Leave it to me. I’ll talk to her.” He motioned for us to follow him. “Come on. Let’s take care of this so you and Easton can enjoy your lunch.”
It appeared they were back together. How had I not seen that coming? It seemed as if it happened rather quickly, and, come to think of it, it was strange that Easton asked me to go on a hike right before reconciling with his former girlfriend. He’d always been a player, but a part of me had hoped he’d grown out of that. Then again, he’d stated that we were friends, and I’d allowed myself to read more into it.
I drew in a breath, my heart aching at the realization that I was a fool to let myself fall for him when he clearly didn’t feel the same way about me. How stupid could I be?
I clenched my fist and let out a breath. If he was back with Lila, I should let him off the hook as far as going to that appointment with me. It would create more awkwardness than was necessary, and if I were in Lila’s place, I’d think it was weird my boyfriend was accompanying another woman to a doctor’s visit.
We walked down the hall and stopped at Verity’s desk first. Bruce smiled and waved as if throwing his weight around. “Would you do me a favor, Verity, and page Mr. Radcliffe?”
Verity frowned and started to say something, but Easton spoke up behind us. “That’s not necessary. I’m back.” His gaze fell to Lila and then he took in Bruce and me.
Lila flashed a bright smile and held up the bag of food. “There you are. I thought I’d surprise you with lunch.”
“Really…” His forehead creased, and he didn’t seem pleased exactly, but then again, his tone was professional. Perhaps he wanted to keep his personal life out of the office.
Bruce puffed out his chest, and he had brownnoser written all over him. I’d never noticed that about him before, but for some reason it didn’t surprise me. He rubbed his hand over his chest as if pleased with himself. “Glad that worked out. I was just assisting Lila, Mr. Radcliffe.”
Easton tipped his head in Bruce’s direction, but he didn’t smile. “Thank you.”
“Well, we should get going,” I said. “We were on our way to get lunch.”
Easton studied me and then glanced at Bruce, something indecipherable flickering in his eyes. It almost seemed like anger, but he often wore a severe expression so it probably wasn’t that. “The two of you?”
“Yes, that’s right,” I said.
He cleared his throat, his eyes never leaving my face. It was uncomfortable, but I refused to let Easton intimidate me.
“Normally, you hit the lunch room around twelve-thirty,” he said, more to himself than to us.
It was noon, and I didn’t see how thirty minutes made much of a difference. “That’s true.”
“I hope it’s not a problem,” Bruce said, sounding concerned.
I glanced at him quickly, annoyed that he was opening the door for Easton to tell us it was a problem when it had never been an issue before. We didn’t have a set time for lunch.
Easton pressed his lips together as if it was indeed a problem, but then he let out a breath and shook off whatever was bothering him at the moment. “No, of course not.” He pulled a crumpled bill out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Have lunch on me.”
I frowned, holding the bill. “You don’t have to—”
Lila stepped between us, blocking my vision of Easton. “Sweetheart, would you like to eat in your office? Or would you prefer somewhere a little more…private?”
That was all the encouragement I needed to get out of there. I spun on my heel and grabbed Bruce by the elbow. “I’m hungry. Let’s go.”
He seemed to sense it was time to leave as well, and he followed my lead. Once we reached Bruce’s car in the parking lot, I opened my hand to look at the bill Easton had given us, and my eyes nearly bulged out their sockets. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t believe he gave us this much.”
“What’s wrong?” Bruce asked, unlocking the car doors with his key fob.
“He gave us a five-hundred-dollar bill.”
He glanced at me with a look of disbelief on his face. “No way.”
“Look.” I held the bill up so he could see. “We have to give this back. It’s too much. He probably thought he was giving us something else.”
He ran