I repress my laugh. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t fucking help twisting the knife.
I skip down her body before returning to meet her desperate gaze. “…hard work paid off.”
“Time will tell.” Her voice is a creak.
“I find if you keep at something long enough, good things are bound to come.”
Her fingers toy with the neckline of her dress. “Can I help you, Caden? Because I have a lot of things to get ready before the group arrives.”
“Nope. I just wanted to see how you were feeling this morning.” I dip my gaze to her lips. “If blowing off all that steam relaxed you.”
She can’t hide the gasp. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“At the bar last night.” I grin.
“Of course.” Her words are quick, breathless.
“So we’re on the same page.”
She waves at the door. “You can go now.”
“Fair enough.” I straighten. Point to a stray smudge on the bar. “You want me to rub that out for you?”
“No!” Her voice is a shriek.
I’m horrible. I know that.
In fairness, I never claimed to be a good guy. Repressing my true nature is clearly starting to strain. I shrug. “All right, no need to get your feathers ruffled.”
“Get out!” Clearly she’s lost her patience.
“I’m going.” A man knows when it’s time to exit, and my time has come. “Good luck. Be sure to tell me how it goes. Although I’m sure you’ll wow them and have them eating out of your hand.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She glances pointedly at the door. “Things to do.”
I look her up and down. “You seem tense. Maybe you need to take the edge off.”
“Get the hell out of here!” she yells, practically stomping her foot.
I chuckle, turn, and walk toward the exit before swinging around one more time. “Oh, and Cat?”
“What?”
She sounds like she’s on the edge of smacking me.
Excellent. I smile at her. “You look very pretty today.”
She jabs a finger at the door. “Get out or I swear to God…”
“Swear to God what?”
“You’ll pay,” she sputters.
“So you can’t think of anything?”
“Leave. Now.” Her hands are clenched into fists. “Before I start throwing things.”
“That sounds fun, but maybe it’s not the best time.” And with that, I turn and walk out the door.