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That thought alone lent her extra speed and she flew through the door and waved to Dorothy over her shoulder. “See you later, Dot.”
“Thanks for taking me shoe shopping,” Dorothy called out, her wistful tone bringing her up short.
The young woman was a walking fashion disaster and Beth couldn’t leave her hanging, not when she’d promised her a makeover to go with her new outfits and shoes.
“Look, I’m not trying to give you the brush-off, honest. I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll tee up a time then for your makeover, okay?”
“Great.” Dorothy’s beaming smile could’ve lit a path for the space shuttle to follow. “I really appreciate what you’re doing for me, Beth. You’re the best.”
If only Aidan thought so too.
Waving, Beth dashed into the Mind gallery, tugging down her jacket with one hand while tucking a stray strand of hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck with the other. She didn’t know what was more annoying, the way the ill-fitting jacket kept riding up over her hips or the slight headache that came with wearing her hair confined in a knot all day.
However, with Aidan watching her every move during her first tour in this new gallery, she had to look the part even if she felt like the least qualified person on the planet to conduct it.
‘Please let him be late,’ she thought, her gaze darting around the room while she simultaneously managed a confident smile at the biology students waiting for her.
While the kids crowded around her, thrusting their hands in the air and firing questions before she’d even started, her gaze collided with a cool grey one at the back of the group, disapproval clear in its depths.
Great. Looked like the Punctuality Professor had already chalked up another black mark next to her name.
Determined to ignore him, she focused all her attention on the kids, who proceeded to make the next hour the most tedious, harassed, nightmarish sixty minutes of her entire life.
They hassled her. They laughed at her. One of the guys had the audacity to lay a hand on her butt as he pretended to jostle for a front position in the group.
If Aidan hadn’t been around she might’ve been tempted to do something very unprofessional—like replace the human brain model with the real thing from that hormonal little creep—but she grinned, she extolled the virtues of the human body, and answered questions as best she could.
Which obviously wasn’t good enough considering Aidan summoned her to his office when the tour ended. He didn’t even have the decency to give her time for a recovery coffee.
“I’ll see you in ten minutes,” he said, tapping his watch as if she didn’t know what it was or couldn’t tell the time—okay, he had a point there considering she’d been late several times—frown in place, not a glimmer of a smile.
She nodded, too tired to respond, too despondent to fire back a witty quip.
This was it.
Her best wasn’t good enough.
She’d failed Lana, and if there was one thing she took seriously it was being there for her cousin like Lana had been there for her all these years. And as she trudged the long corridor like a recalcitrant kid summoned to the principal’s office, she couldn’t think of one damn thing to do about it.
After pulling up outside Aidan’s door, she knocked sharply, all business and no play, the exact opposite of her visit to his inner sanctum yesterday.
However, while she trembled inside, she wouldn’t let it show. Brave front at all costs. It was a motto she lived by, a motto tried and tested many times when she’d craved one kind word from her dad and he’d ignored her instead.
Now, like then, she wouldn’t let her nerves get the better of her. No good could come from appearing rattled. Her father had abhorred weakness and she’d learned to hide her insecurities at all costs.
“Brave front, show confidence, be humble,” she mentally recited, and at Aidan’s barked ‘come in’ she took a deep breath, entered the room and stalked to his desk, shoulders squared.
Determined to show no fear, she tilted her chin up. “What did you think of the tour?”
Admiration shot through Aidan as he stared at the pink-cheeked, unusually subdued woman standing before him. She’d be quaking in her boots, but apart from the faint blush staining her cheeks and the rigid posture, Beth showed little sign of being flustered.
He had a feeling what he was about to say would change that.
“Take a seat.”
He pointed at the chair opposite, not surprised she sat quickly. For once he had Miss Fancy Feet on the back foot, no pun intended, and rather than feeling good about it, he hated what he was about to do.
But he had no other option. He couldn’t have her here another day without wanting to drag her into this office, with work the furthest thing from his mind.
