Inappropriate - Vi Keeland Page 0,64

passed by a few times, and I could honestly say Grant didn’t notice. He had a way of making me feel like the only woman in the room without even trying. I felt all of his attention, because I actually had it.

I needed to use the ladies’ room, so I excused myself after Grant ordered a slice of cheesecake for us to share with a wink. When I finished up in the stall, I opened the door to find Shannon lining her lips in the mirror. Her eyes slanted to mine in the reflection. She wasn’t surprised to see me.

“How long have you and Grant been together?”

I stepped to the sink to wash my hands. I had no desire to chitchat with this woman, or any woman Grant had slept with. But a sadistic part of me was curious.

“Not too long.” I tilted my head and flashed an insincere smile. “He mentioned you two were…friendly.”

“Is that what he told you? That we were friends?”

I dried off my hands. “No. But I thought it sounded nicer than fuck buddies.”

She squinted at me. “We were together for about six months.”

That surprised me. Though I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing it. Instead, I followed her lead and started to line my lips in the mirror. She watched me in silence.

I blotted and looked at her pointedly. “Did you want to tell me something else?”

“I thought I’d give you a little woman-to-woman advice. When he tells you he’s not cut out for a relationship, believe him. He says one thing and acts another way. It’ll make you think you’re different than the rest. He’s very convincing. I remember one time my car had gotten towed, and I asked him if he could take me to grab it after work from the impound lot. When I walked out of work, my car was parked in my usual spot in the parking lot. He’d even gotten it washed for me. He’s very sweet when he wants to be. Took me a year to get over him.”

Even though my insides were freaking out, I kept my face stoic. I dropped my lipstick into my purse and walked behind her. Catching her eye in the mirror, I said, “Thanks for the advice. But you’re fooling yourself if you think it took a year for you to get over him. Obviously, you’re still not.”

I walked out of the bathroom and stopped in the hall to catch my breath, feeling completely rattled. Clearly, the woman was still hung up on Grant and wanted to shake things up between us. Oddly, that isn’t what upset me. It was what she’d said about him getting her car for her. For the last few days, I’d been feeling like everything with Grant was good, feeling the first sense of security that maybe he wouldn’t rip my heart out. And why? Because of the simplest thing—he’d done something thoughtful by taking care of my problem with the Building Commission.

Not all that different than getting Shannon’s car out of impound, was it?

Chapter 23

* * *

Grant

Something was off with Ireland. I’d sensed it the other night during dessert, but chalked it up to her being tired since she got up so early in the morning. Yesterday I’d texted to ask if she wanted to catch lunch, and she didn’t respond until long after she was home, claiming she’d been swamped at work. Now today, I could see she had read my message, and yet an hour later, still no response.

So against my better judgment, I walked my ass across the street and took the elevator up to the News floor.

Ireland was standing while talking on the phone when our eyes caught. The change in her expression confirmed my suspicion that something was off. She hung up just as I entered and closed the door behind me.

“I don’t like to come over here because I don’t want to make things difficult for you at work.”

She forced a smile. “I appreciate that.”

“But you leave me no choice when you avoid me.”

“I’m not avoiding you.”

I made a face that said she was full of shit.

Ireland sighed and sat down. “Fine.”

“What’s going on?”

“That woman the other night just freaked me out, I guess.”

My brows drew together. At first I wasn’t even sure who the hell she was referring to. “Shannon?”

She nodded.

“We stopped seeing each other probably two years ago. I had no idea she worked there.”

“I believe you. It’s just something she said.”

I tried to think back, but