The Price of Inertia (The Seven Sins #4) - Lily Zante Page 0,49
and worn out. As am I. “It’s been a long day,” I say, lifting up my plate and my glass of water. I was going to eat here, but he seems to want to hang around.
I can’t be around him.
I can’t be around him and not feel anything.
I can’t.
I need to escape to my bedroom. “Goodnight.”
Chapter 20
MARI
“How’s he been?” Jamie asks me in a hushed voice after his morning session with Ward.
“Who?” I’m in the kitchen fixing lunch. This morning I got up super early and prayed that Ward wouldn’t be asleep in his study. I wanted to get his desk tidied before he showed up. There wasn’t as much litter in his room either.
Jamie glances over his shoulder, then whispers. “Ward.”
“Fine, why?”
He pulls out something from his pocket.
A pen.
It’s not just any old pen.
It’s the pen.
My eyes almost fly out of their sockets. Enraged, I snatch it from him. “What are you doing with this?” I hiss.
“It was a joke. You said the guy had been an ass to you, so I wanted to put him in his place.”
“When did I say that?”
“Over dinner the other day.”
“You thought taking his pen would be the answer?” I’m so livid I want to hurl the pen at him like a flying missile. He has no idea of the grief his little stunt has caused. The problems it has created. The thing it has started.
“How did he react?”
“How did he react?” I cry, then remember to lower my voice. “Do you have any idea how angry he was?”
Jamie’s face turns hard. “Did he blame you?”
“Duh! It was there one minute, and then it wasn’t. Who else is he going to blame?”
“He could have mislaid it.” Jamie’s jaw tightens. “What did he say? Did he threaten to fire you?”
“He didn’t say anything. He ... he just got annoyed.” I decide to keep the news about the entire saga to myself. “I’ll put it back on his desk. Please don’t do anything so stupid again. I can fight my own battles.”
Jamie leaves and I try to figure out how I’m going to return the pen to Ward without him knowing the truth. He’s seen me search for it on the floor, under the desk and on the couch for it. He saw me look all around his room.
I can’t just tell him I found it there. Jamie has no idea of the mess he’s landed me in. This is a drama I could do without, given everything else that’s going on.
My phone rings and I rush to answer it. My heart misses another beat when I hear Brenda’s voice. What now?
“Your mom’s fine,” is the first thing she says. “She wanted to speak to you.” I walk away, far away into the entrance hall and listen as my mom thanks me for coming to see her yesterday.
“That’s okay, Mom. I was worried.”
“You worry too much.”
“Just be more careful. Try not to trip.”
She laughs. “You’ll come again at the weekend?”
“I sure will. Love you.”
As I walk back into the kitchen, I freeze at the sight of Ward’s back. He’s examining the pen. I stop breathing for a few seconds.
“You found it?” he asks, rolling it between his fingers as I slowly return to the salad. I pick up the salad dressing and pour a little in, trying to think of what to say.
“What?” My eyes are riveted on the salad, as if I’m performing some kind of open heart surgery.
“You know what.” His voice is playful. This is both new and alarming. I lift my gaze to his. Amusement dances in his eyes.
“Oh, the pen …” I murmur, noticing that he has shaved completely. There’s no hint of stubble on his face. When did he get that his haircut? I start to think back to last night. Did he get it cut while I was with my mom?
He taps the pen on the island, breaking my reverie. “Yes. The pen.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“How did it end up here?” The way he cocks his head, the way he doesn’t fly into a rage or accuse me, should make me feel relieved. Should make it easier for me to breathe.
But it does neither.
He’s waiting for an answer, only, I can’t give him the right one. “I ... I think I ... I think I might have accidentally picked it up to write you a note.” That’s the best I can come up with on the spur of the moment.