His grin flashed bright. “Well, I do work for you.”
I knocked his shoulder. “That’s a technicality. You know it’s way more than that now.”
He met my eyes in the mirror. “Yeah,” he answered softly. “I know.”
We dressed, and after breakfast I stopped by the bank to finalize the paperwork for the trust I set up to help the families with medical expenses. Later today, when I showed up for my shift at the hospital, I wanted to be able to tell Dorothy it was all settled.
Immediately upon entering the bank, I spied Seth standing near the front information desk and averted my gaze. At my shoulder, Gabriel stiffened, and I murmured, “Don’t pay attention to him.”
But Seth walked right up to me and stood in my path. “I’m sorry about that night.”
Surprised but suspicious of his sudden change of heart, I nodded and kept moving. “Don’t worry about it.” We continued toward the private-client area, but he dogged our heels.
“So you two are together?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I could tell he was into you the night we met. I mean, I’m not surprised. He’s hot as hell.”
Tired of the conversation, I whipped around. “Listen. I’m here on business, not to discuss my personal life, especially with you.”
“I have a favor to ask.”
Damn, the guy was persistent as hell. “What is it?” I crossed my arms.
“Ronan, Ms. Harrison’s waiting for you,” Gabriel murmured in my ear, but I was curious.
“Just a sec,” I told him, then to Seth, “Tell me what you want.” From the corner of my eye I saw Gabriel scowling, and I smothered a grin. I wanted to kiss that angry little line between his eyes.
Damn, I was in so fucking deep, I couldn’t even see the sky.
“Could you maybe speak to my supervisor and tell her that I didn’t jeopardize your relationship with the bank? They not only took me off your account, but I had a meeting with my manager, and they’re still thinking about demoting me.”
Well, that sucked. Yeah, Seth had acted like a dick that night, but not in a way that he deserved to pay for it with his job.
“No problem. It’s not a big deal.”
He ducked his head, relief shining from his eyes. “It is to me. So thanks.”
His words stopped me. The fact that I hadn’t thought how taking the account away from Seth would impact his job revealed how out of touch I was with the real world despite my stint in prison. I’d barely given him a second thought since our date, and yet here he was, stressing about losing pay and job security, all because the bank wanted to keep my money.
“Take it easy.”
I joined a frowning Gena Harrison, who stood at the entrance to the private-client area.
“Was Seth bothering you again? I warned him—”
“No,” I said, perhaps a bit more sharply than I intended, given Gabriel’s raised brows, so I softened my tone. “Sorry. No, Seth was fine. We had a misunderstanding, but I don’t want it to hurt him job-wise.”
I held her gaze, and she dipped her head. “I see. We did have to make sure Seth understood that a client and his business have to take precedence over his personal life.”
I frowned. “I don’t necessarily agree with that. But regardless, he made a mistake, I forgave him, and I’d like to move on.” The weight of Gabriel’s stare settled on me, but I ignored it until I’d finished signing all the legal documents, left the bank, and the two of us were sitting having burgers for lunch.
“Why did you give me that look at the bank?” I doused my burger with ketchup and took a bite. God, I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed all the little things in life when I was locked away. Once a week we’d have burgers and fries, but they tasted like they’d been cooked the week before and left to sit. I was getting close to regaining my weight I’d lost in prison, but the taste and smell of the place remained part of me. I wondered if I’d ever feel like me again.
Gabriel waited for me to stop chewing. “Because I think that was a really nice thing you did. Seth was an ass.”
“Lots of people are. That doesn’t mean they should lose their job because of it. He apologized. And maybe he was a little jealous.” I grinned around my burger.
