Page 93 of Mark my Words

Wow. “It’s nice to know that spending an entire day with me was so horrible for you.”

“That’s not what I...” she sat on the edge of her bed and leaned forward, clenching her eyes shut and rubbing her temples. “I’m sorry. I know I’m not the best company, but you’re almost done, and I still have a full set of chapters to complete. It’s a nightmare, and I’ve been distracted for days. We’re leaving again tomorrow, and...”

“Breathe.” I crouched in front of her, placing my hands on her knees. Her whole body was a live wire of tension, and I felt bad that I was part of the cause of her little meltdown. “Just a few hours, and we can devise an excuse to leave.”

“Quit being so nice to me,” she pouted, looking down at me.

Using my thumb, I reached up and smoothed the wrinkle between her eyebrows. “You need to relax. Please come with us?”

“No flirting.”

“Fingers crossed,” I laughed, pulling her hands away and cupping her cheeks. Leaning in slowly, I kissed her forehead. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“I’m serious. Chase is way too observant. She’s been watching us.”

“All she’s seen in the last few days is you snapping at me and ignoring me.” If she wasn’t giving me a death glare, she’d been taking over and telling me I’d been doing things wrong for the last two days. I knew it was because she was stressed, but I doubted Chase thought it was Kristine showing affection toward me.

“Then we should keep it that way. Throw her off the scent.”

“Should I start insulting you now?” I teased, rubbing my thumb along her cheekbone. “It’d really confuse them if I came up with some obnoxious nicknames and poked at your work ethic.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed, laughing a little. “I get it. I’m a horrendous bitch.”

“As long as you’re self-aware.” She took my teasing in her stride, and I could see from the contrite look in her eyes that she’d only been reactionary for the last few days from stress and a bruised ego. I could tell when she was invested in hating someone, and even at her crankiest, she lacked that conviction with me.

“You should be mad at me.”

She was right. I should be mad at her, but I also understood her. She didn’t want to be vulnerable, and here I was, poking holes in her defenses left and right. “I should be, but I’m not. This is who you are. If I didn’t like it, I would have walked away already. But I happen to like you, even when you’re a hell beast intent on my destruction.”

“You’ve got issues,” she laughed as she shook her head.

“No more than anyone else,” I smiled. The arched eyebrow she aimed in my direction made me laugh, pulling her up as I stood. “Except maybe you.”

“Watch it, Sam,” she growled, but there wasn’t any bite to it.

“Tell me again why I agreed to this?” Kristine sighed dramatically, laying it on thick for Chase’s benefit, I was sure.

“Because we’re awesome, you would have just spent the day inside your room, and we get to drink beer paid for by the publishing house,” Chase shrugged in response.

“Sounds like a win to me. Come on, Kris, live a little,” I teased with a wink. I expected the eye roll I received.

“I’m looking forward to a little bit of a break,” Evan nodded.

“But we have to be on a plane at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow,” Kristine whined. I would have laughed at her dramatic delivery if I didn’t know she was acting.

“Since when have you gone to bed before midnight?”

She narrowed her eyes at me, not expecting me to play along so well, but she told me to make it sound believable. “Have you been monitoring my sleeping habits?”

“I am sleeping a few feet away from you, and the glow of your phone makes it hard to sleep.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look intimidating, so I laid it on even thicker. “God, I hope the hotel in Seattle doesn’t fuck up the reservations.”

I secretly hoped they did, but I wasn’t telling her that.

“Oh,” she snarked. “Cause it’s so impossible to spend time with me.”

“Because I’d like to be able to go to sleep without worrying that I’m going to get glared at for every move I make,” I growled. I saw the corner of her lip twitch and could tell she was fighting to smother a laugh.

We’d stepped closer to each other, spouting faux—mostly—grievances at one another as Chase leaned in to whisper in Evan’s ear. I could tell they were still watching us, but our public spat had thrown them off the trail for now.

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