Fuming at his dismissal, I feel my head about to pop off my neck. I grab the box and go back to my desk, regretting with each step that I’d let Talon get to me. I should have just ignored it or said, “Thanks for the flowers,” like I wasn’t fazed one bit. It’s too late now. My impetuousness had backfired.
“What did you get?” Nori asks later.
“It was just some stuff, nothing special.” I don’t need her to voice any concerns to Athena. I’d already gained enough curious eyes by storming over to Talon’s desk. In a small office, it doesn’t take much to fuel rumors, and while Talon and I have been cordial in team meetings, there’s no mistaking the tension between us.
At six o’clock, I leave the office eager for an evening out with my friends, who will either talk me out of murdering Talon or help me bury his body.
* * *
“Ineed a drink!” I pull a chair away from the table where Lexie is already waiting and flop onto the seat.
“Bad day?”
“Ugh.” I pick up the drink menu featuring the specialty cocktails that Juniper’s is known for. “I’ll tell you about it when Dee gets here. Sorry.” I look up. “Terrible greeting. Hi.”
“It’s okay. You’re obviously upset.”
“I’ve downgraded from homicidal,” I say, but noticing her eyes are rimmed with fatigue, I set thoughts of Talon aside. “How are you?”
“The usual.” She shrugs, the movement bouncing her bob that has grown out to nearly her shoulders. “Work, work, and more work. Every day feels like a struggle.”
“That’s because you don’t enjoy what you’re doing.”
“And how ungrateful is that?” She lowers her gaze to her napkin. “My father gave me a job right out of school, and now I’m heading up PR, when there are better and more qualified people beneath me. I shouldn’t be complaining.”
“It’s not what you want, Lex. Your dream is to own an art café featuring local artists and making art more accessible to the everyday person. You’ve talked about it forever.”
“It’s just talk, Jord.”
“Don’t do that,” I say. “Don’t diminish what you want just because your parents wouldn’t approve.”
“They would, honest-to-God, suffer cardiac arrest if I quit to open a coffee shop.”
Probably. Her father owns Townsen Industries, a major conglomerate, and her mother is a pretentious socialite. Both are superficial, uptight snobs. Lexie is nothing like them. Okay, maybe she’s uptight, but that’s just her upbringing.
One of the rare times she’d bucked the system was in college. Rather than attend her mother’s alma mater and join her prestigious sorority, Lexie had chosen to study business and communications at IIT and live in a dorm with the commoners. They’d never quite gotten over that rebellious act, or that she’d befriended me.
There could not have been a more opposite pairing in looks or personality. Lexie’s tall and willowy, with shiny black hair and indigo-blue eyes. She carries herself with a natural sophistication. Even back then, she stood out from the usual college crowd. She didn’t like sports or going to parties, and she was a virgin who spelled out the wordsex. She was caviar, and I was fish sticks. How we ever connected is still beyond me, but we did, and I love her like a sister.
“Forget about your parents, Lex. You should totally go for it.”
“Perhaps one day.” She smiles wistfully. “Richard is still getting his practice off the ground, and I’m supporting him with marketing and social media.”
“How’s that coming along?”
“Slower than expected. He was hoping to have more patients by now.”
It’s probably his bedside manner. Orthopedic specialist Richard Schnauss—aka Dr. Snooze—is cut from the same elitist cloth as her parents. He is hands-down the most boring, egotistical, and nauseating man I’ve ever met—next to Talon. I doubt Richard would make the same sacrifice for her.
“Just don’t lose sight of your own dreams, okay?”
She nods, and we both turn when Dee gets to the table. She has on Jackie O shades, her glossy curls are loose, and she’s wearing a big smile.
“Hey.” She bends to hug us both before taking a seat across from me. “Sorry, I got detained.” A blush crawls up her pretty face and across her light brown cheekbones.
I smile at the tell. “Guess married life and pregnancy aren’t slowing you down.”
“I have horny hormones.” She laughs and slides off her glasses. “I’m insatiable. But never mind that, what about you and Stiles? Still going strong?”
