Page 52 of Honey, Honey
I let out a dry laugh. “Oh, Law, come on.”
He shrugged. “I’m not a mind reader, Honey.”
“I’m lying because you have made it abundantly clear you don’t want to be here with me, which is,” my voice tightened, coming out strained against the lump that was fast growing in my throat, “that is perfectly fine, because you don’t need to want to be here with me. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to be here with me.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to be here with you.” I frowned and forced my eyes down into the depths of my tea. Far easier than meeting Law’s piercing blue gaze. I wasn’t quite ready for that. No matter what my heart wanted. When I said nothing Law sighed, and went on. “You have to understand that I don’t like it when things are out of my control. Connie made it a lose-lose situation for me. For us, tonight. This isn’t about you.”
I bit my lip and turned my tea mug in my hands. He had a point.
“I don’t understand why she did it.”
“I think I might,” Law said, surprising me. I looked at him then and saw he was staring at me, his handsome face no longer hard or cold. He was again the man that had laid me out on my dining table, the one that had claimed me in front of a shop full of strangers.
I knew this Law. I liked him far better than the man I’d spent most of tonight with.
“What is it?” I pressed, leaning forward, elbows to my thighs beneath the thick comforter.
“She was up to something. We both knew that from the get go, but we didn’t know what. Connie likes to pretend things just ‘happen’,” he made air quotes with his fingers, “and when they do she takes advantage of a situation that was no one’s fault. That way she can’t be blamed or pegged for making shit go down that no one but her wanted.”
“Or Zeus,” I interjected, “she does whatever he wants.”
Law inclined his head. “Very good point, Honey. She does exactly what her invisible master tells her to. Tonight it was focused on you, focused on me. I haven’t figured out that part yet, but Connie is making more sense.”
“I’m glad it’s making sense to you, because it isn’t to me.”
“She got you drunk to make sure no one played with you. It’s against the rules to play with a sub that’s under the influence.”
I rolled my eyes at him for what felt like the 100th time that night. “I already told you I wasn’t drunk. I’m not drunk. Haven’t been all night. I was nervous.”
Law snorted but he kept talking. “She knew your ex was coming before you got here. Probably knew long before you made your reservation.”
I nodded. “I didn’t make one. I just decided to do it.”
He rubbed a hand along his jaw. “Then that just ‘happened,’ and she ran with it.”
“I guess so.” I sipped from my mug, and then asked, “Did you make a reservation?”
He nodded. “I did. Couple days back.”
“So she knew you were coming ahead of time. Not me.”
“She must have made the decision then to have me with you. The other thing that happened was we already knew one another. Zeus couldn’t have known that.”
I shivered. “I wouldn't put it past him. The things he knows, or what I hear he’s capable of. He’s got his fingers in everything.”
“And why would he want to saddle me with a traveling barista?”
A wave of embarrassment hit me.Traveling barista.Why did it feel like something I should be ashamed of? I’d never cared what other people thought of my job, because it paid the bills and I enjoyed it. It was honest work, which meant there was no reason to feel...likethis. I swallowed hard, cheeks hot from his words. Aside from my embarrassment, I had no idea why that would be a move Zeus wanted to play.
“I don’t know,” I whispered, fingers drumming against the ceramic of my mug. “Matching us up doesn’t make a lot of sense when you say it like that.”
I felt the energy in the room shift. I knew Law was still as a statue and mostly likely focused on me with that unnerving stare he had.
“Honey, I didn’t mean it like that.”
I smiled brightly and looked up at him with fake cheer. “No, I know.”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “If there’s one rule we are agreeing on tonight it’s no more lying. That’s over, do you understand?”
