Page 70 of The Grand Duel
He continues typing.
“Charles, could I borrow your last name?” I ask, trying my luck.
“Go for it,” he mutters as if he didn’t really listen to the question.
My brows pop in surprise. “Hm. Perfect.” I smile. “Aldridge.Aldridge.” I tilt my head. “Is it problematic?”
“What?” He finally looks up at me, his eyes dropping from my eyes to my nose and then lips.
I swallow, trying to keep my mind from going to last night.
“Well, is it attached to anything scandalous?”Like mine is.
“You want to steal and then lie with my name, but you’re worried it’s problematic?”
I smile at him and type it out. “You’re right. Such an unproblematic man.”
Last Name:Aldridge.
I stare at it,Lissie Aldridge, feeling better about how it looks compared to my own name. “Thank you,” I tell him sincerely, continuing with the profile. “My favourite song.”
I look across at him, his fingers scrolling to the top of his page furiously as if making an edit to earlier notes.
It has to be a case.
The man lives and dies for his work.
I sit and ponder what song I’d pick, not necessarily thinking about my favourites, but anything that brings the vibe I’m looking for. “What’s your favourite song, Scott?” I ask.
When he doesn’t answer me, I look up, finding him watching my boss in the mirror.
My eyes drift to the left of me where an icy blue stare pins me in place. I swallow, forcing my gaze not to ravish his face.
“What are you doing?” he asks, his attention firmly on me.
I turn my screen as he had, hiding it.
His brows rise. “What are you doing with my name, Lissie?”
My cheeks flare without warning at his tone. My stomach dipping. “It’s a dating profile, is all.” I turn the laptop to show him. “I’m taking up my sister’s advice and trying to date. She thinks I’m desensitised to men because of my job at The Nightingale.”
His face seems to harden. “Why would you be desensitised to men because of The Nightingale?”
Crap, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned the club.
I look towards Scott, not really wanting him to know my business. “When you said you know what working at The Nightingale entails…” I let my gaze free to roam his features,the results devastating. It’s as if he was handcrafted by the gods. “You know…like fully understand what?—”
His jaw tics. “I know, Lissie.”
“Right.” I chuckle, knowing my face is so very obviously giving me away.
I lean in, not wanting Scott to hear this part. I’m not sure I want Charles to hear this part either, and I can hardly believe thatthisis what has him talking now, but Jovie told me to be myself and so that’s what I’m going to do. What do I have to lose? We are technically on a cardigan-sniffing basis. “I only work the bar. It’s all I was interested in when I started.”
His face falls, shoulders relaxing.
He looks almost relieved. I chew on my bottom lip, unsure if I want to tell this beautiful man at my side that I sold myself for sex.
But it was him who brought up the club to me last night, and he was the one who asked me the question now. And that look in his eyes, the way he’s waiting, as if he wants to know more.