Crave (His Second Chance with Heiress Bryn Christmas Duet #1) - Z.L. Arkadie Page 0,12

and I were too involved in what we were doing to want to stop to eat, so she said no again.

“Well, I’m going into town.” He sounded irritable, as if Eden had forbidden him to do what he wanted. I was very familiar with Dale’s disposition. It used to give me anxiety.

“That’s fine. See you later,” Eden said, keeping her attention on the lighting catalog.

He glared at me before turning his back on us and plodding off. Once again, I waited for Eden to ask me about my past relationship with Dale, but she didn’t look away from her shopping. Since we were alone, I considered bringing it up, but I chickened out. Instead, we continued with our activity.

A few hours later, when Dale returned, we were in one of the bathrooms on the third floor. He informed us that he had hero sandwiches with Dijon mustard, extra tomatoes, and sweet pickles, with the bread lightly toasted.

“That’s awfully specific,” Eden said.

I could feel my skin flush as I tried to hide my shock. Years before, we’d driven to Providence for lunch and had come across a sandwich shop. I rarely ate outside the mansion in those days because we had the best chefs in the world cooking in our kitchen. But I ordered a hero sandwich because I was blinded by love and called Dale my hero. I ordered it with Dijon mustard, extra tomatoes, and sweet pickles on a lightly toasted kaiser roll. I found the sandwich so tasty that after that, I often had our driver take me to the same shop at least once a week. I stopped when Amelia came into my room to tell me that I was getting fat and Randolph had noticed and didn’t like it.

“You know what he does when he doesn’t like something,” she said.

I knew. I’d never gone back to that shop again. Regardless, by ordering that sandwich, Dale was being sneaky and disrespectful to Eden, once again showing me that he hadn’t changed a bit.

“And I don’t eat sandwiches. I have a TV show, you know.” Eden turned her attention to me. “The camera really does put ten pounds on me, and the producers are always checking my weight.” She shook her head. “I hate that.”

“Don’t worry, babe. I bought you green goddess salad, no chicken. The sandwich is for me, and for the heiress if she likes.” His eyebrows flew up twice. He was flirting with me, and poor Eden couldn’t detect it.

I knew the tactic very well. The boundary he’d just crossed pushed me farther down the rabbit hole. I had to tell Eden about his and my past relationship. I wanted to say something then, but she was smiling and in a good mood. Plus, I had to figure out how to tell her the truth that her boyfriend had kept from her. I wished I’d said something that morning.

I focused solely on Eden, pretending Dale wasn’t in the room. “How about we leave the modules where they are, and tomorrow morning, I’ll have my team members with me, and we’ll finish up and then get into some really fun stuff.”

Eden looked incredulous. “Oh, are you leaving?”

I intensified my fake smile. “I am.”

“You sure you don’t want to stay and eat something with us?”

I hung my purse over my shoulder and swiped my iPad off the counter. “No. It’s late, and I have dinner plans for tonight.”

Eden raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Preferably with a hot guy who’s worthy of having you.”

I was happy that my smile was genuine. Her compliment had not escaped my attention.

“She’s a Christmas, babe. They have private chefs and shit, I’m sure,” Dale said before I could respond to Eden.

“You have a private chef?” Eden asked.

Do not look at him.

“Not this time. But”—I clapped my hands, signaling I was bringing all communication to a halt—“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I thumbed over my shoulder. “And I’ll find my way out.”

“I’ll escort our guest,” Dale said.

“Nope,” I insisted. “No escorting necessary. Good night.” I turned my back on them and got the hell out of there. I was certain that Eden was baffled about why I’d turned down her lemon of a boyfriend’s offer to walk me to the car. Apparently, she had no idea what he was capable of, or she would never have so genially offered his services.

When I made it to my car and turned on my engine, which caused the garage door to slide up, I was only thinking one