Page 61 of The Scandal You Started
“Hi,” Jake said, his gaze travelling Dominic’s frame.
Dominic stretched his shoulders wide. “Hello.”
A moment of weighted silence passed where neither of them looked away.
“Um, well.” Rayna cleared her throat, catching Jake’s attention. “It was really great bumping into you like this. Dominic and I have a few more things to get, and I’m sure you want to get home, so we’ll let you go.”
Jake’s brows dipped in confusion. “You’re...shopping together?”
Rayna opened her mouth, but Dominic cut in first. “Why would we not be? After all, we are living together.”
The blankness that rose upon Jake’s face wasn’t a look of relief, and Dominic found it immensely satisfying. “He’s the historian you’re currently living with?”
“Archivist, yeah.” Rayna nodded and widened her playful smile. “It’s kind of like living with an overprotective br—bodyguard.”
Why on bloody Neves was she comparing him to a guard?
Jake huffed and forced a small smile onto his mouth. “I can see why.” Then he nodded to the side. “I’ll leave you to it then, but…I’m glad I got to see you today. Really.”
“Me too,” Rayna muttered, and Dominic clenched his hands so tightly his blunt nails dug into his palms.
“I’ll message you later.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.” Jake then nodded stiffly at him. “Bye.”
Dominic couldn’t get an answer through the barrier of his locked teeth as he seethed.
Jake turned and walked down the rest of the aisle before finally disappearing out of sight.
Only then did Dominic rotate to face Rayna.
“What did he mean, he will message you?” Dominic growled. “Does he have your phone number?”
Something flickered through her eyes before her brows pinched, and she tipped her chin up. “Of course he does, Dominic. We’re friends.”
“Friends?” he echoed bitterly. “Men and women cannot be friends, Rayna.”
Her scowl darkened. “Yes, they can be.”
“Then why were you so eager to tell him we were colleagues?”
She scoffed like what he’d said was ridiculous. “Because you were gonna go blurt out that you’re my husband when he knows I’m not married.”
“Why does he know that?” Dominic rumbled in frustration.
Over the top of Rayna’s head, he could see an older black woman slowing to observe them with suspicion.
Rayna widened her eyes in disbelief. “What the fuck does that mean, Dominic? I’ve told him, of course.” He went to argue, but she cut a hand between them. “No, enough.”
She glanced around them, then lowered her voice to a stern mutter. “I’m not going to argue with you in public, Dominic. Whatever stupid questions you have, keep them to yourself until we get back to the farmhouse.”
Chapter 19
Rayna
“Who is he?”
