He shrugged, but a tiny smile played around his lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She rose onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His eyes dropped to her lips. “I’d kiss you for real, but it might mess up your makeup. Then people would start questioning the Ice Queen and we can’t have that.”
“No, can’t have that.” She trailed her fingers over his lapels. “Thank you for cheering me up.”
He put his knuckle under her chin and brushed the softest kiss over her lips. “You’ve got this.”
“I’ve got this.” She exhaled shakily.
Someone pounded on the door. “Hey! Why is this locked?” The outer knob twisted violently.
“It’s time,” Aleks said with a laugh. “Ready?”
Portia nodded. She wasn’t, really, but she didn’t have a choice.
“Go back into your stall. I’ll leave. Wait a little bit before you do.”
She nodded. “Thank you again.” She grabbed his lapel and kissed him again, a little harder. “Thanks for getting me out of this.”
Aleks held the stall door for her and Portia stepped back in. She moved as far back into the corner as she could, hoping they wouldn’t notice that one stall was already occupied.
Several women entered the restroom. Portia waited through a couple rounds of people coming and going before she flushed then slipped out of her stall.
Washing her hands, she stared at her reflection. She was still pale, so she splashed a little water on her cheeks, gave them a little slap. Aleks was right. She could do this. She could do hard things. With a deep breath, she opened the door... and stepped into chaos.
Chapter41
Aleks smiledat the women waiting outside the restroom door. “Sorry,” he said. “There was a line.” He winked and tilted his head toward the men’s room.
They laughed in response as he passed them to return to the dining room.
Aleks hadn’t been thrilled when Mr. Solveig had insisted they go out for dinner. In Aleks’s opinion, they should head home. He agreed with Portia that Mrs. Solveig was waiting for a call that would never come.
But now he took back all his complaints about this dinner, since it had allowed him time with Portia, no matter how brief.
When he’d seen her hurrying across the room, he’d immediately known something was wrong. He’d waited until Mr. and Mrs. Solveig were deep in conversation before excusing himself.
But five stolen minutes with her weren’t enough. When she was in his arms, his world felt right. His brain quieted when she was around. No matter how quickly this had all come about, he believed that she felt that way too. The pull between them had been there from the start.
Now he just had to figure out what to do about it.
The moment he stepped back into the dining room, Aleks had to put that problem aside.
The attention of nearly everyone—diners and kitchen staff alike—was turned toward the back corner of the dining room. The corner where Dizzie, Killian St. John, and Portia had been seated.
Fuck.
Quickening his pace, he glanced toward the Solveigs’ table. It was mostly empty, confirming his worst fears. The lone Solveig employee left at the table looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. Aleks knew how he felt.
Already running through possible scenarios—most of which were the worst possible case—Aleks wove through the onlookers so he could approach the table from the side.
He was nearly halfway there when he heard the raised voices.
“Take your filthy hands off my granddaughter!” Mrs. Solveig’s strident voice was made worse by the rage powering her words.
Perhaps her husband would be able to talk her down, but Aleks didn’t place much faith in the man. While his grief was as deep as his wife’s, he lacked the backbone to support her in a way that didn’t also enable her.
