“It’s with the mechanics,” he nods. “I still can’t believe that shit happened. We were expecting the rain, that part of the parking lot should have been out of service for days.”
“Or maybe the underground parking should have been fixed,” Nate adds with a shrug, his arms crossed over his chest. “But yeah, I’m her ride while her car is—”
“Prudence?”
My whole body tenses.
Fuck. Either by luck or something else, I managed to avoid him for the whole month. I don’t notice Nate taking the few steps separating us until his arm is flush against mine.
“What are you still doing here? You should be done for today,” Raph says, stopping in front of us a little out of breath like he rushed here. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Is it about her car?” Nate asks in a bored voice, not leaving time for me to answer and I hold a frown, more and more annoyed by his tendency to speak for me.
Raph finally turns his face towards him and his brows crease in confusion. “Nate? What are you—are you treating someone?”
He cocks a brow. “I saw Daniel for his shoulder. But now I’m waiting for Prue to be done chatting so we can get moving.”
His hand slides around my back towards my hip and pulls me flush against his side, making me gasp.
“What?” I hiss. “You were the one chatting!”You damn moron.
The bastard has the audacity to just shrug with a satisfied smile. And I know I said we were fine and I had no excuses to hate him, but right now, I feel like punching him in the face in front of all the officers and detectives, new job be damned.
“Can we go,baby?” Nate asks, ignoring my little outburst. “They’re all waiting at the bar. Happy hour starts soon and they secured one of the sitting areas on the edge of the deck.”
My frown deepens. Did he just call mebaby?
“Oh, you going to Tipsy Turtle?” Matthew asks, cutting me from any retort, obviously oblivious to the weird mood change.
Nate only nods, glaring towards Raph.
I try to step away, but he holds me tight. That ass could have told me he knew him. He had the opportunity to when he picked me up after I signed my contract and asked me about him.
“So, I hear you’re back with the wife?” He says, arching an eyebrow at Raph, and my former lover tenses slightly but gives him a nod anyway. “Well I’d love to hear the whole story, but we have to get going.”
“We’ll probably see you there,” Matthew says cheerfully, interrupting Raph who was about to say something. “That’s where we’re going to celebrate all our closed cases.” He winks at me with a kind smile.
I think I like him. He’s nice. Without being flirty. Even though he’s absolutely clueless about the tension in our little group right now.
What an adorable innocent soul.
“Great,” Nate grumbles. “I guess we’ll see you later then.” He picks up my purse from the back of my chair and doesn’t move his hand from my hip, pulling me with him towards the elevator.
I don’t bother fighting, and even wait patiently when he gives his pass back and exchange niceties with the front desk officer.
But I finally snap the moment the doors of his car close.
“Let’s get things straight, here,” I say firmly and he turns a confused face towards me, halting his hand from putting the key in the ignition. “You don’t get to speak for me. What happened between Raph and I is none of your business, and you shut up about it unless I ask you to step in. You don’t get to act all controlling, because I’m just going to hate you and push you away. I thought we were fine and you were just trying to piss my brother off, but this is going too far.”
His brows crease slightly and he opens his mouth to talk but I stop him, holding up a finger. “Maybe in that weird brain of yours you feel like you’re helping, but you’re not. It’s not college anymore. I’m a grown ass woman, and I can stand up for myself. You want to meddle? I don’t want you to, but that’s fine. But don’t you fucking dare talk for me. I have a voice, and I canfuckinguse it. And why the hell did you call mebaby?
“Secondly, you should have told me you knew him when you picked me up that first time. Now, I just feel stupid. Or stupider than I was already feeling before. It’s bad enough that I have to work with a guy I hooked up with once a month ago, and finding out he’s a co-worker the day after I find out he’s actually back with his ex. Not that Iactuallycare, because I knew that was a one night stand and it didn’t mean anything, but it makes me feel awkward at work. Anyway, I’m losing track here. Thepointis, I can speak for myself. And you should have told me. And I’m sorry I snapped, but I’m really mad at you right now. You’re—”
“Don’t apologize,” he says softly, his eyes lost on the unmoving road infront of him. “I’msorry. You’re right.”
My mouth opens slightly in surprise. “I’m—what?”
“You’re right. I overstepped. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken for you. With the scolding you’re giving me now, you’re obviously quite capable of standing your ground,” he chuckles softly and my body relaxes a bit. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry. And I promise I won’t do that again. Well, after tonight.”
