She gives me a look. “You’ve hardly said a word.”
“Because you’re supposed to be concentrating on eating, not talking.”
“Dale said you got Holly to take Wynter out yesterday.”
I stiffen but keep my face blank. “Dale talks too much.”
Anika smiles faintly. “It’s okay to care about her, Ray. She’s a nice girl.”
“Exactly,” I say coolly. “She’s a girl.”
“Ten years isn’t that much.”
I let out a sharp breath through my nose. “A difference for what, exactly? I did her a favour. That’s all.”
“You forget I know you.”
I lift another spoonful to her mouth and wait until she swallows before answering.
“She’s attractive,” I say flatly. “I’m not blind.”
Anika grins. “There we go.”
“But being attractive and being worth the trouble are two very different things.”
Her smile fades slightly.
“She works here,” I continue. “There are rules for a reason.”
“Fuck off with excuses, Ray. And technically, I hired her.”
“Language,” I remind her, wiping a smear of porridge from the corner of her mouth. “And I don’t care about technicalities.”
She watches me too closely. “You like her.”
I laugh once, without humour. “She’s immature. Naive. And after last night, apparently incapable of holding her drink without making a spectacle of herself.”
Anika frowns. “That’s harsh.”
“It’s true.”
“She’s young.”
“Exactly.” I set the bowl down with more force than necessary. “She’s a child playing dress-up in a world she doesn’t understand. Pretty face, no sense, and absolutely no business getting involved in places like this with men like me.”
Anika’s voice softens. “You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t I?” I snap. “She gets a few drinks in her and suddenly she’s draped across a booth with some suited idiot practically halfway on top of her. Then she throws up over one of my tables in front of half the room.”
Anika stares. “She what?”
I ignore the question, too far into this now to stop.
“I’m her boss,” I say coldly. “And if I have to choose between a woman and a girl, I’ll take the woman every time. Wynter is nowhere near what I want, and after last night’s stunt, she’s lucky she still has a job.”
My words are met with silence. Heavy and thick. When Anika’s eyes flick past me, I know before I turn, that she’s there.Wynter.
I glance back to find her standing in the doorway, rooted to the spot, her face pale, her eyes fixed on the floor.
