Page 60 of Barron's Second Chance
Kelly looked behind her at Barron. "Did you hear that, honey? Joshua Gates is -”
"Eden's ex-boyfriend," Barron supplied darkly, his voice flat.
Kelly's face fell at her son's tone. Her eyes flicked to Eden's blushing cheeks, seemingly at a loss for words on how to respond to her son's behavior.
Anger inflamed her at his attitude. The elated air had been sucked out of the room like a lead balloon.
She turned to face him, noticing his tightly clenched jaw as he stared at her with gritty emotion.
"He's a close friend of mine," she told him in a low tone, watching his eyes dart away, jaw still held tightly with controlled agitation. "And couldn't agree fast enough to help your mom out when I asked him -"
"I just bet he did," he bitterly interrupted.
"Barron David Carter, I am not liking your attitude!" Kelly ground out at him,
Eden resisted the urge to poke her tongue out at his Mom's chastising.
Barron folded his arms, causing her eyes to pause briefly at the defined muscle.
But when his hazel eyes coldly met hers, the temptation to slap his face at the look of betrayal he threw at her outweighed her libido.
"Anyway," she carried on, fixing him with a gaze she hoped melted his gonads off; she turned back to Kelly. "I called Josh and asked him if he could fill in, and he was happy to do it."
She heard a snort behind her with what sounded like, "I just bet he was."
Eden took a deep breath, "Anyway," she said loudly for his benefit. "I was planning on leaving a couple of days before the fair but will stay on for his performance and leave the next day. So what do you think? Better than Michael Gong, huh?"
Kelly squealed again before launching herself at Eden for a tight hug.
"Oh my goodness, Eden! This is amazing. I mean, I have to run it past the committee first, but I can't imagine that they would say no."
"Well, let me know as soon as you speak with them, and I'll firm up plans with Josh."
She waved her hand dismissively, "Pfft, don't you worry about them. But just so we don't keep your friend waiting, I'll call them now."
"Great! Well, flick me a text when you know. I'll get out of your hair." Ignoring the searing heat of Barron's glare which she could feel digging into her back, she reached out to hug and kiss the other woman.
"Let me walk you out," Barron said, his hand coming to her back to guide her.
"Barron, I'm sure Eden can find her way out," Kelly snapped. Barron was definitely going to get an earful from his Mom once she left.
"It's okay, Kelly," Eden interrupted, not wanting to exacerbate the situation further.
Not bothering to wait, she bid her goodbye and strolled towards the front door with Barron hot on her heels.
Her heart was hammering as she could practically feel Barron wanting to burst, containing whatever it was he wanted to say to her until he was well out of earshot of his Mom.
Not wanting to encourage him, she opened the front door with a barely said "bye" but was stopped with a hard hand to her elbow.
"Was this on purpose?" He gritted out, his lips fluttering against her hair.
"What?" She hissed, whipping around to glare at him as she yanked her elbow out of his grasp. Their faces were close together, the look on her face matching his in disbelief.
"You won't let me explain about the other night, so you call up an ex to -" he stopped, breathing in deeply through his nose as he tried to get a hold of his emotions.
"To what?" Cursing herself when the scent of his aftershave and the close proximity to him caused the sting in her tone to fall flat. "What, you think I called Josh up to make you...jealous?"
As his stare skittered away from hers, she gave a scoff, unable to believe his nerve.
