Page 16 of Fierce-Matt
She was thankful to have gotten that call while she was helping her mother clean out EJ’s room. It gave her enough time to run home and prepare it, send it in, and not have to worry about pulling her away from work today.
“Congratulations,” Justin said. “If that keeps up you won’t want to work here.”
She snorted. “Nah. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll do that.”
“Really?” Justin said. “I thought you loved it.”
She wasn’t so sure she loved any career she’d had. She was still searching for the one to give her some kind of fulfillment.
Anya didn’t want to insult anyone and say serving beer wasn’t doing that either, but she had fun here and the tips were great.
She needed to have some fun in her life almost as much as the extra income.
“It’s a job,” she said. “Do you mind if I take my break when Stewart comes in?”
“That was the plan,” Justin said.
They’d have the overlap for a few hours and then she and Stewart would be the only two on before they closed down at nine.
She filled more drafts for the next ten minutes, Stewart joined them behind the bar, and she left to take thirty minutes for herself.
She first called her clients, informing them of their accepted offer and outlining the next steps.
Once that call was complete, she had twenty more minutes and went outside to eat the packed lunch she’d brought with her.
It was earlier than she thought she’d be eating, but she was starving. She’d get something else later on her shorter fifteen-minute break.
“Hi.”
Anya turned her head to see the sexy jerk standing not far from the bench she was sitting on.
What a way to spoil her appetite.
“Hi,” she said and took a bite of her sandwich, hoping she could swallow it without gagging. Maybe he’d get the hint and move away.
He didn’t. He came closer and sat next to her.
“How are you doing?”
“Good. You?”
He laughed. “Not bad now that you’re talking to me. I thought about what you said.”
“When was that?” she asked. She didn’t have time for him and wished he hadn’t come into her place of work to talk to her. It was hard enough for her to be honest with him before.
He closed one eye at her. “At Ben’s wedding when you told me I was a jerk and you’d never forget the things I did.”
“Did it bruise your ego?” She put her sandwich down in her lap. She was going to lose her appetite. It’d taken her years to learn to stand up for herself, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed it.
He smirked and reached into her baggie full of chips for one. “Slightly.”
“Only that, huh?”
“More than slightly,” he said. His head was tilted as he assessed her. He was looking more serious than humorous. “You’ve changed.”
“I don’t get walked all over anymore,” she said. “It’s not healthy.”
When he frowned, she wished she could have taken that back.
