“Canyou stop calling him that?” I grumbled, shaking my head as I powered on thelaptop.
“Ooh,she’s already getting defensive. Iloveit.” Alex exchanged a knowinglook with Jess and I resisted the urge to throw my stapler at him.
“Dinnerwasfine,” I divulged vaguely, looking from Alex to Jess. “You dorealize that I am only the middle man here, right? I’m acting as the mediatorfor him and Greyson, to help them develop a relationship. That’s all.”
Alextipped his mouth to Jess’s ear. “So she says,” he grumbled in a volume I couldhear loud and clear, and Jess giggled airily.
“I’mgoing to pretend that you didn’t say that.” I narrowed my glare at them beforeloosening my brow and picking up my phone. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need tofind a chinchilla cage in the area.”
***
Headingout toward my car, I spotted a flash of golden hair from the corner of my eyeand turned, assuming immediately that Greyson had skipped school. I wouldn’tput it past him, and as I opened my mouth to begin the lecture of the century,I promptly closed it.
“Well,if it isn’t Tabby Clarke,” Sebastian crooned, holding a to-go cup from thecoffee shop in his hand. “Where are you off to in the middle of the workday?”
“Offto see a client,” I replied without any intention to keep the conversationmoving as I hurried toward my car.
Iwas horrified to find Sebastian following me, taking long, easy strides to keepup with my power walk. “The one with the chinchilla?”
Falteringin my steps, I turned to him with an accusatory and suspicious glare. “How didyou know she has a chinchilla?”
“Youwere on the phone last night,” he explained easily with a shrug.
“Oh.Right.” I pulled in a deep breath and continued on my way to the car.
Sebastiankept up.
“So,can I come?”
Hisquestions were forward and disconcerting. He didn’t know me from a hole in thewall and I don’t care how popular he was in the world of music—I didn’t know allthat much about him either. It rattled me, that he would rather jump straightinto forwardness than work his way up to a place of comfort.
“Um,I don’t think that’s appropriate,” I stammered, pulling my keys from a pocketas I approached my car.
“God,you don’t think anything’s appropriate,” he laughed. “But, in this case, you’reprobably right. I mean, obviously, you’re working,” he offered with a shake ofhis head. At himself or at me, I couldn’t be sure. “But… I’ve never peta chinchilla before and I hear they’rereallyfucking soft.”
Hewas unrelenting and infuriating. I turned to insist that he stand down and findsomething else to keep him occupied until Greyson was out of school, but instead,I made the mistake of taking him in. The breadth of his shoulders, the leatherjacket concealing them from my curious gaze. His t-shirt, stretched over thehard-cut muscles of his chest and smoothed over his flat stomach. He had kepthis hair down today, instead of that stupid knot, and the gentle late-springbreeze lifted the golden strands from off of his neck. The tattoos imprinted tohis skin there winked at me with every gust of wind, and it was a test of my willpowernot to launch myself at him.
“Thefact that you’ve never pet a chinchilla doesn’t make the situation any moreappropriate,” I pressed, standing my ground.
Hislips twitched to unveil a playful grin as he said, “You must’ve driven yoursister insane.”
“Excuseme?” I spat, crossing my arms, my keys dangling from my fingers. “I thought youdidn’t remember my sister,” I accused with a narrowed, stony glare.
“Honestly,no. I don’t. When you’ve slept with as many women as I have, you stopremembering.”
“Oh,well, that’slovely,” I grumbled under my breath, shaking my head. “Whata great influence you are.”
“Neversaid I was,” he replied pointedly, waggling his brows and smirking smugly. “AsI was saying, I don’t need to remember your sister to know what type of girlshe was. She was bold enough to approach a bunch of guys in a band and agree toa one-night stand. That takes balls, and the fact that you won’t allow me toaccompany you because it’s inappropriate, tells me you have none. So, like Isaid, you probably drove your sister absolutely insane.”
Scouringrage and disgust engulfed my veins in fire. My cheeks burnt with the evidenceof my anger and I clenched my fists against my sides. Taking one step forward,my toes nearly touched his as I tipped my head back to glare confidently intohis eyes.
“Youknow absolutelynothingabout me,” I growled, my words pouring like lavafrom my mouth.
Dippinghis head to stab my gaze with his, his features contorted with smug victory.“And yet, I seem to knowexactlyhow to get underneath your skin,” heboasted before standing again to his full height.
Suckingin breaths to calm myself back down to a reasonable temperament, I dropped myeyes to the pavement beneath my feet.
That’swhen I noticed our shoes.
