Page 75 of Test the Ice
I wonder if she’ll notice me paying her more than agreed upon?
After placing my bag near the door, I walk down the hall in search of Reese. I stop in place when her conversation with Zoe carries throughout the house.
“Just act like you’re not here. I’ll tell him that I have no one to watch Charleigh,” Reese rambles to Zoe, both completely unaware that I’m mere feet away, listening to their conversation.
“You are insane,” Zoe states. “I’m not going to go hide in my room from your pretend fiancé because you’re afraid to go on a date.”
“It isn’t a date, and I’m not afraid!” Reese argues. “And keep your voice down. I don’t want you to wake Charleigh.”
Zoe’s sigh is still loud enough for me to hear around the corner. “Then why are you trying to get out of going? Do you really think Benedict is going to believe you two are engaged if Malaki is showing up to events without you? Especially if they require a plus-one?”
“Benedict just texted me this morning and apologized.”
He did?
“He said he’s going to respect my relationship–”
Zoe cuts off her sister. “Please tell me you didn’t believe that bullshit. He can’t even respect you when you say no, let alone your relationship with another man!”
I cock an eyebrow. What exactly does that mean?
Reese begins to stammer. “I…I…”
“Remember when he refused to believe that Charleigh was his and belittled you for being a whore? He said that you were trying to trap him because he was wealthy! Oh, and do you remember the first time he actually met her?”
“Zoe,” Reese warns.
“He came over and tried to get you to sleep with him even though you weren’t cleared from the doctor yet! Then yelled at you when you refused? Or how about all the times he came to the apartment and didn’t respect the fact that we didn’t want him there?”
My heart pounds, and a thin line of sweat forms along my hairline.
“Don’t even get me started on the time I found him shoving you around. If I didn’t show up and threaten him with that bat…”
Zoe’s voice trails, and I realize it’s because I’ve stepped into their line of sight unintentionally. My sights are set directly on Reese. When she sees me, her lips snap together, and her gaze runs in the opposite direction.
I know a shamed face when I see one, and for some reason, it bothers me that she feels the need to hide. Now, more than ever, I want to have her by my side every chance I get, just to show Benedict that he can’t have her.
It’s a possessive thing to say, even inside my head, but I can’t deny it.
Zoe takes Charleigh, who’s fast asleep, from her mother’s arms and scoots past me. She gives me a look that I can only assume meanshelp herin reference to her sister.
I lean my shoulder against the wall and scan the kitchen. It’s spotless, not a dish in sight. The only thing I see is a baby bottle that’s drying on some weird-looking grass thing. It was one of the only things Reese had brought with her, besides baby bottles and clothes.
“There are some meals in the fridge for you, if you’re hungry,” she says.
“I’m not,” I say.
Awkward silence fills the gap between us, and she eventually breaks. “How much of that did you hear?”
Enough to make me want to bury Benedict.
Instead of showing her all my cards, I play it off. “Not much,” I say, lying right through my teeth.
Her laugh is abrupt, and I can’t help but grin. She places her elbows on the counter and buries her face into her hands. “I’m choosing to believe that over the alternative,” she mumbles.
“What if I told you I heard it all?” I ask.
Reese peeks at me through her fingers. Her brown eyes, soft and pretty, sober. “Did you?”
