Under the Table(44)
Zoey took a quick look at Tristan, and they exchanged panic-stricken wordless shrugs before he took off after Kristin.
The proper thing for Zoey to do would be to leave. This was not her problem. Her prediction had come to fruition. It served Tristan right to have this thing explode on its own accord.
Zoey tiptoed over to the dining room door and tentatively placed her ear to the tiny crack available. The only sounds she could make out were muffled voices in quiet conversation. She held her breath to try and get a better listen when the voices became more hushed. She did everything short of pushing at the door to get a better view. Being busted twice in one day was more than she thought she could handle.
“That did not go well,” he said from behind her. Zoey instantly straightened back up, caught red-handed when he came back into the kitchen through the other door. Busted anyway. At this point, what did it matter?
“I would say not.” No point in mincing words either.
“Kristin called it a night. I should’ve listened to you. Turns out hiding a woman in your kitchen looks sketchy to the one in the dining room,” he said with a smirk. It was odd, given the gravity of the statement.
“Who knew? Oh yeah, I did.” Gloating was wrong, especially when secretly elated. He didn’t appear too devastated. “You don’t look too worse for wear.”
“It wasn’t a total loss. She left me with some insight.”
“Is that the reason for the grin?”
“Very astute. Kristin prides herself on being astute too. She remembered you from the first time she was here. She said when she caught us, we had the kind of guilt on our faces that was disproportionate to the situation. She told me we should never play poker with anyone but each other.”
“That’s probably solid advice too. I’m guessing your love connection was just cut off at the knees?”
“Turns out we both had ulterior motives. It’s not that you were here that she took issue with, it was the plot to keep you out of sight. According to Kristin, I did this to get your attention, maybe make you jealous. She wasn’t all that hurt. She thought I was attractive enough to go along with dating me. If she managed to get me to take the offer her company tendered, it would be a real coup. And she’d get a chance to upstage her obnoxious boss. She is hardly heartbroken. I kept telling her that you and I were just friends, but she wasn’t convinced. And I think she may be right. Once again, I did it all wrong. I really am a hopeless case. I’m so sorry I made you a part of this. You’re a much better friend than I deserve. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go drown in a bottle of chardonnay before I embarrass you, or myself, any further.”
Tristan left the kitchen before Zoey could think of the right words to say. That Kristin was only partially correct. All three of them had ulterior motives, but currently, only two of them had come clean. Zoey didn’t want to leave any room for any further misunderstandings when it came to Tristan. She started to untie, then took off her apron.
Chapter 18
Zoey was waiting for Tristan when he came back into the kitchen. He didn’t appear drunk and wasn’t holding any wine bottles, but he had removed his jacket and tie. The first two buttons of his shirt were undone. If she wasn’t so nervous, she may have gotten a better laugh out of his initial look after he stopped short. It was one of complete and utter astonishment.
“I wanted to make sure you were all right,” she said casually, watching him struggle to keep eye contact. Then she giggled.
“Did you?” he replied with widening eyes that were incapable of tearing themselves away from her. “At this moment, I have to confess, I don’t know what I am.”
Zoey had been busy while he was indisposed. A no-holds-barred, last-ditch effort to force his hand into admitting how he felt or telling her once and for all that he felt nothing. She had stripped down to bare skin, and the only thing standing between him and the full monty was the strategically placed apron she had put back on. She leaned against the counter, the granite making contact on her bare back like ice on her hot skin, and cocked a hip, generating a provocative sway in the apron’s skirt.
“How about aroused?” Zoey made an exaggerated move to double-check that the apron bib top was covering her nipples by sensually running her hands along the sides of her breasts to underneath them. Then she gave them a slight push up. She peered up at him with feigned innocence from beneath long lashes. “Aroused would be good.”
“That works.” Tristan breathed, his gaze following the slow movement of her hands.
He had gotten bolder with taking her all in. His eyes alone were generating heat. She brazenly let her gaze settle on the zipper of his pants. Nope, not quite excited enough. She slowly turned around and looked back over her shoulder.
His eyes were riveted on her round, full, bare bottom.
“How about now?” she asked, giving her booty a shake.
His pants and what was in them finally got with the program and gave the proper response. The look on his face left her wondering if she may have done too much too soon and he was going to take her right there, bent over the kitchen counter.
“I’ve never been good at taking a hint.” He mustered the strength to look up and meet her gaze. “But this one is hard to miss.”
She turned her head around to the wall again and ever so slowly pulled at the bow tied at the small of her back until she felt it give way. Then she turned to face him, aware that the now-untethered apron was rewarding him with another quick glimpse, this time from the front.