Clearing my throat, I bend to pick it up. “What do you think?” I flip to the most recent page, where her first nameAnabelleis written, and grab a pen from desktop. Checking her name off, I keep my tone casual. “I’m filling in the log, of course.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and looks me up and down, but I pretend not to notice as I tuck the journal back into the drawer. I don’t relax until her footsteps fade toward the waxing rooms.
When she returns a second later, she stops and watches me as she ties the blue scarf around her neck.
I rest my hip against the desk and arch a brow. “Is there something else you need?”
“You headed to lunch?” She places her hands on her waist and glances at the clock behind me. “It’s five past.”
“Oh, um ...” I wipe my palms on my dress and push off the desk. “I’ll be there soon. I should probably get Aubrey first.”
She shrugs. “Okay.”
Relief blows through me. We walk out together, then break off in opposite directions as I head down the hall toward the basement. Leaning against the wall beside the door, I wait for Aubrey to come out and think back to my sister.
Sugar scrub exfoliant. That doesn’t sound so bad, right?
After a few minutes pass without seeing a soul, I slide to my butt and sit on the ground.
More time passes and another blond secretary comes clicking down the hall toward me.
She frowns and looks at me funny, stopping at my feet. “You okay?”
I nod. When she doesn’t move, I add, “Waiting for Aubrey.”
“Oh, you’ll be waiting for a while. She was sent out on an errand.”
I let out a groan. “Thanks.”
I’m about to pull myself up when the door opens. A shadow looms over me, and I slide my gaze upward.
A flock of tiny birds take flight in my stomach as I stare up at Adam’s hard eyes, unshaven jaw, and the vein popping in his neck. He was buttoning his shirt cuffs, but stopped midway.
With my chin angled to see him, I place my palms flat on the floor to push myself up, but his expression distracts me. I blink when his dark eyes cloud over. It’s the strangest thing, like he’s looking straight through me. Sitting here with his large form shadowing me, I’ve never felt so much like the mouse he always calls me.
I suck in a breath as he stares at me, his brows crashed together and his entire body tight like he’s brimming with restraint. After a moment, he squints, scrubs a hand down his face, and stalks past me.
The air whooshes from my lungs while I watch him leave me.
Again.
