“Come in Monday, we’ll talk about your duties and pay. My assistant is retiring at the end of the month, she’ll be happy to train you.”
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Great! Come on, Alex will be looking for you.”
Tara still needed to tell him about the phone call from Tim. She’d rather have told him in private but he’d been preoccupied with work on the drive here.
She spotted him striding toward her. He stopped in front of her. Damn, he was hot. Dashing, dark and handsome.
“Beautiful,” he told her. Tara smiled up at him.
He held out his hand, clasping hers firmly. He led her to an area with couches and a couple of chairs where some other subs were sitting. “Stay here until I come back for you.”
“Alex, I need to talk to you,” she said, reaching out for him.
He raised his eyebrows. “Alex?”
“Sir. I’m sorry. But I do need to talk to you.”
He nodded. “Can you wait for a bit? Dylan needs my help, one of the other dungeon monitors called in sick and they’re waiting for the replacement to arrive.”
“Okay, sure.” Tara sat with a thump in the chair.
***
“Master Alex? Can I speak with you?”
Alex turned around to find Tilly standing behind him.
“I’m not on duty tonight, Tilly. I was just helping out. I’ve got to get back to Tara.”
“It’s about Tara.” There was a tense note in her voice and he watched her carefully. Her shoulders were tense, her hands clenched at her sides.
“All right. If it’s important.”
“It is. Over here.” She waved toward the quieter area.
Alex took a seat on the sofa while Tilly sat on a large armchair.
“All right, talk.”
She raised her gaze to his. “You’re being a jerk.”
“Excuse me?” he asked in a low voice.
“I know you’ll think I’m being disrespectful but I’m going to be blunt because I don’t know how else to get through to you. I’m talking to you as Tara’s friend. You can punish me later if you like, but I’m still going to say this. You’re not being fair to Tara. You’re using her and its tearing her apart. If you can’t see how fantastic she is then let her go.”
“What ha
s Tara been saying to you?”
“That’s just it. She hasn’t said anything. She’s my best friend and we never talk about her relationship with you. Do you think that’s normal? Every time I bring it up, she gets this sad look in her eyes. She’s miserable and if you can’t see it then you need to walk away. Because you are the cause.”
Alex was taken aback. Was she right? Was Tara miserable?
He recalled the way she’d looked at him tonight. She was sad. How had he not seen it before? Because he was too engulfed in his own issues.
“I was trying to protect us both.” He hadn’t wanted either of them to get hurt when this ended. Somehow that had backfired. The thought of losing Tara made him feel physically ill.