Page 82 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘You’re welcome,’ he said, his eyes glued to the television.
Her fingers curled around his hand and squeezed.
He turned to her, his eyes bright with an intensity that pulled her right back to the moment on her couch when he’d touched her in a way he never had before.
Her breath hitched as his gaze drifted from her eyes to her lips and lingered there.
Then he cleared his throat and slipped his hand from hers, pushed back his hair and said something she didn’t quite catch because her thoughts were stuck on the way his tongue had flicked across his lips as he’d stared at her mouth.
‘Huh?’
‘Photos. Will you be doing photos with him? On the red carpet?’
‘Oh god.’ She gaped at him in horror. ‘I hadn’t thought about that. Organising a dress is as far as I got.’
‘Will you send me a photo of you all done up?’
She scrunched up her nose. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Okay. As long as you don’t make fun of me.’
‘I’m pretty sure I won’t.’
He lifted a brow and shot her a look she couldn’t quite read. But it made her heart skip over a beat. And that in turn made her stomach sink.
Sera grabbed a cushion and hugged it in front of her, as if holding it there would block out whatever it was he was making her feel. ‘I’m working with Ethan tomorrow,’ she said. ‘I’ll try to get more information out of him.’
Toby grunted. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what he’s like in his natural environment.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘How big that ego gets when the cameras are on him.’
She tutted and turned towards the TV. ‘Why are you so judgemental of him all the time? You barely know him.’
‘Neither do you. What’s it been, a week?’
‘Closer to two, actually. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I don’t like who you become when you talk about him.’
Toby put his plate on the table and faced her. ‘Who do I become?’
She flicked him a look from the corner of her eye. ‘Someone bitchy that I don’t like very much.’
Silence crashed down around them. She glanced at him, and his face was like stone, all his pretty softness lost in hard edges. His jaw flexed and his throat bobbed, and she couldn’t tell if he was angry or hurt or both.
She bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.’
‘I’m just looking out for you, Sera. Is that such a bad thing?’
‘No, it’s not. It’s nice, and I appreciate it. But… maybe you can look out for me and try being nicer about him at the same time? Like you said you would.’
His shoulders lifted and dropped with a deep sigh. ‘I’ll try.’
‘Thank you.’ But her happy mood was now gone.
Sera’s stomach gurgled with nerves as she dusted a shimmer of pink blush across her cheeks. Ethan was picking her up in ten minutes, and she was far from ready. If she’d ever be ready.
