when he reaches up and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. He starts to lean in. Is he going to kiss me? What the hell?
“Oh shit.” I jump up when his mouth almost touches mine. “Bathroom.”
“That way.”
“Thanks.” I take off as fast as I can, wondering if it's terrible for me to try to sneak out the window. I check my phone and there’s still nothing from Abel. I get even more irritated. I don’t know if it's the wine or what, but I find myself texting him.
Me: At least someone wants to kiss me.
I hit send and shove the phone back into my purse to go finish my steak.
11
Abel
I’m on my way out of the van before I finish reading the text. Kiss is the only word I registered, and if she’s thinking about that but I’m not the one beside her, it’s an emergency.
“Where’re you going?” Mark yells after me.
“Inside.” Isn’t it obvious?
I throw open the double glass doors to the steakhouse, brush by the hostess, who calls, “Sir, sir, do you have a reservation, sir?” sidestep a waiter who is balancing a tray full of meat on his arm, and skid to a stop in front of Chad’s table. Only Pepper isn’t here. Instead, some redhead is in the chair opposite of him.
I turn on my heel and scan the room. If this woman is here, is Pepper kissing someone else? The last communication we heard was that she was heading to the bathroom.
“Underwood? That you?” Chad asks in surprise.
“Where’s Pepper?” I demand.
“Pepper?”
This fucker doesn’t even remember her name.
“The woman you brought to dinner.”
“Oh, his business partner,” the redhead pipes up. “She’s in the bathroom.”
A smug smile flits across Chad’s face. “So that’s why you bought my building. Pepper is a pretty thing, but eight million dollars can get you pussy far better than what was sitting here.” He nods his head toward the chair the redhead is sitting in. “I’m about to have her for the price of a steak.”
I pick up Pepper’s unused steak knife and slam it a centimeter away from Chad’s pinky. The redhead screams.
“What the fuck?” Chad cries, snatching his hand away and hiding it under the table.
“When you speak of Pepper Paddison, you do so with respect or you don’t speak at all. Say anything like that again, and this knife will be sticking out of your throat.”
“Did you just threaten to kill me?” Chad squawks. He turns in his chair, his arms open wide. “You all heard that, right? This lunatic threatened to kill me!”
I dip my head to the redhead. “Chad’s wallet is never going to be fat enough to make up for his tiny dick.”
She claps a hand over her mouth to muffle a laugh while Chad spouts off insults about my dick, my parents, my business acumen, and fuck knows what else. I’m not paying him attention anymore. My focus is on Pepper, who just appeared at the end of a hallway. Her eyes widen when she spots me.
I stride over and grab her elbow. “Time to go.”
She glances back at Chad. “What’s going on with Chad, and why is he yelling that his dick is huge?”
“Is that what he’s saying? I’m not listening.” I gently nudge her toward the door.
“He said his wallet’s big and his dick—“
I cover her mouth with my broad hand. “No, sorry. You can’t talk about another guy’s dick. That’s against the rules.”
“What rules?” she says, her voice muffled by my palm.
I drop my hand away and slide it down to catch her wrist. “The Abel Rules. Rule number one is that no man exists outside of me. Rule number two is to never forget rule number one.”
“Why should I abide by these rules? You ignore me all the time.”
I stop. “I what?”
“Nothing.” She pushes her purse strap higher on her shoulder. “Just take me to the hotel.”
I’m fine with that. Once we’re at the house, I can show her in graphic detail how I’m not ignoring her. “Is that what we’re calling my house these days?”
“No. I mean I want to go to the same place where everyone else from my building is put up. I want my own place, with my own set of keys, and I don’t want to see you. Men,” she mutters. She jerks open the truck door and slams it shut in my face before I can reply.
My pocket vibrates. I yank the phone out and look at the screen. It’s Beck. I’m about