Page 15 of Freedom's Kiss
Chapter 7
Olivia lifted a tilapia fillet to her nose to smell for freshness, discreetly glimpsing Adam from the side of her eye.
He stood under the canopy, but just barely. He hovered in the corner, his stony expression and crossed arms making him look more like a bodyguard than a food truck chef. An occupation she didn’t doubt he could excel in, given her limited experience with his expertise.
She wasn’t sure what the whole rough-and-tough protector moment had been about back on the thoroughfare, but she had learned a few things from it. One, Adam Carrington had a fierce defender streak that left a woman catching her breath. Two, he was hiding something that had wounded him enough to leave scars. And three, she was more intrigued by both than was good for her.
She sniffed the fish for freshness. Odor not too strong. The eyes were bright and gills a nice pink hue. A recent catch. Perfect for her fish and grits. She shifted to let another shopper closer to the bin filled with ice and seafood.
Adam’s jaw worked back and forth, bulging and releasing. Lips that were always ready to smile and tease flattened against a face more in tune with joviality than brooding.
This would not do at all. Whatever danger he’d perceived her to be in had somehow erased all light and laughter from his face. And if her guess was correct, had agitated whatever wound he hid, until it seeped with raw emotion.
She checked her own feelings, making sure pity wasn’t a part of the equation. Sympathy, concern, a desire to help—to make him smile again. Those were the driving factors that made her approach him on quiet feet.
Lifting the cold, slimy fish in her hands until it was eye level, she pressed her fingers on either side of the tilapia to make its mouth open and close. Deepening her voice, she said, “Excuse me. I’m Mr. Grumpy Gills, and you, sir, have stolen my frown. I can’t be Grumpy Gills without my frown, you see, so I simply cannot let you off thehook. But tell me, on ascaleof one to ten, how likely are you to give it back?”
He stared at her like she’d lost her mind, and she very well may have. Giving a dead fish a persona wasn’t in her daily repertoire. But for some reason she felt determined to shake him out of whatever funk had sunk its teeth into him. With her other hand, she made the fish flip its tail back and forth, and she pretended he swam around them. Using her best pouty face, she held the fish back up in front of his chest. “Don’t make mebaityou further, sir.” She turned the tilapia’s face away and leaned in secretively and whispered, “Seriously, I’m running out of fishing puns here. Help me out.”
He stared at her, his gaze moving between her eyes. His face relaxed, and the corners of his mouth spasmed.
Sucking in her cheeks and gently biting the inside with her teeth, she opened and closed her puckered lips like a fish out of water.
Laughter won out, a sound from him she was getting used to. Adam looked at the tilapia in her hand, and then he shook his head with a grin. “I’mreelly glad I hired you, Olivia Arroyo. Even if your jokes are unfortunate.”
She rolled her eyes but smirked. “Icodsay the same for yours.”
He plucked the tilapia out of her fingers and handed it to the vender. “Don’t bekoi. You know I’m hilarious.” Fish wrapped in paper and placed in a plastic bag, he turned. Only a hint of pain rimmed the edges of his eyes.
She searched for another comeback. One more to erase all signs of his previous moodiness. “Am Iherringyou correctly? Seems to me as if you’refloundering in jokes too awful to tell.”
His grin widened, and he reached out an arm behind her back. She turned her head to look at him, expecting his hand to fall to her shoulder and pull her into a side hug. Instead his palm made an about face, his fingers weaving through the hair at the back of his head.
For some reason the motion made her angry. She didn’t necessarily want him to hug her, but she didn’t want him to be fake either. “Don’t do that.” She kept her voice even, her pace equal with his.
“Do what?”
“Retreat. You don’t have to. Not with me.”
He looked at the cobblestone path beneath their feet.
“And don’t say you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
The skin of his cheek bunched at the side of his face before he turned a bemused look her way. “Anyone ever tell you it’s not good business to boss around your employer?”
“Good thing I’m talking to you as a friend then.” She hip-checked him to keep the conversation from getting too serious. “And as your friend, I’m telling you to be yourself around me. You don’t have to hold back.”
He stopped walking, his expression taking on one of boyish mischief. “Are you sure you’re ready to give me that permission?”
A tiny flag of caution rose, but she stepped around it, bringing her closer to him. “I’m sure.”
* * *
Lily:You should be getting the results soon.
Lily:Call me as soon as you get them.
Lily:I love you.*heart emoji*
