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Mark’s white, bushy brows plunge down.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Introduce us at least?”

“I was planning to after she finished with her work.”

Mark’s eyes thin, confusion swirling in his blue eyes. He’s an older man, with sagging skin, liver spots, and knee problems from how he groans every time he stands up. But he’s also an astute man for his age, and his mind is still sharp.

“You were going to pass the restaurant without saying hi to her?” he interrogates, referring to my lie about walking to my car. “And go to a different restaurant?”

I stare him dead in the eye, making sure he can see just how unconcerned I am with his ques

tioning.

“My girl lives in a peaceful little bubble when she writes her books. She doesn’t like to be bothered when working, and I respect her space. Especially because it allows me the freedom to do whatever I please without her worrying about what I’m doing.”

Add a sprinkle of adulterous implications in there, and Mark immediately relates. He laughs, his yellowed teeth on full display.

“I knew I liked you,” he chuckles, his crow’s feet deepening.

I squeeze his phone, the device still trapped between both of our hands.

“Delete the picture, Mark.”

Mark’s eyes bug. “Oh, of course! I’m terribly sorry, Zack. I didn’t mean to offend. I had no idea,” he says hurriedly, trying to laugh off the fact that he was looking to kidnap my mouse. He hastily deletes the picture from his gallery.

I'll be hacking into his phone later to confirm it has been permanently deleted. Asshole thinks I’m dense and don’t know what a Cloud is, or that you can access your trash and reload the picture.

I’ll also be ensuring that he didn’t actually send the picture to anyone.

“S’all good,” I say calmly, sitting back in my chair and appearing casual.

I’m anything but.

The need to slice him open from ear to ear is vibrating through my tense muscles. Beneath the table, I flex my hand, fighting the urge not to drive it down Mark’s throat.

I want to kill him.

Scratch that.

I’m going to kill him.

Slowly.

“Let me go introduce myself then. She’s been hard at work for an hour. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

Before I can tell the old fart to sit his ass down, he’s up and heading towards Addie.

Fuck. Me.

I hurry after him. Sensing the incoming danger—whether it’s from Mark or me, I’m not sure—she looks up and her gaze clashes with mine.

Instantly, her eyes widen into caramel marbles, and her face pales about five shades lighter. I’m ready to squirt some spray tan lotion on her if it means she doesn’t make it so damn obvious that she’s not happy to see me.

With Mark ahead of me, I quickly give her a severe warning look. Her brows plunge, but she doesn’t have time to react before Mark sticks his hand in her face.

“Young lady! What a pleasure to meet you. I’m sorry, Zack here didn’t tell me your name. But I’m Mark Seinburg. I just had the pleasure of meeting your boyfriend here not too long ago, and he’s quite the catch, but I must say, you’re much more impressive.”

Addie opens her mouth, but nothing escapes, her equilibrium thrown off from the sudden intrusion, alongside Mark calling me Zack and claiming her as my girlfriend.