“Hey! You look really pretty today,” he said. “Well, every day. But really, really pretty today.”
Annoyed but trying not to show it, I cleared my throat. “Thanks,” I said awkwardly. “What are you doing here?”
“Snappy. How flattering for my ego.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude or anything. Just wondering how come you’re at the bank. I’ve never seen you here before. And I thought you banked with Wells Fargo!”
“I am thinking of changing it.” He shrugged. “There are some things only this branch of South National has to offer. Exclusively.”
I sighed. “Rick. We have been through this already. You know where I stand on this whole thing.”
His smile didn’t falter. “I know. I thought we stood at being friends.”
That made me smile back at him and at the exact moment I saw Zayden looking at us sternly. “Yes, that sounds about right. But you really shouldn’t be here.”
“I am not stalking, I promise. I had to go visit a friend next door and I remembered you telling me you worked here. It probably sounds like bullshit – given the age-old ‘I was in the neighborhood’ line – but I really was. I can give you his number if you like.”
I laughed, trying not to look at Zayden. His fierce stares were starting to make me uncomfortable. “I believe you, and thanks for stopping by.”
“Of course, any time. I thought I would also check up on our coffee hangout. I owe you a delicious cup of Frappuccino for everything I made you go through.”
“You don’t owe me anything. Like I said, I am over everything that happened. But yes, we can grab that coffee sometime.”
“Perhaps you could plan that coffee date when I am not paying you by the hour,” I heard a different, angrier voice say. Zayden was standing in front of us, looking about ready to commit murder. I had never seen him this angry before. Not even when he was yelling on the phone the other day. My knees trembled and I looked over at Rick. He looked petrified, his face turning pale white.
“I’m sorry,” he was saying in the voice of a mouse. “I did not mean to distract her from her job.”
“You know who I am?” Zayden said, his eyes almost red.
“Duh. Most people do around here. I’m Richard Kruz. A friend of Aria’s.”
“I don’t care if you’re the mother of Jesus. If you need to flirt with my employees, do it on your own time. Now please leave the premises of my building before I call security.”
Rick looked like he was about to throw up and muttered another “sorry” before strutting out of the building. If I wasn’t so terrified myself, I would be laughing hard at the look on his face. He definitely deserved this.
“You,” Zayden snapped. “In my office. Now.”
He had never spoken to me like that, and now my amusement and fear was starting to turn into anger. God, he was being an ass. I followe
d him to his office, rage spreading through my body.
“Close the door behind you,” he said in the same angry tone.
I complied, if for no other reason than to avoid a scene. There was never a good time to be chastised by Zayden Sinclair, but the worst time ever would be during the middle of the day at both our workplaces with everyone listening as they pretended to work.
It would be difficult to continue to keep my cool if he kept acting this way though.
Chapter 6
Zayden
I couldn’t justify the intense anger I felt in that moment. Just looking at her face was making me want to throw something out the window, and it had taken all the reserve I could muster not to punch that college punk in the face for daring to flirt with her right in front of my eyes.
“Who the fuck was that?” I snapped bitterly.
“I won’t answer until you ask again,” she said defiantly. “More politely.”
The nerve she had to tell me what the fuck to do was pissing me off! I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. She wasn’t going to make this easy, and the angrier I got, the more I needed to find out who that kid was, so he could be banned from the bank premises forever.