He leveled her with a look. “Et tu, Thorn-ay?”
She started to roll her eyes, then decided against it. “Come on. Even you aren’t that stubborn.”
“Try me,” he challenged.
“I don’t think I’m feeling good enough to spar with you,” she decided.
“Bottom line is I was right. I looked for Beth, and I found her.” He snagged a piece of her toast and bit off the corner.
“You looked for Beth, andIfound her,” Riley argued.
She’d had a rough day. Not only was she feeling like she’d spent an entire day on a vomit comet, but she also couldn’t tell how her boyfriend felt about the unexpected return of the woman he’d spent years searching for. Now everything felt off-kilter.
Nick shrugged. “The way I see it is it doesn’t really matter. I set out to accomplish something. It’s been accomplished. The business didn’t go under. Everyone’s concerns were unfounded. I was right. Everyone else was wrong. Now everyone else has to suffer the consequences.”
She didn’t care for his logic or how he lumped her in with the rest of the team.
“That isnota helpful approach to leadership.” It was like she was trying to teach a throw pillow how to make hollandaise.
“Look, Thorn. Santiago Investigations is no democracy. Get used to it.”
“But why are you punishingme? I didn’t lead any insurrection. I never said a word about how much time you were spending on the case.”
He clapped a hand on her knee. “You didn’t lead it, but you didn’t put a stop to it or give me a heads-up. We’re supposed to have each other’s backs.”
“Even when one of us is being a stubborn jerk?” she shot back.
He tweaked her nose. “At least you’re being a cute, stubborn jerk.”
She was going to smash peanut butter toast in his stubborn jerk face if one of them didn’t change the subject in a hurry. She took a cleansing breath. Then another one.
“Are you gonna hurl?” he asked with concern.
“No,” she said primly. “I was going to ask you how you feel about Beth…er…Sesame coming back.”
Was he happy?
Did he know Sesame was lying?
Was he too blinded by happiness to realize she was lying?
Was he coming to the realization that he’d always been in love with Beth and that he couldn’t continue this farce of a relationship with her, but he didn’t know how to politely ask Riley to move out?
“Good,” he said with a brisk nod.
“Good?” she repeated. Good? That’s all the man had to say about Beth’s reappearance after years of grief and worry?
“Yeah. Good,” he said.
“Great,” Riley said, her tone uncharacteristically snippy.
“Now all I have to do is track down the assholes who took her, ruin their lives, and make sure they never come near her again.”
“Awesome. Hey, unrelated. Have you ever seen the movieOverboard?” she asked.
“No. Why?”
“No reason.”
