Page 76 of Twisted Knight

“Sorry. Soon-to-be employees.” His smile is fast and wicked. “Better?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Thank you.”

“Grrrr.” I fist my hands at my sides in frustration. “Look, Gregory is—”

“Gregory?” He snorts. “Perfect name for a douchebag.”

“He’s a nice guy. Leave him out of your games. Out of this.” I motion from him to me and back.

“Fine. I will.” He stands and puts his hand on the small of my back. “Let’s go.”

“What?” I sputter out the word and step away from his grasp.

“I said, let’s go. That way he can be left out of this.” He smiles, clearly enjoying this exchange.

“You need to go.”

“Oh, I love it when she gets mad,” he says to no one in particular and then claps his hands and rubs them together.

“You’re everywhere. Then nowhere. You dangle carrots and then when I ask about them, you ignore me,” I say, realizing that by me being here, verbally sparring with him, I’ve giving him exactly what he wants. My time. My energy. My emotions.

He takes a long look at my lips before meeting my eyes and smirking. Something about the combination has me shifting on my feet. “I’m fickle like that.”

“Yeah, well, be fickle elsewhere,” I say and turn my heel, going back to Gregory.

A part of me half expects him to grab my arm and yank me back against him. That part of me is oddly disappointed that he doesn’t.

It only serves to fire the anger that seems to scatter my thoughts every time I’m around him.

“Everything okay?” Gregory asks as I slide into my seat. “You two seemed to be—”

“It’s fine. Totally fine. He’s just…”

“An ex?” Gregory asks.

“No. Never. I—”

“Hm. Could’ve fooled me.”

I try to make my smile as warm as possible and my voice just as placating. “It’s nothing. He’s nothing.” I reach out and squeeze his hand, well aware that Holden is most likely watching. I hope the action pisses him off. But why I want it to piss him off is the even bigger question. To make him jealous? To prove to him I’m a big girl who can do what I want? To push his buttons how he was just pushing mine? “Now, where were we? Something about the status of the economy?” I ask but have absolutely zero interest.

His smile is bright as I focus on him. And it remains that way for the next while as he regales me with his business acumen that he spouts incessantly with a blatant presumption that I know nothing. Why should I be surprised though?

But by the same token, he genuinely is a nice guy. Great manners. A quirky sense of humor. Good-looking in a city-slicker type of way. And while no part of me has the desire to sleep with him tonight, I showed up here. The least I can do is see the night out.

And hopefully in the process piss Holden off in doing so.

That makes you a horrible person, Row. Selfish. Unkind.

And similar, it seems, to the game Holden is playing with me … fair is fair.

“That’s absolutely fascinating.” I take a sip of my drink and smile as the server appears again, but this time she has her teeth sunk in her bottom lip and anxiety written all over her jitters.

“This round is on the gentleman. Again,” she says as she slides fresh drinks on the table but for both of us this time. “And this is for you.” She sets a napkin down in front of me with Holden’s phone number scribbled on it.

The arrogant bastard.