Forgiving Lies (Forgiving Lies #1)(52)
I grabbed for four bottles of beer and giggled against his lips when Kash leaned over the bar and pulled me in for a slow kiss. A few of the people around us hollered and a couple jokingly told us to get a room, and my face was bright red by the time we broke apart. We didn’t show affection often at work, but we had an understanding: if someone was hitting on one of us, the other made sure to let him or her know we were taken and not interested. My eyes glanced over the people sitting at the bar and spotted a few girls at the end who had witnessed the exchange and were whispering to each other. I couldn’t hide my smile and winked at Kash as I grabbed the bottles and turned to take them to the awaiting group of businessmen.
My phone vibrated in my pocket as I checked to see if they were ready to order yet, and after getting their order put in, I walked back toward the kitchen. As soon as I was around the corner, I pulled my phone out and my blood ran cold.
BLAKE:
I saw that
Oh my God, he’s here. My body started shaking and my breathing turned shallow. I looked around the empty, short hallway and had begun putting my phone back in my pocket when it vibrated again. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled in two deep breaths before looking down again.
BLAKE:
And I didn’t like it. You seem to have forgotten whom you belong to.
A whimper escaped my throat and I turned to run into the women’s restroom. I threw up bile and continued to dry-heave for a few minutes before sliding down the wall to the ground.
“Rach? Are you in here, sweetie?” Tina appeared in the stall—I hadn’t had the time to shut and lock it when I ran in there—and her hands flew up to her mouth, then shot out in front of her. “Oh no, are you okay?”
Was I okay? No. I was definitely not okay. I was the opposite of okay. I was freaking the f*ck out and coming dangerously close to hyperventilating and dry-heaving again. My hands shook as I pushed a few loose strands of hair away from my face.
“Do you want me to get Kash?”
“No!” Kash would flip the second he knew who was here. My mind ran wild with different possible scenarios. Kash beating the shit out of Blake and getting fired. Kash making me quit work and hiding me in his apartment. I never wanted to see Blake again, but I knew Kash would try to protect me and would go way overboard. “No, I’m fine, Tina. I just . . . got sick for a minute. But I’m fine.”
“You sure? Do you want me to tell Rod that you need to go home?”
Yes, I wanted to go home. But if Blake was here, he could follow me. And Kash was here; he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. “No, really. I need a few minutes and I’ll be fine.”
She looked at me, a little unsure at first, then smiled sadly. “Okay, well one of your orders is up, but I’ll get it taken out to the table.”
“Thank you, Tina. I’ll be right out.”
Once she was gone, I pulled myself up and had to grip the wall when I thought I’d fall right back down. When I regained my ability to stay standing and breathe normally, I went to the sinks and washed my hands. The cool water felt so good I let it run all over my arms and splashed a bit on my face. After drying back off, I shook out my body and chanted to myself that we were in public. That he wouldn’t do anything to me here, and the worst he could do he’d already done. I could do this.
I opened the door and walked out of the hall and into the packed restaurant, and I realized, no. I could not do this. My eyes darted around the customers in search of a mentally disturbed Adonis, and I silently prayed he’d left while I was in the restroom. When I didn’t see him, I went back into the kitchen, picked up my next order, and delivered it to the table. Checking on the rest of my tables and refilling drinks didn’t ease any of my worry or occupy my mind like I’d hoped it would. I was afraid to look anywhere but straight ahead of me, and my heart stopped each time I had to turn around.
Walking back to the bar for refills, I went over to where Bryce was mixing drinks and gave him my order. I couldn’t face Kash right now. He would know something was wrong . . . he would—
“Babe, you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Did something happen?”
—do that. “I’m fine.” I tried to smile at him, but it felt wrong and his expression told me he wasn’t buying it for a second.
“Rach, don’t lie to me.”
Bryce’s eyes bounced between us as he handed me my drinks.
“I’m fine,” I repeated, and thanked Bryce before taking the drinks to the table.
Making my way across the restaurant to clear off an empty table, my body froze and all the air left my lungs in one hard rush when I heard him directly behind me.
“To refresh your memory, sweetheart, you belong to me.”
Please let this be a nightmare. His large hand touched my lower back as he came up to my side and my body began shaking.
“Long time, no see,” he said, and lowered his voice. “Hiding, Rachel?”
Oh God, did Candice tell him where I work? “Leave me alone.” I hated how small my voice sounded, but I couldn’t force out anything more than a whisper. I refused to look over at him, and when he stepped closer, I dropped my head to stare at the floor.
His other hand came up to my stomach and brushed gently back and forth, just above the top of my shorts, and I prayed I wouldn’t start dry-heaving in the middle of the restaurant. “Never. I gave you the summer to realize that you needed me, wanted me. Obviously you need more time, but make no mistake, you are mine. What I’m not okay with is someone else touching you. Kissing you.”