Mia picked. I’m sure he has something else we can steal.”
Her friends’ acceptance of her screw-up didn’t make her feel better. “Thanks,” she said, half-heartedly.
“How much of this is about the topper and how much is about hot glass guy?”
Tears clawed at London as she looked at Nikki. “I don’t even know anymore.” She waved a hand. “And before you say anything else, I know how stupid it is. We barely know each other. I shouldn’t be so caught up in it. Him. But there was something about the way he looked at me when he came here. I can’t shake it.”
“Have you tried talking to him again?” Audrey asked.
She shook her head. “He made it clear heneverwants to hear from me again.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Audrey offered.
“No. It’s time to move on to the next job. I’m going to get back to work on the paintings as soon as I finish eating and get some more sleep. My brain is still too foggy to function and I’ll be really pissed if I screw up another one.”
“I say we go egg his shop,” Nikki said.
“God, no. Leave the poor man alone. He didn’t do anything.”
Nikki rose, tossed her wrapper in the trash, and said, “He made you cry, babe, and that’s enough in my book.”
One thing she loved about Nikki was how loyal she was. If you had her in your corner, you were in good shape.
“As much as I appreciate that, Ezra was right. I did use him. I just never expected him to find out.” She took a few more bites of her burrito. “Really. You guys can go.”
“You sure?” Audrey asked.
“Yes, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t break into my place again.”
“I make no promises,” Nikki called as she strode out the door.