Page 42 of Revenge Puck

That would be the responsible thing to do.

Jesus, you always play it safe,a voice inside me says. Live on the edge for once in your life. What’s the worst thing that could happen?

“I get fired?” I shove the phone into my purse before I can overthink it again, grab my keys from the counter, and head for the door.

“Screw it,” I decide, flipping off the lights.

It’s just dinner.

EIGHT

AARON

I get to the steakhouse ten minutes early, which is already a bad sign.

Ha.

You’d think I was nervous.

Charter House is one of those old, dark, and obscenely expensive steakhouses that is a city landmark. Low ceilings, mahogany wood paneling, candles flickering on every table, and bathroom attendants.

I can barely see my own goddamn watch as I fiddle with it on my wrist, that’s how dim it is in this place—so why do I keep checking it?

I don’t get nervous.

I also don’t sit in the parking lot of restaurants for a full ten minutes before going inside, staring at my reflection in the rearview mirror, wondering what the hell I’m doing with my life.

“Real nice, Aaron. Mom would be so proud,” I mutter to myself, finally sliding into a velvet cushioned booth tucked into a corner against a brick wall. It’s half shadowed and private—the perfect place to start a new mistake. “Payback is a bitch.”

No. Retaliation.

A more precise word, yet still ugly.

Uglier still, a revenge fuck.

Petty? Yeah.

Calculated?

I scrub a hand over my jaw, already irritated with myself for hesitating.

What the fuck are you doing?

No woman who looks that ethereal—with soft eyes and softer hair—is going to turn me into a goddamn saint.

Juliette Kennedy is not special, and I’m about to prove it to myself.

I’m Aaron-fucking-Bishop, for fuck’s sake.

I keep shit on lockdown.

Resting my forearms on the table, I try not to continuously check my phone. I mean, who besides Sutton is going to text me now that Bailey is no longer in my life?

Except, then I see her when she walks through the door, a rush of cold air lifting her hair and teasing the hem of her skirt.

I sit up straighter.

Ease out of the booth so I can greet her properly.