Every pair of eyes in the room swings to me. Kiki’s included.
Do I have a problem? Yeah. A big one.
Seeing her today is hard enough. Now I’m supposed to see her every day for God knows how long? Hell, with Montague’s parameters, we might be here until next Christmas.
But instead of throwing a fit, I click my tongue against my teeth and offer a curt nod. “It’s fine by me, so long as Kiki’s okay with it.”
“I can absolutely be here,” Kiki jumps in.
How considerate of her. Ofcourseshe can.
Which means I’m officially screwed.
“Wonderful,” Nolan beams. “The chemistry between you two is obvious. Just look at the designs you submitted. This is going to work out perfectly.”
Doubt that, buddy.
But there’s no time to argue.
Nolan’s phone rings, and he’s off like a shot to the next room, talking to God knows who about God knows what, probably tormenting some other contractor across the country, completely oblivious to the fact he just turned my fragile façade on its head.
Kiki steps beside me and gives my forearm a reassuring squeeze. “We’ve got this, Eddie. It’s going to be okay.”
I force down the tightness rising in my throat, a mess of emotions twisting through me.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “We’ll make it work.”
Even if my sanity doesn’t survive it.
Chapter 20
Away From The Light
Kiki
Working alongside Eddie is a special kind of hell.
I’ve missed him more than I’ve ever missed anyone, but I don’t dare say a word about it. Not when it’s painfully obvious his opinion of me ranks right up there with food poisoning on Thanksgiving.
When I stumbled earlier and grabbed his arm, his entire body tensed. He’s never done that before. At least not with me.
But I don’t get the luxury of falling apart over my current reality. I need this job. I need the money. More importantly, Eddie needs it for Theo. This project is a huge break for him, and I refuse to be the reason anything else goes wrong in his life.
I’m just not entirely sure how I’m going to survive the next several months.
Eddie’s crew has been friendly enough. If they know about me and my sordid history, they keep their opinions to themselves. No whispers or pointed looks.
Trust me, that’s something.
Actually, I haven’t been glared at once today. Unless you count the man I love.
What the hell did you expect, Kiki? You broke his heart, and your own in the process.
I spend the morning drifting from room to room as I sketch mental layouts, figuring out how everything might come together, and staying the hell out of everyone’s way. I don’t have a workspace yet, which is far from ideal, but I’ll figure something out. The idea of me building a desk myself is laughable at this point.
“Kiki, there you are.”
I turn at the sound of my name to find Mr. Montague standing at the far edge of the garden, sunlight glinting off his glasses as he waves me over.
