Page 30 of Hard Hearts

"I have dinner plans."

"Since when?"

"I told you last night. It's for work."

"With Jasper?" I nod. It's with him and my boss. We are near closing this deal. "I'll come with you."

"That's not a good idea."

"Are you saying I can't go with you?"

"You should rest." I glance at the scotch. "Sleep it off."

"Right, I'll do that." He leans forward, grabbing the bottle and taking a giant swig. "Got nothing to say?" he asks, dropping it back down onto the coffee table with a loud thud that makes me cringe. Thankfully, the bottle is expensive, so the glass doesn't shatter.

"No, I've got nothing to say."

"That's a first." I fight the sting of tears that burn my eyes. I will not cry over a man.

"No, Kaden. That's the last," I say before turning to leave. I hear Kaden call after me, but I ignore it. I ignore him.

But I'm no longer going to ignore myself. I told myself to stay away from Kaden Gunner. I should have listened.

Chapter Twenty-Two

KADEN

“If I wanted to do stakeouts, I would have gone to detective school,” Graham complains. He checks his million dollar Rolex again to see how many seconds have passed since the last time he looked at the watch face.

“I didn’t know there was a detective school.”

“How else would they know how to detect?”

“What are the classes? How to take a statement? Tools of observation?”

“I’d need the one about how to manage your partner and not kill him in the first twenty-four hours.”

“Why are you here again?” I ask Graham.

“You sounded miserable when I called. I can’t have my favorite quarterback depressed.”

“And you were bored,” I point out.

Graham shrugs. “Luna took her mom out for dinner and said that if I came along, all her mom would do was make passes at me, which would embarrass all of us.”

“Is she wrong?”

“No, that’s why I’m sitting in this car with you watching people come out of a restaurant which was only given two stars byMy Favorite Feeds.”

“Speaking ofMy Favorite?—”

“Yes, I know Brooks slept with her and that now he doesn’t know what to do because he can make incredible things out of food but people confuse him.”

“Can’t blame him. Women are confusing.”

“I thought you were in the doghouse because you were mean to Frankie. How is that confusing?”

“I wasn’t mean to her.” I stare moodily out the window, willing Frankie to appear. My wishing hasn’t netted me anything for the past two hours. The door remains shut. “I was drugged up and frustrated.”

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