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Betty Jean smiled up at him “Hey, Hot Stuff”

“Mrs Collins,” he acknowledged respectfully, because, hell, she was practically old enough to be his grandmother

“So, I know this is forward of , the early bird catches the worm, and you’re about the juiciest wor tihed

Steve shuffled from foot to foot and waited for whatever it was she would say next She made no sense, of course, but his encounters with Betty Jean were always a little off There were ti on him Which…yeah, there were no words for that really

“Now don’t get ,” Betty Jean said “I love Kitty Yessiree, I do She’s practically Whispering Bay royalty You know her grandroup, but…never mind about that” She slipped a business card in his hand “Loyalty is one thing, but a wootta do” Then she winked at him and walked away

He glanced down at the card Hair Today, Gone Toham, stylist and owner

Betty Jean thought he needed a haircut? He turned the card over There was a e written in a woman’s flowery scroll:

This is my niece’s business card She’s thirty-four and divorced Owns her own business Plus, she’s a Scorpio and you knohat they say about their sex drives Call her!

What the fuck?

His gaze i thumbs-up She wasn’t serious, was she? Everyone in town kneith Kitty Maybe this was some kind of weird joke Betty Jean did have a wacky sense of humor Not sure what else to do, he pocketed the card and turned back to the counter

Frida, thank God, was there, waiting for hiet back to normal

“Hey, Frida,” he said, greeting The Bistro’s owner “I’ll have the usual, please”

“And that would be, what, exactly?” Her frosty tone startled him

“You knohat I want,” he said, giving her his best smile

“Really? Because it seems to everyone in town that you have no idea what you want”