Page 136 of The Grand Duel
“That’s your advice. To let her drive me wild?”
“Hopelessly so. Trust me.” She looks down at her clothes. “I am a doctor.”
I take her hand and stand.
Lissie
My afternoon meeting went beyond well, and with the first three hours of my shift at The Nightingale feeling like they’ve flown by, I feel a little bit lighter.
I mean, it might also be down to the six-foot-three, blue-eyed man who took me away for the night and had his way with me.
“You’re all gooey.”
“Gooey?” I repeat with a smile.
“You are, girl.” Iona reiterates Christian’s point. “It’s nice to see, though.”
“Is it?” Christian asks.
“Um, I’m sure it beats watching you two pine after each other for an entire shift. Let me have my moment.”
Iona chuckles, stepping around me to pick up a tray of drinks. “He pines,” she says, nodding towards Christian. “I just exist.”
He watches as she heads out into the room and to a table of three men and two other women.
“Falling in love, Christian baby?”
He looks towards me and tips his chin. “Piss off, lawyer fucker.”
I can’t help my chuckle. “I didn’t sleep with him.”
He shakes his head. “Do I even want to know?”
I check the bar and see that Lily is making drinks for Sam, but there’s no one else waiting.
I make my way to where Christian stands. “You’re loitering a lot more than normal tonight.”
“I was promoted whilst you were away.”
I frown. “What?”
He smiles. “Yep. Officially deputy manager.”
“Bronwyn offered it to you?” I ask, knowing it’d been hinted at before.
“I spoke to her about it.” He tips his chin, and I move in closer. “I had an anonymous donation to Thomas’s fund. He’sset to go to America next month.” He shrugs, but it’s a happy, weightless shrug. “This way I can plan everything in the day and take evenings off when he’s home and needs me.”
My heart warms, and I reach out, squeezing his hand. “That’s amazing.”
“It’s crazy,” he corrects. “Six hundred and fifty grand. Who drops that on someone without a word?”
“Does it matter? You’ve got the money for Thomas.”
He smiles. “Yeah. And the extra I can use to travel. The weight off is…” He shakes his head, sitting back on the stool. “Mad.”
I sigh and smile as I watch him. “Let’s have our one?”
“Different rules for you and me, Shoes.”