“Oh… my… God,” she whispered over her shoulder as she watched him go. Scandal glimmered in her eyes, and I could, disturbingly enough, feel how hot and bothered she was as she turned back to Iain, raking her bottom lip between her teeth. “Sticking up for us waitresses, huh? You’re gonna have to let me buy you a drink for that one, Mr. Thorn,” she purred, licking the corner of her mouth.
Iain looked at her.
“I’d prefer a minute alone with Holland,” he said.
My heart thumped like a rock against my chest as I pretty much heard the smile drop off Lana’s face.
“Oh,” she said flatly, just standing and staring there for a second, like she was waiting for Iain to say something else or maybe change his mind. But when he didn’t, she let out a short huff of breath, shooting me a weirdly accusatory look before turning on her heel and marching right off, leaving me standing there all alone.
And so insanely fucking anxious I was having actual hot flashes.
Because I had hoped to feel an instant shift once Lana was gone. To turn my head and see Iain crack a smile, or hear that warm “hey you” that he had always reserved just for me when he came over our house.
But I got none of that.
Instead I got his emerald eyes boring into mine, scrutinizing me for another punishing second of silence before he aske
d, “What are you doing here?”
I blinked, stunned.
I wasn’t sure what kind of greeting I was expecting at this point, but it definitely wasn’t that. I could feel my cheeks heating up and my eyebrows pulling into a frown as I gave my awkward response.
“I… work here?”
“Is your mother aware of that?”
Oh my God. Everything inside me deflated as I blushed so hard I felt the heat flood back to my ears and my neck.
“No,” I said tightly, amazed by how a single question managed to reduce me to feeling once again like a child. “She isn’t,” I continued slowly to gather my wits. “But it’s not really her business anymore considering I moved out five weeks ago.”
Boom.
I had hoped for that bombshell to elicit a look of surprise, maybe even some pride from Iain. He was, after all, the one person who used to tell me that I was as smart and capable as anybody, and that I could do anything I set my mind to.
But to my dismay, there wasn’t the slightest hint of reaction in those perfect, chiseled features. His expression remained impassive as he held his gaze on me for another second before flicking it down to the check.
“Your brother said you got a job with the Mercier Group,” he said. “In marketing.”
I clenched my teeth a bit.
“No. Visuals,” I corrected, annoyed that I had to answer to him when he wasn’t even looking at me. “And I do work there, I just got a temporary second job so I could buy a few more things that I needed.”
“Like what?”
“Some furniture.”
“What kind?”
A bed since I’ve been sleeping on a lumpy mattress on the floor for five weeks, but I’m sure as hell not gonna tell you that.
“Just… stuff. Like, general stuff from Stone Pine, which isn’t the cheapest store in the world, so I needed the side gig,” I said, getting a little defensive. “Why are you even asking me all this right now?”
Iain looked up at me as he reached into his jacket for his wallet.
“Because I don’t think you should be working here,” he replied.
My eyebrows sprang up.