Page 6 of Honey, Honey
“About what?” I squeaked, and pulled my hand back with a jerk.
“That the owner of Law Acquisitions is a friend of the working class,” Tiffany said gleefully. “And that he’s in love with you.”
“No, Tiff—“ I shook my head, ready to set her straight on the kindness he had done me when she continued on.
“Lawson Sokolov, is like one of the city’s most eligible bachelors and they are going to lose their shit when they find out he’s off the market. It’s going to beawesome.”The way she said awesome made my stomach drop while simultaneously fluttering with excitement. I shook my head. No, I could not like awesome, not when it came to Lawson Sokolov’s fictional dating status.
“He’s what?” I asked, pushing away the dread and excitement that was brewing in my stomach.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “How do you not know that?”
I bit my lip and glanced towards the front of the shop. The big windows were bright and glittering with sunshine, making Lawson’s earlier entry into my world seem like it had happened in another universe, not that morning.
“Don’t know what?” I hedged, and Tiff scoffed.
“Don’t play coy, you little minx.”
I would have given anything to have met him before today. Anything for the words that I didn’t know that man to be a lie. Lawson Sokolov was a stranger to me. I should have told her she knew more about him than I did, that until this morning I had never laid eyes on him or heard the man’s name but for some reason the words wouldn’t come. Instead I kept hearing him say “my fiancé. My girl,” and even if it was fake it felt too good, felt perfect, to be his. Even if it was all a lie.
I’d been raised to lie with a smile on my lips, bending the truth to fit whatever fucked up reality my mother spun around us. But this wasn’t like that. This was warm and it was Lawson. The way people had looked at me in the shop when he’d claimed me had changed. Even the screaming Karen had been knocked on her ass thinking I was his.
Being Lawson’s girl would be far better than anything I’d known. Even if he’d hightailed it out of the shop without so much as a pause in his step. He’d looked back.
Being Lawson’s was worth a lie.
So I didn’t tell her the truth.
I aimed a smile in Tiffany’s direction and shrugged. “He doesn’t talk about that with me,” I demurred.
Tiffany blew out a sigh and bumped my shoulder with hers. “It makes sense that you’re in and out of shops so much with the app if you’re with a man like that.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, wiping down the counter in front of me and surveying my work station. Everything was orderly and neat, just the way I liked it.
“I didn’t get it really, but now I do. Keeps you free for a man like that.”
I paused and glanced at Tiffany, she was looking out the windows in the direction Lawson had gone earlier, no doubt thinking of the man just the same as I had been.
“Free...yeah, that’s it,” I finally said, clearing my throat and forcing the smile on my face to stay in place.
“Super smart of you. If the paps had found out where you worked, it would be a circus. If you keep moving around then they’ll never catch on to it.”
I nodded. “Exactly. Makes things simpler that way.” I put away the towel in my hand and straightened, glancing at the clock at the far end of the shop. My shift was over in a few minutes which would be the perfect excuse not to talk about the colossal lie I had just told my very brand new friend.
“Just got a few minutes left on the clock. I’m going to do a quick restock, okay?” I said, jerking a thumb over my shoulder towards the small back room where we kept the dry goods.
Tiffany’s eyes went to the clock and she blinked in surprise. “Holy shit, you’re done in ten. How did that happen?”
“Time flies when you’re having fun.”
“Definitely,” she agreed and beamed at me. “A shift with you is more fun than I deserve at work.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere, Tiff,” I laughed, but I flushed at her praise. It was nice to hear that you were wanted. Even if Tiffany’s words were casual, they were needed and warming all the same. It was another reminder why I liked being around the other woman.
“Awesome, then do you want to get dinner later this week?” she asked, and I stopped my search for the clipboard with the inventory supply list.
“That sounds great. I’m in,” I told her. I could use a little more of Tiffany’s warm demeanor in my day-to-day.
“I know a great little Korean barbeque spot in Queens. We can check it out and stuff ourselves on the all you can eat meat dinner special.” Tiffany bounced on her toes, practically radiating energy and excitement. She looked so happy and eager at that moment and I knew dinner would be a fun night.
