Page 45 of Bargain With the Boss
I rushed over. “Don’t.” I pushed him back. “You already were enough of an asshole earlier, member?”
He frowned at me. “How many of these have you had?”
“None of your business.” I shook back my hair. Sometime between burgers and my refills I’d lost my hat. Claire had supplied a hoodie from her magic lockers in the boathouse after the sun set.
He took a deep breath, and I could see his jaw firming.
I tapped his cheek. “Gonna need a bruxism guard if you keep that up. I know, I have one.”
He laughed. “Duchess, you drive me crazy.”
“I’m not a duchess, dammit.”
“Drunk Duchess at the moment, but still regal as fuck.” He pulled me into him. “Say goodnight.”
“I’m not going with you.”
“I’m going to take you home. You don’t have a car and neither of these two should be driving.”
“I’m staying with Claire. She invited me.” I pushed him back. “She’s my new best friend.”
“I am!” Claire shouted.
“Oh, hell.”
“And they’re not the enemy. You’re just a jerk.” I stabbed him in the chest.
“Duchess—Sydney, I know I overreacted a little earlier.”
“A little? You were way out of line.” I pushed him back a step with each punch of my finger. “You are just as bad as their father. So fixated on your end goal you can’t see anything else.”
He grabbed my hand and hauled me into him. “I see plenty and you don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes glowed in the firelight.
“Just one more person who thinks I’m an idiot.” He tried to reach for me and I twisted out of reach. “Go home, Xavier. You weren’t invited.”
Claire got up and stood beside me, locking arms with me. “You’re trespassing, Mr. Hastings.”
He growled. “I’m not leaving without her.”
“Oh, you are.” Heath came up behind both of us. “She said she wasn’t going with you, period.”
A part of me wanted to go to him, but that high-handed remark pissed me off.
“Sydney?”
“Just go.”
He stalked off through the trees and the sound of an engine broke the night. How had we not heard it before?
Because I was actually having fun. I was with people who wanted to be around me.
And I felt like I belonged for the first time in a long time.
“C’mon, Syd. Why don’t we go watchPrincess Brideand sack out.”
“Princess Bride?”
“Tell me you know that movie.”
