Page 55 of Perfect Assumption

“Kind of hard to do that to myself.”

“Then allow me.” Becks cocks back his arm to throw a punch.

I don’t know why I do it, but I jump in front of Ward. Just as Becks’s arm starts to swing forward, I fling my coffee at him. His surprise causes him to jump backward as the warm liquid rains down all over his trademark white silk shirt. I yell, “Stop it, Beckett! It’sfine! I handled it. Okay?”

I feel the eyes of everyone in the room on me as I step forward and shove my finger into a stunned Becks’s chest. “And just to let you know, you havemuchbigger issues to be worrying about.”

Tension that was starting to leech from his face snaps back. “Why?”

I roll my shoulders before I say, “I could be looking at her right now.”

The room goes static at my announcement. Becks swallows hard, pain in his eyes. “You spoke with Kensington, then?”

“No.” My words cause Becks’s face to deflate. “But I met her mother.”

His eyes bug. “Paige? You talked to Paige?”

“She’s lovely.”

“I can confirm that, though Istilldon’t know…” Ward begins.

“Shut up, Ward. I’ll fill you in later. Not now,” Carys hisses. She gestures for me to continue.

“I’m beginning to get the… Umph.”

“Did you get the NDA?” Carys probes gently.

I shake my head in defeat.

“What happened?” Becks’s voice is tortured, and I turn away, feeling like I let him down.

Before I can apologize, Becks reaches out a hand and squeezes mine. “No, don’t say anything else. Thank you, Angie. I realize it must have been terrifying for you. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

Chest heaving, lips trembling, I whisper, “It wasn’t. It was incredible. Exhilarating. Everything I thought it would be, until—”

“Until it wasn’t?” Becks shoots a dirty look behind me. I can only imagine the face Ward must be making because the ink on Becks’s neck begins to pulse.

“Something like that.” Drained, and in desperate need of caffeine, I head for the door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Angie.” Ward’s voice stops me in my tracks.

I whirl around to face him. When I do, something cracks in the air between us. The urge to step back from the lash of it is overwhelming, the intensity is so strong. But I stand my ground. “Yes?”

“If you go downstairs to replace the coffee you threw at Becks stepping in to defend me, I’m going to be royally pissed.” Ward moves across the carpeted floor like a sleek panther. Slowly, holding my eyes, he brushes his fingers against mine. Just the tips. A casual movement that could mean anything from comfort to solidarity.

I start but don’t move away. I’m frozen in place like a startled doe. Somewhere in the recess of my brain, I hear Carys whisper, “Well, I’ll be damned.” But I’m too apprehensive of what will happen if I break the moment—from the contradictory emotions of tenderness and anticipation in Ward’s eyes.

The tension finally drops when he steps back. Turning to his sister, Ward demands, “Don’t you think of finishing this conversation without me. I’ll be right back.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” Carys confirms.

“Especially now,” Becks growls.

“Does that mean you’re finally reading me in?” Ward demands of Becks.

“I guess I have to,” Becks replies petulantly.

Narrowing his eyes just a bit, Ward doesn’t say another word to anyone before disappearing out of the office. I almost wish Carys and Becks would fill the air with chatter instead of their intense speculation.