I glanced up at him through my lashes, and he furrowed his eyebrows as he fidgeted with a pen on the top of his desk. I tilted my head, letting him know I was listening, and waited.
“I can be a dick,” he said, his tone tight and raspy.
I nodded, a little too aggressively. He bit back a grin and continued. “I have some anger issues; none that have anything to do with you. That's not an excuse, but it is what it is.”
“That was your apology?” I stood, feeling ballsy and angry. That was not an apology at all. Oh, sorry I'm an asshole.K, thanks, bye. Nope. Unacceptable. “That's bullshit.”
He jerked his head back. His eyes widened, and he did that open mouth, close mouth thing. I shook my head. “Look, Anderson, we don't have to be friendly. You don't have to like me. Honestly, I don't like you. But, you run a hell of a program here, and I want to learn. I'll be here, tomorrow ready to work, but if I hear back from my advisor, Iwillsee what other options, if any, there are.”
And then, I exited—because I was feeling like a boss ass bitch.
Chapter Three
Despite my numerouscomplaints about being so tired, I couldn’t think straight, my two roommates dragged me to a local coffee shop situated in the heart of downtown nightlife. I adjusted my dress to cover more of my thighs and yawned for the tenth time.
“We shouldn’t have forced you, huh?” Fritz reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “You look wiped, Grace.”
“I am.” I rubbed my make-up free eyes with my palms and frowned. “I appreciate your intent to get me to socialize, but I need to head back home. You two go out, make terrible decisions, and tell me about them tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer?” Gilly asked with a slight whine to her voice. “It’s good to distract you from your workaholic lifestyle.”
“Again, appreciate your thoughts, but I need to sleep for twenty-four hours.” I stood and exited the green velvet booth. Fritz followed me. “No, you stay. I know you were excited to go out. I’ll take an Uber home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” I smiled at the man who chose to be my brother. “Go. I’ll catch up in the morning.”
He frowned, but I didn’t give him or Gilly a chance to change my mind. I exited the coffee shop and pulled up the app just as a familiar deep voice caught my attention.
Anderson.
He laughed with a guy I hadn’t seen before.
I could not move my gaze away from him. The joy on his face was new to me. Heat spread through my body.
No. I shook my head. I blamed my lack of sleep on my delirious thoughts and headed the opposite direction. The less contact, the better. My lack of filter and sleep would not bode well to meet my asshole boss who gave half-ass apologies.
“Grace.”
Shit. I stopped walking and waited. Maybe it was my imagination.
Footfalls approached, and his familiar cologne teased my nostrils. Nothing could have prepared me for the curiosity and kindness on his face. “Hey.”
Hey?
“Uh, hi.” I crossed my arms over my stomach, suddenly aware how much skin I showed. His gaze briefly dropped to my legs before returning to my face, and I hated how it sent a shiver of awareness through me.
“Where are you headed? I’ll walk with you.”
“Uh, that’s okay.” I gulped. His face was serious as hell, his eyes wide and unblinking. He had the strong, silent, and scary look down pat. “I’m heading back.”
“I'll walk you home then.”
“I can take an Uber. Don’t worry.” I waved my hand and almost flinched at my sore muscles. The app said at least a twenty-minute wait, and that wouldn’t do.
“It's my fault you’re working two shifts. The least I can do is make sure you get home.”
“Unnecessary, but I won’t stop you.” My feet and my back ached, making my twenty-four years feel like fifty.
