A Little Bit Naughty by Farrah Rochon Page A

cleaners.
    These monthly get-togethers arose out of necessity when Callie’s world imploded after her husband revealed that he was leaving her for his younger, pregnant girlfriend. Being an only child whose parents had been killed while she was still in college, Callie had needed them desperately.
    When Eric followed suit, leaving Jada in the same predicament Callie had been in, they continued their get-togethers. At least Eric had waited a little longer before he got his new girl pregnant.
    Poor Kiera’s love life had always warranted massive amounts of alcohol, despite her being the optimist of the group. At this point, Jada wasn’t sure Kiera was even looking for love anymore.
    Unless…
    “Is this about a man?” Jada asked. “Please don’t tell me you accepted Garrett’s friendship request on Facebook.”
    “No,” Kiera said. “I blocked him. I even blocked his number from my cell phone and the phone at the kitchen. This has nothing to do with Garrett.”
    “Then what is it?” Callie asked, passing around the plate of double fudge, dark chocolate caramel brownies that should be declared illegal in all fifty states. Jada was sure the calories in just one was enough to kill a small dog.
    Kiera groaned again. She lay prone across the cushioned armchair in Callie’s living room, her feet dangling over one armrest while her back bowed over the other. Jada tucked her feet underneath her, studying her friend from her spot on the loveseat.
    “We’re only asking because we’re concerned,” Jada told her.
    “And nosy,” Kiera returned.
    “That, too.” Callie topped off her wineglass. “You know we’re here to help. But we need to know what’s going on so that we’ll know how to help.”
    Kiera sat upright and folded her legs underneath her. “Fine. I know neither of you will stop until you get all the gory details, anyway.”
    “Wait, just how gory are the details?” Callie asked. “Do I need to uncork another bottle before you begin?”
    “No, I think we’re good with what we have.” Kiera took a deep breath. “Okay, remember when I told you guys that I wanted to branch out with Catering by Kiera?”
    “You mentioned that you were considering getting a food truck to take into New Orleans.”
    “Yeah, well, when I looked into it, I found out that they can run upwards of a hundred thousand.”
    “Dollars!” Jada screeched. “For an ice cream truck with a stove?”
    “They’re a lot more than ice cream trucks with stoves.” Kiera drawled. She ticked items off on her fingers. “They’re fully wired, they require a ventilation system, a three-compartment sink. Basically everything you would need for a brick and mortar restaurant. And all that stuff has to be up to code.”
    “So, will you have to put off buying the food truck for a while? Is that why you’ve been so off lately?” Jada asked as she reached for another brownie.
    Kiera released another sigh. “I bought a food truck. From Craigslist.”
    Jada dropped the brownie. “Craigslist?”
    “Sight unseen,” Kiera said. She covered her face with both hands and groaned. “I know. I know. It was the stupidest thing I could have done, but it was such a good deal, and the pictures they had up on the website looked good enough.”
    “How much did you pay?” Callie asked.
    “Twenty-thousand. Cash.”
    “Holy shit, Kiera!” Jada sat upright.
    “Did they falsify the ad?” Callie asked. “Because there should be some type of recourse if they did.”
    “No, no.” She shook her head. “The seller warned that the truck needed some work. I just didn’t realize how much work. And they definitely took the most advantageous shots of the truck.”
    “Do you have any idea how much it’ll take to get it up to code?” Callie asked.
    “The estimate I’ve gotten is another twenty-thousand, at least.”
    “Holy shit, Kiera!” Jada said again.
    “You want to add something else to the conversation other than ‘holy shit’?”
    “I’m