“Don’t let her hear you then either,” he adds.
The bartender pours champagne into her glass and I hand it off to Jason. “Then go distract her with this for me.”
He takes the glass with a nod and wanders off in search of his bride-to-be. Reid, however, stays put beside me. I don’t want to admit that I get fidgety under his gaze, but I do. After our rough introduction, I’m sure he’s watching me, waiting for me to mess something up colossally, which is incredibly irritating since the shattered plates were a one-time accident and, truthfully, totally his fault. I’ve seen cooking shows. I know you’re supposed to shout “door” as you open it.
Making sure my posture is as straight as possible, I tap my fingers on the bar top, feigning boredom, and slide another glance toward him as the bartender sets a shot glass on the bar top. “Can I help you with something?” I ask Reid.
He shakes his head, then turns to the bartender and holds up two fingers. “Make that twoshots.”
I rear back slightly in surprise. “Who invited you to drink with me?”
Reid arches a dark brow at me. “Who said I was drinking itwithyou?”
“You’re just taking a shot by yourself?”
“Is that not exactly what you were about to do?”
He had me there.
I pull the shot glass closer to myself and he does the same. After a beat, he extends his in my periphery and I turn my head only slightly to look down at the glass, then up to him with a furrowed brow and pursed lips.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to cheers you.”
“Pass.”
“We’re going to be spending a lot of time together over the next few months.”
“Unfortunately,” I mutter.
“I think we should put the past behind us and start fresh.”
“Also pass.”
“Why not?”
“After the way you treated me last week? I don’t want to talk to you ever again.” I press the glass to my lips and tip my head back, letting the tequila burn its way down my throat. Reid is still watching me as I slam the glass on the counter, turn on my favorite pink heels, and stomp off, the clicking of my shoes on the tile fueling me with confidence.
He falls into stride beside me almost immediately and I’m met with the annoyingly wonderful scent of him again. I hold my breath so I don’t breathe it in.
“Well, the bad news is that you will certainly have to talk to me again. Many times.”
“Yeah, well, once the wedding is over, that never has to be my reality ever again.”
“So until then?—”
I step in front of him and spin around, effectively stopping him. He’s only an inch from me, his eyes momentarily flaring in surprise before returning to their neutral glare.
“So until then we make pleasantries in public and continue hating each other in private.”
“Who says I hate you?”
“The way you made me feel about this big,” I say, holding up my pointer finger and thumb to show him the minuscule amount of space between them, “when I accidentally bumped into you.”
“You dropped hundreds of dollars worth of food, which wasted money on ingredients as well as my time as I had to go back andremakeall of it.”
“No.” I press a finger to his chest so hard he stumbles back a step. “Youdropped hundreds of dollars worth of food.”
