Hard Checked (Ice Kings #4) - Stacey Lynn Page 0,23
makes me cringe. I open my eyes to see Gigi nearing the bottom steps, one hand on the railing like she’s about to swing my way.
I have to end this. Perhaps for my own sanity than anything.
“Gigi,” I call out.
Her shoulders tighten before she slowly turns in my direction. Her hair is up like it was last night, but instead of two ponytails from behind her ears she’s rolled them into little buns on her head. Little puffs of purple are knotted tightly behind her ears.
“What are you doing here?”
Her eyes are hidden behind sunglasses so I can’t see exactly how upset she is, but her expression says enough. She’s pissed.
“I came to talk to you.”
“No thanks. I’ve got places to be.”
She hops off the last step. Unfortunately, she doesn’t head my direction but away from me.
Fortunately, I have long legs, strength, and some damn good speed on my side so I catch up to her in several quick strides while she hurries away.
“Please. I want to apologize about last night.”
“Seems to me,” she says, flipping up her glasses and peering at me as the harsh sun shines directly on her, “that lately all you’ve been doing is apologizing to me and, no offense, Sebastian, but you’re a customer. You want to be rude to the woman who serves you drinks, that’s no big deal to me. I’ll still take your money.”
Ouch. I take the well-deserved shot.
“I’m really sorry, though. I was a dick.”
“Mm-hmm.”
She slides down her glasses and keeps hustling. Since I’m so much taller, my legs so much longer, it’s more of a brisk walk for me. I can’t help but smile at how small she is.
Pocket-sized. So petite I could throw her easily onto a bed.
Woah. The thought slams into me so hard I jerk back.
“What?” Gigi says, looking back at my sudden stop.
My mouth is gaping. Where in the hell did that come from?
I shake my head to clear it and unfortunately when I focus on her again, her head is tilted in a curious way. I swear there’s a faint blush on her cheeks before she blinks and looks away.
Doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t be noticing any of that anyway.
“I’m really sorry, Gigi. It’s not your fault my wife has left me and is still refusing all of my calls. It’s not your fault I’m pissed about it, pissed about my marriage ending this way. And it’s definitely not your fault I haven’t told the guys on my team yet.” I shove a hand through my hair, forgetting about my sunglasses, and they go flying to the cement. Before I can bend down to reach them, Gigi does, handing them to me as we both stand.
“I was a dick to you, upset with Jason for trying to get that information out of me and now he’s pissed and hurt because I didn’t talk to him. None of that should have been taken out on you last night.”
Her eyes narrow, sparkling blue pools that are so bright they remind me of the ocean. For a moment, I’m lost in them until she smiles. It’s so blindingly bright it almost steals my breath away.
Goddamn. I should go home and jerk off, get whatever this strange lust for her is out of my system so I stop gawking at her all the damn time.
“Forgiven,” she finally says and shrugs.
“That easy?”
She sighs, squints at the sky like she needs to think about it, and my chest grows tight at the thought of her not meaning it.
Now is not the time to wonder why her forgiveness means so much to me. Something tells me if I think too hard about it, I might not like the reason. Mostly because I’m in no place to do anything about it.
“You’re having a hard time, Sebastian. I get it, to an extent. And you owe me nothing. Yeah, you were a jerk last night but to be honest, I was more upset you ignored me earlier. I wasn’t expecting that, so when you came at me with the other, it made me angrier than it should have. But we’re good. Okay?”
She adjusts a black strap on her shoulder, bouncing as she does.
“Is that a camera?”
A deep line divides her eyebrows. “Yes.”
“You going somewhere with it?”
“I plan on spending the day hiking, taking pictures out at Crowder’s Mountain.”
Crowder’s Mountain State Park is less than an hour from us. Beautiful views especially on a cloudless day like this and warm for the last week of January.