“Why the hell is he talking to you like that?”
I jump back at the shock of that familiar harsh voice, hand over my heart as my eyes clash with a pair of green ones.
Jaw clenched. Lips pressed into a hard line. Brows drawn together tightly. Nate looks pissed as his gaze averts to a spot behind me, which just so happens to be the location of Arjun’s fume hood.
“Don’t worry about it,” I try to reassure Nate with a smile.
Regardless of how fake it might be, I do my best to hold it.
The last thing I need is more attention drawn to the situation. Right now, all I’d like to do is eat the stress away—and conveniently, there happens to be a chocolate bar on my desk calling my name.
Nate’s eyes finally settle back on me, tracing over my face. And while I hope he can’t see me unraveling, he doesn’t miss the way I flinch when that same loud voice cuts through the air.
“If it isn’t Nate Archer.” Arjun’s obnoxious voice grows louder as he approaches, stopping to the side of us. “Arjun Simit. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I have to say, I’m a huge fan of your work.”
He darts his hand toward Nate, but it’s never reciprocated. The green-eyed man, boring into my soul, ignores him completely, his attention fixed solely on me.
“Isupposeit’s nice meeting you as well.”
There’s a darkness to his voice—low and rough. It’s enough to make anyone who doesn’t know Nate Archer personally run. But like always, Arjun is the exception.
“May I ask what it is you’re doing here?” Arjun’s face lights up in equal parts surprise and delight. “I mean, I’m glad to have met such a legend in the field, but I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than to visit this dusty, old chemistry lab.” He gives a casual, dismissive flick of his hand, as if it’ll make him look humble.
“Meeting up with my fiancée,” Nate replies dryly. “But I don’t see how that concerns you.”
Whatever expression he wears is enough to make my bitch of a lab mate trip over his words.
“My bad, man,” Arjun answers with his hands up in defense as he starts walking backward. “I didn’t mean to upset you—just trying to make friendly small talk.”
The moment that bastard is out of sight, I clamp onto Nate’s arm and haul him outside the lab.
I glance in either direction of the locker-lined hallway before deeming it too busy for the confrontation we’re about to have. I settle on the next best thing I can find—the janitor’s closet.
“What was that all about?” I hiss when I lock us inside. “And what are you doing here in the first place?”
Nate angles the box in his hand, drawing my eyes to it.
Black, wrapped in a pretty white bow, with their signature gold lettering spelling outLa Brioche.There’s a neon-pink sticky note stuck to the top, and my heart aches at the words written—and the way I treated him.
My sincerest apologies for standing you up. It’ll never make up for the time you lost, but hopefully this is enough to get me back on your good side.
- Your utterly obsessed fiancé, Nate
“I’m here to apologize for what went down yesterday.”
“Thank you so much for this.”Genuine gratitude threads through my voice as I lift my gaze to catch his softening.“I—You caught me at a bad moment. That’s all.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiles weakly before the hard set of his jaw reappears. “But tell me why that man was talking to you like that, Vivienne. Why did he think it acceptable to be nice to me and a bitch to you?”
I shut my eyes, hating the way he’s confirming the thoughts I’ve had for so long.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” he asks in bewilderment. When I don’t answer, his anger rises. “Has he always been like this? Have you reported any of this to your PI?”
I turn away, refusing to meet his gaze. “Of course not.”
“How come?” His tone borders on disbelief.
