What the heck was so funny about her name?

“Oh,” she said, finally getting the joke. The very lame joke, she might add. “Yes, well, I suppose I wasn’t very graceful out there.”

“You think?” He snorted.

She blinked and sat up straighter in her chair. “You don’t have to be rude.”

“Sweetheart, you’re the one who lied on your job application.”

“I didn’t- How did you know I lied?” She groaned inwardly. She couldn’t even lie about lying. That was just sad.

“Easy.” He folded his arms across his impressive chest in a move Grace knew was meant to daunt her. And it was working, sort of. She was more than a bit overwhelmed by him, if her inability to breathe was any indication.

“I don’t hire inexperienced waitresses,” he continued. “Since we did hire you, your application must’ve stated that you knew what you were doing. And you obviously don’t, which means you lied. And since you no longer work for me, I can be as rude as I want.”

“I hope you’ll reconsider,” she said, sniffing with annoyance at the logic of his argument. “I had a very good reason for lying-er, fudging the truth.”

“Fudging?” He leaned one hip against the edge of his desk. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

She frowned at him. “Are you willing to listen to reason?”

“I’m a reasonable man,” he said, waving his hand at her as if granting her permission to speak. “Just make it fast. I was on my way to making a very important phone call when I was interrupted by your little scene out there.”

“Oh, I’m really sorry about that.”

“Yeah, me, too. So?”

“Right. Well, it’s simple, really.” She took a quick moment to wish she was dressed in something more professional than a bikini top that revealed most of her breasts and a thin wisp of cloth that was knotted well below her belly button. But since she couldn’t exactly run back to her room and change clothes, she took another deep breath and blurted, “You have spores.”