Page 25 of Dancing With Lies

“Lincoln, I’ve had a rough weekend and I really can’t take any more of your shit. I’m done, okay? Keep the watch, I’m done.” Those were the first words out of her mouth, and he knew he’d pushed a little too hard.

“I’m sorry, I’m just used to Tanya and Monica being so efficient. I don’t know what you’re good at, after all.” He mocked her and knew he’d smirked a little too much when her eyes narrowed and she took up a defensive position.

At least she wore a skirt today, even if it was denim and barely covered her panties. Red ones, he could see if he tilted his head right.

“Fuck you, Link.” She said with arrows shooting out from her eyes. She knew he hated that nickname, she’d figured it out long ago, even though nobody else had. “You can keep the watch; you can keep all of it. I don’t fucking care anymore. Fuck this!”

“Ch….” He started and winced. “Roxie, I’m sorry. Really. Come in, I’ll make us some coffee and we’ll talk this out. Don’t quit. Please?”

“No.” She shook her head and frowned at him. “I’ve been treated like trash before and I worked my ass off to overcome the circumstances I was in. And being around you? It just brings up memories I worked damned hard to forget. Things are creeping back in though, shit I don’t want to remember anymore, and I just…”

Roxie ran out of steam towards the end of her last sentence and he felt like a dick when he saw her swipe a tear away from her eye. Damn.

But he had to wonder, did she not want to remember that night they’d shared together?

“Come on, let’s have some coffee.” He nodded toward the small room that acted as the staff break room. He made two cups of coffee and made hers the way he’d noted she liked. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not all your fault. I guess you expected a woman who knew how to run an office. I could run a bar, a club, I can even do most of what Tanya and Monica showed me already, but this? With the pressure? I’m not used to that, Lincoln.” She turned away from him and he picked up on the fact that she didn’t want him to see her as weak. She was the furthest thing from weak, he knew that.

“I’ll try to ease up on you, I promise.” Although a little voice in the back of his mind said it wouldn’t last long. He liked seeing her on edge, just not so much that she’d quit.

“Thanks, that’d be good.” She answered and drank her coffee quietly.

He let it go the rest of the day and everything went fine. By the weekend, he was ready to let loose a little and Kai was in town. They both wanted Chinese food, but they’d had a few beers.

“We can just order delivery, Lincoln,” Kai said but inspiration struck Lincoln the moment Kai spoke.

Picking up his phone, Lincoln grinned a wolfish grin. “I have a better idea.”

He scrolled through and waited for the call to go through. “Roxie?”

“It’s the weekend, Lincoln. What do you want?” She didn’t sound happy at all to hear from him. What was that about?

“Listen, Kai and I want some Chinese food.” He started to say but she interrupted him.

“Then get it delivered.” She said, clearly annoyed when she sighed heavily.

“No, yeah, we could do that, but I don’t want ordinary Chinese. This place doesn’t deliver.” It had three Michelin stars and wasn’t on most tourist’s radar. You had to be rich and in the know to find this place.

Lincoln told her where he wanted food from, and she didn’t sound happy, but she agreed to bring it to them. Lincoln couldn’t help but giggle with Kai as they ordered almost the entire menu for Roxie to deliver.

“Dude, she’s going to hate us so much.” Kai snorted, reverting to their university days when Kai had wanted nothing more than to run away from his family and be a surfer.

“Too late, she already does!” Lincoln burst out laughing and went to get them more beers while they waited.

Lincoln was a little…tipsy by the time Roxie drove up to the beach house and stormed inside with her arms laden with plastic bags. “I can’t believe you did this to me, Lincoln.”

“What?” He asked and blinked his eyes innocently.

“My entire car is going to stink of Chinese food for a month!” She declared and stomped back out only to bring in more bags.

“I know you just did this to fuck with me. My car is going to reek of soy sauce and onions for ages.” She muttered as she came back in from yet another trip moments later. “I think that’s all of it.”

Kai and Lincoln stared at the mountain of bags she’d placed on the kitchen table and then looked over at Roxie. She just stared back at them, perturbed and wide-eyed. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Kai asked and blinked a few times.

“Is that all?” She asked with exasperation. “Can I get back to my own life now?”