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And because karma was not a fan of his, today was the day Anton understood Grace wanted him. Past tense, because there was no way she still did. He was going to have to fix that.
Somehow, some way, he was going to get back into her good graces, the spot where she wanted to jump his bones, because he’d seen the lust in her eyes today. Even if she had wanted to sock him, she’d still had a reaction to him. He could work with a reaction, because that denoted a cause. If there was a cause, there was a reason, and that meant all he had to do was bide his time and play his cards right before he had the same reaction from her.
This time it was going to be better. He wouldn’t mess it up the next time he had Grace Muñoz wanting him. He pushed away from the window, the beautiful city sprawled below had nothing interesting or new that he wanted to see. All he wanted was to figure out the answer to the problem of how he was going to get Grace to fall for him.
four
“Science is magic that works.”
—Kurt Vonnegut
“I cannot believe that was Anton.” Grace flung the hand not holding her glass of wine in the general direction of wherever Anton was in the wild blue yonder. “I feel hoodwinked.”
Lou winced. “It was not the best foot for you both to get off on.”
Grace rolled her eyes and said nothing, preferring a long swallow of her red wine to letting the scathing remark on her tongue loose. She knew better than to push too much, because even if Lou was her best friend, the woman took her work and her colleagues seriously. Gods, how was she going to tell Lou about the date she’d agreed to go on with him? She hadn’t been thinking clearly when she’d agreed to that. Lou was also loyal to a fault, and she considered Anton and all his bad manners to be her friend. It would only put a damper on the evening if Grace really tore into him.
“I know, I know,” Lou said with a nod. “You wouldn’t so much as throw a cup of coffee on him if he was on fire.”
Grace snorted. “Okay, but to be fair I wouldn’t waste good caffeine on anyone like that. I mean, you ever heard of stop, drop, ‘n’ roll? We do not disrespect caffeine like that in this family.”
Lou cracked a smile and squeezed Grace’s hands. “You know he isn’tthatkind of man, right?”
Grace raised an eyebrow. “What kind of man is that?” she asked, and she hated how her voice wobbled slightly. She was still hurt. Had a right to be, she knew that. But she also did have to do a job which meant being professional eight to five, Monday through Friday. She could do that. She’d manage it, but right now? Right now she was a woman with her best friend, and walking that line of managing her feelings was not really the vibe. Especially not with a glass of wine in her hand. Still didn’t mean she liked the way she sounded, weak and wounded when it came to Anton.
“The kind who acts like an asshole.” Lou leaned forward, giving Grace an earnest look. “He means a great deal to me,” she said.
“You mean his big science brain means a great deal to you,” Grace pointed out.
“No, it isn’t just that. Anton is my friend, Gracie.”
She pulled a face at Lou’s declaration. “That’s because you’re sweet and pure of heart. Everyone is your damn friend,” she muttered. She hated that she’d considered him her friend too. That was the worst part of it all. She’d fallen for whatever fake “Nice Guy” routine Anton had given her, only to awaken to the nightmare that the man truly was. How had she had the hots for him? She'd wanted to go on a date with him and do all the things you did with a man you had the hots for afterwards.
She’d wanted Anton Kovalev in a bad, dirty, hot, way.
She felt like such an idiot.
“But you’re my favorite.” Lou gave their linked hands a little shake, and Grace snapped out of her brooding.
“That only proves that you have terrible taste in friends, which confirms my point about Anton.” She eyed their clasped hands. “You’re buttering me up,” she said and gave Lou’s hand a little pat. If Grace weren’t so annoyed at Anton, she would be downright impressed by Lou’s blatant exploitation. The tiny scientist really knew how to get after her mark, and hand holding and telling Grace she was the “favorite” while she was slightly drunk was definitely the ticket.
“I am,” Lou admitted with a wince.
“Why?”
“I need you to be on your best behavior with Anton.”
When Grace opened her mouth to protest, Lou gave her a pleading look, one that had the full power of puppy dog eyes behind it.
“For me, Gracie. Please.”
Grace frowned and huffed in displeasure. Lou knew she had her right where she wanted. She really didn’t know what she was going to do when she had to come clean and spill the beans about Anton asking her out, and her crush on him. Gods, he’d called her sweetheart.Sweetheart of all things. It didn’t matter if it was once. He’d done it after asking her out, and that magnified it by 10x easily.
“You know I’m powerless to deny you when you look at me like that. It isn’t fair.”
Lou brightened. “Does that mean you’re going to put today behind you?”
“He treated me like I was a nobody,” Grace whispered, withdrawing her hands from Lou’s and crossing her arms. She looked out the window at the rapidly darkening sky. As much as she hated to admit it, Anton’s dismissive behavior had called up deeply buried feelings of worthlessness.
