Page 20 of Entwined (Monarch)

“Mm-hmm.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Eavesdrop much?” I joked.

“Just a coincidence, I guess.”

“Mm-hmm,” I imitated him.

He chuckled. “Either that, or you just have a big mouth.”

Jenny burst into laughter. “Oh, man. He’s got you there!”

“You’re both hilarious.” I rolled my eyes, wiping the counter.

“I can step away if you two want to continue yourprivateconversation about me.” Michael’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

“We werenottalking about you,” I answered emphatically.Yet, my subconscious added.Shut up!I told it.

“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands. “If you say so. I guess I have to believe you.”

I tucked the rag into my back pocket.Okay, this is going all right. Friendly banter. Nothing serious. Don’t let him know you’re pissed about the brownies!

“I don’t believe you. But . . .”

I cut him off with a sharpening of my eyes and a flare of my nostrils. He roared with laughter. And so did Jenny.

“You two are insufferable. You know that?”

“Not the first time she’s called me that,” he told Jenny. “She also said I was full of myself.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “And I don’t think I was wrong. Look at you, sauntering in here, thinking you’re all that. Making eyes at the help.”

“Who you callingthehelp?” Jenny demanded jokingly.

I turned to her. “Shut up. You know what I mean. But you”—I turned, pointing at Michael—“you know exactly what you’re doing.”

He winked. “That, I do.” I heard Jenny’s girlish giggle.

“This is pointless,” I grumbled.

“She did call mehot, though, remember?”

“She did, didn’t she?” Jenny agreed, looking back and forth between us.

“You are incorrigible,” I said.

Michael rested his chin in his hands. His grin was endearing, but also wolfish and devouring. “Ahh, more compliments. Keep ’em coming.”

I chuckled. I could see why so many women could fall for him. “I think you also might be a bit bipolar.”

“What?” Jenny and Michael echoed one another.

“You were pretty rude earlier.” I raised my eyebrows. “Unbearable. Mean even.”

“I know,” he admitted as he splayed his hands over the counter and then drew them up, crunching his fists so his knuckles popped. “You caught me at a bad time. I was already pissed about something else with work. Then you came in and reminded me that I was still a little pissed at you from yesterday. I just couldn’t separate the two.”

“Is that an apology?” I asked.

“I’m not saying you’re entirely wrong about my father. Or me, for that matter. But you know how it is, I can talk crap about my old man, but no one else can.”

---