Page 33

“What?” I mumbled, squinting at the time on my phone. “No, it’s- oh, fuck. I fell asleep.”

I dropped my face into my hands, embarrassed and tired to my very bones. I braced myself for Hayden’s lecture.

But it didn’t come.

Cautiously, I lifted my head and looked at her.

“I’m really sorry,” I blurted before she could say anything. “This was a one-time fluke, and completely my fault. It won’t happen again.”

She stared at me for a long moment, her wine-stained lips parted just a little. “Are you okay, Frankie?”

My spine stiffened and I sat up straight, my hands folded in my lap. I tried not to look at her for too long; her forest green eyes did enough to derail my train of thought alone.

“I’m fine,” I said, bobbing my head like I was trying to convince myself.

She didn’t look convinced. “I know we haven’t exactly known each other long,” she said, leaning forward against the other side of the counter and, subsequently, to me. “But I know you’re not one to slack off. Are you sure nothing is on your mind?”

For the first time since she’d been revealed as the new owner of Ivey’s, I softened a little at the concern in her voice. It was sincere. There was nothing else behind. This was the Hayden who saved me from a bad date, who’d captured me right from the start.

My chest warmed and I nodded, unable to smother the smile playing on my lips. “I’m good,” I said softly, and the weight of my mom’s health, juggling two jobs, and everything else loosened its grip. Just for a moment. “Just feeling the effects of Vee’s ‘no caffeine on Wednesdays policy.”

Hayden shrugged but I saw the delicate bob of her throat.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the fact that it was just us in the store, but I let my eyes roam. Down her throat, over her clavicle and jade green silk blouse.

I lifted my gaze to hers again and found her eyes just as hungry as my own, though we both said nothing about it.

I smiled a little. “Thanks for asking.”

Chapter twelve

Ignorance is Bliss

Hayden

Istaredoutthewindow of my car, watching the little water droplets slide down the glass. They slid slowly, stopping here and there to join together before continuing down to the very bottom.

I always hated the rain.

“Mi amore?”

I hummed in response, not bothering to turn around in my seat. Vinny sat beside me, the privacy visor separating us from Kelly, my driver, closed.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Vinny asked, something a little heavier in his words.

I forced a smile and turned to him, reaching out to squeeze his hand where it lay between us on the seat. “I just have a ton on my mind,” I told him, hoping my voice sounded less tired to him. “That’s why I need something to take my mind off work for a bit.”

His concerned frown slowly stretched into a soft grin, his brow cocked in interest. “Ah, I’m to be yet another distraction,” he mused, his hand turning over to carefully thread his fingers through mine. I wished I felt the tiniest spark for it.

For him.

But if I was totally honest with myself, my time with Vinny was coming to an end.

So why was I clinging to him?

“If it’s not too much of an imposition,” I said coyly, sending him a smirk.

He lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug, those gorgeous dimples making him even more gorgeous somehow. “You know it’s a privilege to be your distraction.”