Page 27 of Under Pressure

Despite the slim moment of preparation, I still jerk when he palms my hip. It’s light at first, easy enough to ignore. But then he presses down, and his fingers form around my curves, finding a place there and settling in. I sip in a breath and trydesperately to ignore the way all the blood in my body has pooled directly beneath his warm touch.

“You caught me,” I choke out, wincing a smile before I fix it into something less shaky.

Beck’s thumb sweeps beneath the side of my apron, the gesture having a calming effect, as if maybe he can feel just how close I am to snapping in half.

“She’s been talking about me, has she?”

“Oh, I don’t kiss and tell. But I will say that I’m not surprised she turned my grandson down. Not now that I’ve seen you. I guess it makes sense after all,” Ruthie says, smiling widely.

The wrinkles that line her face pull harder as she watches us, the light in her eyes shining brightly. It should make me happy to see her like this, but there’s too much guilt inside of me. I might very well start choking on it. This teeny little fib has grown into a giant lie in the blink of an eye.

“Beck was actually just leaving,” I blurt out.

His hand climbs an inch up my side, then stalls when he realizes that my top is moving with it. “I’ll be back, though. Soon. I’d love to talk to you more. Especially about Quinn. I bet you know all of her secrets.”

I fight back a glare. “None that needs to be shared.”

“Oh, give the guy a break. I’m here every morning, Beck. If you come by early enough, I’d love to chat with you,” Ruthie says, though she’s staring at me pointedly, like she’s making sure I know that I’m being too rude to him.

“You got it.”

“Well, if that’s all. Have a good rest of your day, Ruthie. Call if you need anything.”

“Here you go worrying again. I’m just fine,” she tells me as she readjusts the canvas bag on her shoulder.

“I’ll stop worrying when you give me a reason to. One that isn’t just you telling me to.”

Beck laughs softly, reminding me that he’s here, as if his hand on my waist wasn’t enough. I pull my shoulders back beforeletting them fall when Ruthie starts our way. The door at our backs feels like it’s a million miles away as she drops her gaze to the way Beck’s touching me on her way past.

His thumb moves again, repeating that soothing motion.

“Another day, then, Beckett,” she says, patting him on the arm before fixing me a look. “And I’ll see you in the morning.”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t sound so excited.”

Beck’s hand drops, leaving the skin beneath it fighting a cold breeze. He wraps it around the door handle instead as he pulls it open for her and gives her his million-dollar smile. Even the old woman has a hard time keeping her cheeks from burning with a flush. She steps outside and, after patting his arm one last time, starts down the sidewalk.

I tug on the loop of my apron at the back of my neck, already thinking about what I’m going to say to explain myself to Beck. The café isn’t completely empty, but it might as well be. I wish it were packed full right now.

“I’ll be right back.”

Beck doesn’t wait for me to reply before he’s taking off in the direction of the bathroom. I blink at the space where he was just standing, my brain completely fried.

The door swings open again, and Eli steps inside. Relief smacks me hard and fast. I jump at the chance to get the hell out of here and quickly snag a box of water from the cooler. Grabbing a marker from the counter, I scribble my number on the side of it, hoping Beck sees it before it winds up in the trash.

He’s still in the washroom when I finish. I glance back out the window to the car that’s parked in the worst possible spot. The idea comes to me in a rush. The chance to distract him from what happened is pathetic, really. But I’m desperate. And air-deprived due to the sudden shrinkage of my lungs.

I drop to a crouch and grab the small baggy full of stickers that Callie keeps for moments just like this. Beck clearly isn’t the type of guy to get pissed off easily, so maybe this will help if he’s angry with me for what just happened. Especially when he findsout that I’ve run away instead of dealing with it. After taking a quick look around the café, I snag a sticker and rush to the door.

“Hey. I’m heading out for a bit. Lunch. I’m starving. It’s been really slow today so far. Call me if you need anything,” I ramble to Eli, cutting past him before he has the chance to reply.

The sun burns my eyes when I step out onto the sidewalk and to the car parked alongside it. A paid parking sign sits only one car length ahead of where he’s parked, and I almost laugh at the fact that he parked far enough away from it to get away without paying.

I uncurl my palm and peel the back off the parking violation sticker before slapping it onto his passenger window. The bright green colour of it is almost identical to the rubber gloves he brought with him earlier.

Maybe he’ll listen and park somewhere else tomorrow.Or not.

Right now, I can’t afford to care.