I rolled my eyes, masking the feeling of my stomach dropping to my feet.Shit.
“Aha!” He pointed dramatically. “So it’s true.”
“He needed a ride.”
“Don’t we all?”
“Real mature. And anyway, Zoey’s my friend, so if you’re going to keep seeing her, don’t talk like that.”
“Seeingher? It’s not like that. And besides, she ditched the date before happy hour ended. Couldn’t handle her booze. We didn’t hook up last night.”
“You didn’t?”
“No.” He paused, then added, “It was probably a good thing she left early. Not long after that, the news broke about Andrew.”
His tone shifted slightly, darker. “What were you doing over there anyway?”
I looked away. “Picking something up.”
“What?”
“My privacy.”
He held up both hands. “Okay. Message received.”
The front door chimed.
Cameron tilted his head toward it. “That’s my nine o’clock. But hey—be careful with Mr. Steele.” He lingered in the doorway, a shadow of something dark crossing over his face. “That guy’s no good.”
Then he was gone, but his words stayed behind, heavy as a verdict.
That guy’s no good.
26
ROSE
Four hours and back-to-back appointments later, I was officially spent. I pulled off my glasses and rubbed my temples, willing the persistent headache I’d been nursing for over twenty-four hours to go away.
Leaning back in my chair, I let out a slow, frayed breath.
1:27 p.m.
I needed ibuprofen. Coffee. Asnack.
With vending-machine tunnel vision, I grabbed a handful of quarters, shoved them into my palm, and yanked open my office door—and crashed directly into a wall of heat, cedar, and pure muscle.
The quarters slipped from my hand and scattered across the floor, one pinging off the top of a scuffed, black combat boot.
My stomach dropped.
I looked up—too fast—and my gaze collided with Phoenix Steele’s. Every ounce of calm I’d scraped together during the morning shattered on impact.
His eyes pinned me with that same impossible intensity—dark, hot, searching. It knocked my balance off in every sense of the word.
My gaze flickered to the front desk. No Zoey.
I dropped to my knees to collect the coins, willing my heart to slow down, willing my breath to even out. But it was no use.
