Talon snorted. “He says, in the tone of a man actively falling apart.”
I glared at him. “I’m not?—”
The front door opened, and I expected Livvi to walk in, but it was Roxie.
Her blonde curls were piled on top of her head in a messy bun that somehow still looked intentional. She had dark circles beneath her eyes like she’d fought a war today, but she still looked, well … like Roxie—put together in that effortless way that made it annoyingly hard to look away.
I inwardly groaned. Great.
Just what I needed.
She froze when she saw me. “Oh. You’re here.”
“Unfortunately,” I said. My attention snagged on the way a loose curl slipped free near her temple before I forced my gaze back to neutral territory. My body was reacting in ways I chose to ignore, and I planned to keep it that way.
Her eyes narrowed. “Do you greet everyone like that, or am I just special?”
“You’re something.”
Ridge choked on a laugh. Talon shot him a look.
Roxie kicked off her flats and crossed the room toward the kitchen, ignoring us all with theatrical precision. She popped open the fridge, muttering something about work and emotional exhaustion.
Talon cleared his throat. “Rox, hey.”
“Sorry.” She grabbed a bottle of iced tea. “Hi. Long day. My boss scheduled six campaigns for the next twoweeks and then told me to ‘work smarter, not harder.’ I hope his pillow is lumpy forever.”
Ridge grinned. “Sick burn.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly.
Her gaze flicked back to me. I braced.
“So,” she said. “Why do you look grumpier than usual? Did someone beat your time again?”
I shot Talon a look that saidI swear if you told her?—
He raised his hands likeI didn’t say anything.
“I’m fine,” I said.
“You’re not,” Roxie replied immediately. “You look like someone canceled Christmas.”
“And you look like someone who naps in meeting rooms.”
She gasped, hand to chest. “I’ve only done that twice.”
“Three times,” Talon corrected.
She whipped around. “You swore you wouldn’t tell him!”
Talon shrugged. “He guessed.”
“I did not guess,” I said. “It’s obvious.”
Roxie narrowed her eyes. “You know what else is obvious? That you shouldn’t bring wet hair into air conditioning. Your brain cells can’t afford the frostbite.”
Talon made a strangled sound like he wasn’t supposed to laugh. Ridge hunched over and pretended to contemplate the aquarium rocks.
