His eyes shot down to my feet, and a ghost of a smile flitted across his face. “And the shoes. I’m more than flattered. Your efforts never go unappreciated, angel.”
Another point.
If I was fair, it was two.
Because angel. The bastard.
I barely held my eat shit and die smile.
He didn’t call me that because I was angelic.
Obviously. He was being ironic.
He thought I was the devil, and as far as he was concerned, I sure as hell was.
But that wasn’t why it burned. It burned because it was a very old nickname, from back in the day, when we were just dumb kids in love, and he’d actually meant it.
Once upon a time, I’d been his angel. The reminder was yet another reason I’d have loved to wring his neck.
“More champagne?” I asked him, holding up the bottle, wondering if the other passengers would notice if I quietly poured it over his head.
He looked away, and I saw his lip curl up in disdain.
That made me grind my teeth.
It was shitty champagne, cheaper than he was used to, and he couldn’t hide his distaste.
God, he was a snob. It was one of the things I hated most about him. At the top of a very long list.
“Oh. The brand too low class for you? You poor baby. You should put it up on your blog: Spoiledrottentrustfundbrats.com.”
Here was the part where he was supposed to make a biting crack about me being from a trailer park, or pointed out how far I’d fallen that I was slinging drinks on an airplane, or asked archly about how my failed acting career was going.
That’s how this little play worked.
Only he didn’t.
He just raised suddenly tired, sad eyes back to me and said, “We need to talk, Scarlett.”
That set me off. Here he was, wasting my time, and he wasn’t even giving me the reaction I wanted.
Scratch that.
Needed.
“Oh yeah sure,” I said flippantly, fake-distracted eyes traveling away from him to skim leisurely around the rest of the cabin, letting him know that he was barely worth my attention. “Go ahead. Talk.” I snapped my fingers. “Be quick about it. There’s still time for you to get your privileged ass off my commercial plane before we close the doors.” My voice was dismissive to the point of rude.
“Not here,” he ground out. I could tell by his tense tone that I’d gotten to him.
Score another hit for me and my fake nonchalance.
I knew how to push every single button he had.
I’d keep pushing them until my fingers fell off or he left.
I saw one of my other crewmates, Demi, giving me a strange look from the coach cabin.
Dammit, I’d forgotten for a second that I was working. I had at least a hundred things to do in the next five minutes. I didn’t have time to indulge in this hate-fest just then.
“Excuse me,” I told Dante coldly, not even looking at him again, and strode away.
I approached him again as I was taking dinner orders. I’d skipped him on my first sweep, only getting to his seat when everyone else was taken care of.
With every other passenger, I’d politely inquired what they’d like from the menu.
Dante, as always, got special treatment from me.
“We’re out of everything but chicken,” I told him flatly. “Take it or leave it, princess.”
Dammit, I’d overdone it. That actually made him smile.
“I’ll take it,” he said, sounding amused.
I hated it when he sounded amused. It made me want to smile, and perversely, to smash a blunt, heavy object over his head.
“It’s good to see you, Scarlett.” The fucker actually managed to sound like he meant it. “You look as amazing as you always do. How’ve you been?”
Shut up, I wanted to say. Just stop talking.
Just leave me alone.
Forever.
But I’d never say any of that. It would be too much like letting him win.
And if he won, I lost.
And I refused to lose again. I’d lost enough.
“Peachy,” I said through my teeth.
“I saw that commercial you did. The one for the body lotion. You were really good.”
He was making fun of me, of course.
“Fuck you,” I drawled.
His brows lowered, bright eyes squinting at me. “I wasn’t being sarcastic. You were good. Beautiful. Charming. Charismatic. I’d bet a lot of money that the exposure from that is going to get you some offers.”
“Offers for what? Go on. Let’s hear it. Stripping? Prostitution?”
He sighed. “For an acting job. God, you don’t make anything easy. I was trying to say something nice to you.”
“Why?” My tone was hostile.
His mouth twisted, his eyes imploring me as he answered with a soft, “Because, insane as it is, I miss you.”
He sounded like he genuinely meant it.
It made me feel violent, so unhinged that I couldn’t keep it in, couldn’t hold back a quiet and vehement, “Go fuck yourself.”
I turned on my heel and stormed off.
Add another point for The Bastard.
COMING SOON!
HERE’S A LITTLE TEASER FOR MY UPCOMING NOVEL,
BOSS
HAZEL PIPER
I loved Clayton Bishop. Huge love. Hug him tight and never let go love. We were best friends, near inseparable, and had been for years.
He loved me back. He’d have done anything for me. He thought I was the most beautiful girl in the world. I knew it because he told me, but also, I could see it in his eyes. He was in love with me.
I loved Clayton, but I was in love with his brother, Declan.
Declan, who hated me.
Declan, who would barely look at me. Who went out of his way to avoid me.
He hadn’t always hated me. I used to be as close to him as the rest of the Bishop brothers.
It happened about two years ago, the hate. Came out of nowhere and trampled its way all over my heart.
And to this day, I did not know why.
It didn’t matter. I was lovesick. Totally. I couldn’t see beyond the agony of my feelings for him, not even for Clayton.
When Declan was nearby, my body knew it. Not just the same room, but even near that room, and I swear I changed, things in my body started throbbing, I lost brain cells, and became an utter fool.
He, on the other hand, barely seemed to notice me now.
I couldn’t have gotten his attention if I stripped down and started dancing naked.
It was so unfair, because he had all of my attention all the time.
It was an obsession that had kept me company for so long that I needed it. Needed it to get through the day.
And as if unrequited love weren’t enough, our lives were securely and inevitably entwined. It wasn’t even an issue of seeing him daily. This was an hourly affliction, with shared car rides, classes, and often, when I went home, even shared dinners between our close-knit families. There was no escape, no relief, no reprieve from the barrage of feelings that I held inside of me for a guy who’d barely given me solid eye contact for nearly two years.
I was so screwed.
This dilemma had been the contentious focal point of my life for so long that a lot of other things slipped my notice.
Significant things.
Important things.
Things I’d soon come to regret.
COMING SOON!