Tangle (Dogwood Lane 2)

You don’t need to worry about this, Haley. You won’t see him after tomorrow. He’ll drop you off, Branson’s house will be done, and that will be that.

Jake walks up. He takes in Fig Boy and me and chooses to stand between us.

“How are you tonight, Haley?” he asks.

“I’m good.”

He lifts a brow, calling me out without actually saying anything. I lift mine right back, as if to ask him if he knows, why is he asking.

“You should be,” Jake says pointedly.

“Oh, I am. We’ve been having a fascinating conversation about our culinary tastes. Right . . .”

“I’m Noah. I work with Jake and Trevor.”

“Ah,” I say. “Noah and I have the same taste, it seems.”

Jake’s jaw twitches. He opens his mouth as if to say something but stops short of actually speaking.

“How do you guys know one another?” Noah asks.

Jake holds his hand out. “Why don’t you explain it, Haley?”

“Sure.” I set my water on the counter. I tried to prepare an answer to this question on the way here, but every time I thought about it, Trevor said something and sidetracked me. Here I am with no Trevor and no response. “I’m a friend of the family,” I say. “Kelly Construction is doing business with my family in Dogwood Lane.”

“Oh, yeah. I heard about that in the office last week,” Noah says. “I guess the carpenters down there are unbelievable.”

I note that to tell Dane. “Yes, they are.”

Jake turns so that Noah can’t see him. “Friend of the family, huh?”

“Makes sense to me.”

“Let’s see if this makes sense . . .” He fires a mischievous grin my way before excusing himself.

I lift my water glass again, unsure what he meant. The vessel almost slips from my grasp as a hand plants firmly on my hip from behind.

Trevor’s cologne floods my senses as I look into Noah’s eyes. He glances over my head before letting his gaze fall back on me.

My body roars in response to Trevor’s fingers biting into my skin. White noise rushes over my ears as I try to step out of his grasp.

Not happening.

Trevor holds me in place, my back to his front.

“Hey, Trevor,” Noah says.

“Hi, Noah.”

Noah’s lips twist. “Friend of the family, huh?”

“Yes,” I say, ignoring Trevor’s body pressed to mine. Not being able to see his face, to read him, to have some idea what he’s thinking, makes me crazy. “He needed a plus-one, and since our families are doing business right now, we thought it would be fun.”

Trevor’s fingers flex, ruffling the fabric of my dress between us.

“Are you having fun, Haley?” The sweetness in Trevor’s voice is for my benefit. Being that he just spent a decent amount of time alone with Red Dress, he can take that sweetness and shove it.

Yes, I’m jealous. I’m mad. I’m frustrated with myself. Trevor, Jake, and even Fig Boy because he ate the last caramelized fig.

“I am,” I say, giving it right back to him. “Noah and I have a lot in common.”

“Is that right?”

Noah takes his drink and a big step back. “Not that much, really. Just an affinity for pizza rolls.” He forces a swallow. “I’ll see you in the office next week, Trevor. Nice to meet you, Haley.”

“You too, Noah,” I say.

Trevor stands even closer to me, if that’s possible. A vibration ripples from him, sinking into my body. As I absorb his irritation, I do my best to project my own.

“Are you having fun, Trevor?” I ask, staring straight ahead.

I don’t know what I hope he says. I don’t even know where I’m going with this question. I only know I have to say something to break the ice and figure out what he’s thinking.

“Not as much as you.” His tone is rough. The rawness in the way he says the words scrapes over my skin. “I know you saw me with Liz.”

I’ve heard him talk about her a number of times. But hearing him say her name now that I have a face to put with it—a memory of the two of them together—makes it a different animal.

Before, she was an obsessed ex he didn’t have any desire to see. Now, she’s a knockout he sneaks around with at parties.

What isn’t any different is my non-relationship with him, and I’ll be damned if he thinks I’m going to chase after him like Liz.

His head dips to the side of mine. His breath is hot on my neck. “She didn’t appreciate me bringing you here.”

“Then I guess your plan worked.”

His chest shakes behind me. I hear his tongue swipe across his lips as he suppresses a chuckle. “What was my plan, exactly?” His hips roll ever-so-slightly. His cock sweeps over my behind. “I seem to forget.”

My insides tighten so hard it knocks the wind out of me. I find a black-and-white pencil sketch on the wall above the table and glue my eyes to it, hoping to find some balance.