His eyes glanced up, and he stopped talking as they locked on mine. He was surprised to see me working the dining room during lunch, since I didn’t usually. He knew that. But there was also a hungry look there. Like he had wanted to see me as much as I wanted to see him. Which couldn’t be the truth, because he hadn’t called.

“What will you be drinking today?” I asked as I stepped up to the table. I was supposed to share the specials first, but my tongue was so tied I didn’t even try.

I looked directly at the woman. She glanced at the menu she hadn’t opened yet, then up at me. “Sparkling water for now,” she replied. Jimmy was right. She was way too old for Tripp.

I turned my attention to Tripp, and he was still looking at me like I was his last meal. “Hey,” he said simply.

What did I do with that? He’d ignored me for a week. I’d pushed him for answers about our future, and he’d backed away. Closed me off. Now this? “Hello, Tripp,” I managed to get out.

“Uh, yeah, I’ll have a Coke,” he said. I nodded and turned to leave, and his hand closed around my arm. “Wait.”

I couldn’t make a scene in here, but I wanted to jerk my arm away and run. Turning back around, I noticed the lady beside him watching us with interest.

“Bethy, I want to introduce you to someone.”

What? He was introducing me to the strange woman. Why? I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say to that, so I remained quiet.

He looked at the lady. “Quinn, this is Bethy. I mentioned her to you earlier. Bethy, this is Quinn. She’s an interior designer. She does all the decorating here at the club,” he explained.

OK. Odd. I nodded and smiled at her. I was sure she wasn’t interested in being introduced to the help. Her smile, however, was very genuine. She held out her hand to me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bethy. Tripp’s told me so much about you.”

The surprise on my face was hard to mask. My emotions felt raw and open at this point, because he was making no sense at all. You would have thought I had just crawled out of his bed this morning and kissed him before coming to work. Not that I’d been completely ignored for five days.

I shook her hand and mumbled something before getting the hell out of there.

Jimmy was waiting for me with his hands on his hips as he peeked around the corner. “So who is it?” he asked.

“The interior designer Woods hires to decorate stuff, I guess. I have no idea what that was about. She acted like she knew who I was and shook my hand. I swear, Jimmy, I think I need to start taking anxiety meds. Tripp is fucking with my head, and I don’t think I can take much more.”

Jimmy pulled me into his arms and patted my back. “There, there, Bethy. I’m a pro at this. It’s all gonna be OK. I’ve watched Blaire and Della go through this. Just hang in there.”

I leaned back and looked at him. “Blaire and Della had men in their lives who worshipped the ground they walked on. This is so not the same.”

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow at me. “Bethy, love, you need to snap out of it. Open your eyes, girl. That man is so obsessed with you he can’t see straight.”

If only.

I didn’t argue with him. I walked past him and into the kitchen to get their drinks.

Tripp’s eyes never left me. When I was in the dining room, they followed me everywhere. It was a miracle I hadn’t dumped food on someone. I had taken their orders without making eye contact and refilled their drinks with a smile. By the time they were almost done with their meal, I was so tightly strung my head was hurting.

I massaged my temples and rested my head back against the wall. I didn’t get off until six, and I could not afford a headache. When migraines hit me, I got sick. This could not happen. Not today.

“Lover boy paid, and he tipped you well. I grabbed it for you so they could clean the table.

Jimmy held up three hundred-dollar bills, which was ridiculous. I was not taking that much money. Their meal had only been a hundred dollars. I groaned and took the money and stuck it into my pocket. I would deal with him later, although I wasn’t sure when that would be.

Tripp

She was upset with me. I knew she would be, but seeing it was hard. I wanted to grab her and haul her outside right then and tell her everything. But I had suffered five very long days without her to ensure that I never woke up again without her in my arms.

She wanted reassurance. She needed to know I was in this forever. Then that’s what she’d get. I had already started making plans for our future before she demanded to know what they were. But telling her my ideas was not the same as showing her I meant business.

The only way I let her walk out my door that morning was because she had said, With Jace, I didn’t worry about how I’d continue breathing if he walked out of my life. With you, I want it all.

In that moment, I realized I wasn’t her second-best. What we had was bigger than anything else she’d had. Even with Jace. Knowing I meant more to her was a game changer. I’d move fucking mountains to give her what she needed.

Looking back over the past five days, that was exactly what I did. Having friends in high places sure came in handy.

Bethy stepped out of the club’s back entrance, and I straightened up from my relaxed stance on my bike. She didn’t notice me until I was almost within reach. Her surprise quickly turned to anger. I bit back my grin. She was pissed at me. I would fix that soon. She’d demanded, and I was about to fucking deliver.