My teeth ground together at his accusation,evenif it was one I couldn’t deny.“You need to keep your nose out of my business; you’re being an irritating bug again.”
“And you’re being a stubborn prick!”
We glowered at each other, both chests heaving as our fists clenched by our sides, waiting to see if the other would swing first. But after an eternity passed, his shoulders slumped, and he uncurled his hands, taking a step back.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have saidthat.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”Another beat passed, and I relaxed my hands, allowing the tension to drain from my body.“What are your plans for tomorrow? What’s so importantthatyou have to leave early?”
I didn’t know why I asked. I didn’t care. It didn’t matter what it was; I wasn’t going to let him go any earlier.
He shuffled from foot to foot, looking anywhere but at me.“I…uh…I have a date.”
A wave of jealousy rolled through me, so powerfulthatI was certain my heart skipped several beats, and I felt my eye twitch.“A date?”I said stupidly, as if I needed to hear him saying it again.
He shrugged, his cocky grin transforming into a shy one.“Yeah. It’s been planned for a while; we’re meeting at Charlie’s.”
I knew the place; it was a trendy wine bar in town. The kind of place you went to when you wanted to impress someone. I’d never been there myself, but I’d driven past it often enough on my way home from the office.
But what did I care if Tristan was going on a date? It had nothing to do with me, and maybe knowing he was out with a girl was exactly the right push I needed to get him the hell out of my head. Still, there was no way I was going to let him leave early so he could get laid.
Yet, when I opened my mouth to respond, those weren’t the wordsthatcame out.“You can finish early tomorrow, but I expect you to make the hour up.”
Withthat, I marched away, barely hearing his muttered thank you because of the jealousy pounding through me.
Tristan
Aside from postponing my date with Mike after Bella needed me, he’d had to cancel twice due to work commitments. Our date was well overdue, and I’d been looking forward to it all day. But now I was here, I kinda wished we’d postponed again.
Better yet, canceled it altogether.
It wasn’t the factthatMike could barely drag his attention away from his phone long enough to hold a conversation with me, northatheseemedto know everyone at Charlie’s, and kept interrupting me any time I spoke, so he could say hello to his friends.
The reason I wished I was anywhere but at the table with him was because a grumpy, surly asshole had taken up residence in my brain. Ben had been there from the minute I met him, but after yesterday, he had been front and center of all of my thoughts.
I kept replaying our interaction and how he’d reacted. When I jokingly accused him of flirting with me, he’d been furious enough to wrap his hand around my throat, but he hadn’t been able to hide the glint of heat in his dark eyes.
I’d purposefully not allowed myself to acknowledge the bulge in his pants when I was on my knees, screwing the hinges into place, but you’d better believe I let myself think about it when I was alone in my bed.
Then, when I told him I was going on a date, I could have sworn there was more than a hint of jealousy in his tone.
Maybe it was wishful thinking. NotthatI’d want to get involved with the man any more than I already was. He might have been too good-looking for words, but he had the personality of a garbage truck. He was definitely not someone I could ever be with, andthatwas if he waseveninto guys, which I doubted.
He didn’t seem to be into anyone.
Pushing him out of my head, I focused my attention on Mike, who was mid-conversation about the importance of investing in stocks and shares—something I knew nothing about, and had zero interest in learning.
He stopped chattering away when yet another guy stopped at our table, and Mike stood to greet him.
“I’m going to get us some more drinks,”I said after Mike had introduced me to his friend.
“Oh, great. I’ll have another white wine.”
I rolled my eyes as I disappeared through the crowd. I’d always thought I was a generous guy, and I didn’t give to receive, but this would be the third round of drinks I’d bought. My savings were already beginning to look quite depleted, thanks to the money I was putting into fixing up McScroodge’s house; surely it wouldn’t have killed Mike to offer to buy one round?
Sighing, I almost made it to the bar when a lonesome figure sitting at a booth in the far corner caught my attention. He was the last person I expected to see in Charlie’s, let alone on a busy Friday night.
Detouring from the bar, Ben’s head whipped up when my shadow fell across his table. A scowl formed on his face as his gaze raked over my polo shirt and jeans. He was wearing one of his customary suits, only he’d ditched the jacket, revealing a crisp white shirtthatshowed muscles hidden underneath.
