“What?”
“You’re staring.”
“I’m sorry.I think my brain short-circuited.I didn’t expect an apology.”
He glared at her.
She quickly realized that wasn’t the right thing to say either.“Shit.I’m sorry.That was rude.”
“Yes, it was.”
“So now we’re even.”
His brow furrowed in confusion.
“We’re even,” Lilian repeated.“You were rude to me, and I was rude back.I’m sorry.Please don’t fire me.”
Somehow that got his lips to crack into a smile.“That’s not how the faire business works.”
“Great, another thing about business that I don’t understand.”The words spilled out before she could stop them or remember who she was talking to.
Panic hit immediately.
She buried her face in her hands and prayed for death.“Please forget I said that.Actually, forget I said anything at all.I’m… having a bad day.”
“Anything I can help with?”
She lifted her head.Nope, no knight in shining armor.No stranger.Just Hawk Carlisle in a polo.
Which meant she hadn’t imagined his voice.
“Not really,” she said.
“Is this about the show tomorrow?”
“No.”That was the truth, even if only part of it.The show ranked somewhere below the quiet dread that she was sinking money into something doomed from the start.But now that he’d said it out loud, her heart started a mean little tap dance against her ribs.The show was one more thing that could go wrong.What had she been thinking?
“Because I saw you practice,” Hawk said calmly.“You really don’t have anything to worry about.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice.”
“Do you think I say things like that to be nice?”
She stopped.Thought about it for less than a second and realized how ridiculous it sounded.Hawk?Nice?
“No.”
That small, fleeting smile appeared again.“If I saw something that I was concerned about, I wouldn’t let it go on tomorrow.That’s what I told Alex when she pitched this idea to me.But you surprised me Thursday and yesterday.It’s not perfect, but you’ll be fine.”
“I… thank you.”It was a strange sensation.Taking comfort in the words of Hawk.Even stranger to realize he was being nice to her… again.
He nodded, eyes darting toward the faire behind him as if he couldn’t wait to get out of her shop.Luckily it was at that moment that the radio on his hip crackled to life.A muffled voice rattled off a quick series of questions.
The tension in Hawk’s shoulders visibly disappeared as he snatched the radio and snapped back, “I’m on my way.”
Without even a goodbye, he turned on his heel and marched down the path toward the belly of the faire.
Fourth Week of Faire: Fantasy Weekend
