He rolls his eyes. “Right. I’m leaving.”
“For the golf outing. Sure.”
He narrows his gaze.
“Yes, I know your itinerary.” I tap my bag. “Part of my job. Don’t worry. If you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll observe. Watch you with people. See how you interact with them and how they interact with you.”
“Okay, creeper.” He scowls at me. “Why are you doing this?”
A bead of sweat trickles down the back of my neck, and I could really use the five-degree air temps we left behind in Wisconsin right about now, because I’m all but melting under Anton’s stare.
“It’s what I was hired for.” Not a complete lie. “Like I told you yesterday, you’re kind of stuck with me.”
“Whatever.Observeall you want. Just leave me alone.”
I give him a cheerful wave as he climbs into the backseat. “See ya around!”
When I turn on my heel and head for the hotel, I find Noli standing outside the revolving doors.
“Since when do you know Anton Bates?” she asks, her tone a mix of awe and accusation.
I shrug her off. “I met him when I cheered in Mobile.”
Noli keeps her gaze fixed on me, like she’s trying to decipher a code that’s written on the bridge of my nose. “Did you know him well?”
Yes, and he knew mewell.
I keep my expression blasé and ignore the thought. I really wish I had told Noli and Poppy that Anton and I were together five years ago. I could have been honest about that, just not aboutwhywe were together. But I kept them in the dark because I got spooked by how much he meant to me. I knew when we inevitably broke up, the two of them would have been able to see right through my lies about why I ended things, and I couldn’t have that.
I’m paying for withholding that information now, though.
“I mean, our circles overlapped from time to time, so I was around him a bit,” I lie. “Why?”
Noli raises a shoulder. “It seemed like there was some history there.” She pins me with a look that only a younger sister can give. It says,I know there’s something here you’re not telling me, and I’m not letting you off the hook until you fill me in.
“Did you get that impression because he looked annoyed to see me?” I chuckle, playing it off like no big deal. “Let’s just say we didn’t always get along.”
More lies. We got along great until I broke up with him.
I blink against the memory ofthathorrible night and shrug like it’s all no biggie. “I wasn’t one of those women who would tell him what he wanted to hear because he was famous.”
Half-truths R Us.
Noli shakes her head slowly. “That’s not what I meant.”
I cock my head, waiting for her to continue.
“Before you caught sight of him and went over there, I noticed him…watching you. He didn’t look annoyed. He looked…I don’t know.”
I bite my lip, and when she doesn’t say more, I prod, “What?”
“Like he was longing for you. Is that weird? I don’t know. It felt like there was some sort of invisible string that was connecting his gaze to you…and like he didn’t want to sever it. He seemed into you.”
I toss my arm around Noli’s shoulder and lead her into the hotel, dismissing her assessment of Anton’s expression without another thought. She obviously got his intense dislike confused with desire.
I click my tongue. “Hate to break it to you, but Anton Bates wants nothing to do with me.”
That ship has sailed off into the sunset. More like it’s crashed into an iceberg.
