Page 49 of Love and Gravity
“Trust me. Mindy is more than capable of forcing Lou to rest and keeping the rest of the team in line. It’s not like she’s never handled an office before. I’m sure there’s someone around who can lend a hand if something comes up.”
Grace flinched like she’d been slapped. She knew in her head that Anton hadn’t meant to be dismissive. To make it sound like anyone could fill her place. To some, her place at Lou’s side wasn’t much, but it washers.Finding where she belonged had been the first thing to make her realize just how much damage her upbringing had inflicted on her.
She gave him a tight smile. “I know that. You’ve made it abundantly clear that Mindy can do my job just fine.” Grace raised her menu with a snap of her shaking hands.
“Grace.” Anton’s voice was gentle, so gentle that Grace knew he’d seen right through her.Again.
“Do you know if the crepes here are good, or should I just go full-on European and get what looks like a world tour of cheese and bread? Or do you want to order something we can share? It would be justinsufferableif we ate off a shared plate.” She was rambling now. Chattering to fill the silence, but she couldn’t help it. She’d always done this when she was nervous. Some people hated it. Found her to be too chatty, too loud, too…much. But it was just the way she was.
“You’re not replaceable.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, grateful for the semblance of privacy the menu provided. “Who said that?” she asked, lowering her menu a fraction so she could see over the top at Anton, who still looked at her in far too earnest a manner for what was supposed to be a carefree brunch date.
“You did,” he told her, finally looking away from her to pick up his coffee cup.
“Did not.” Her voice sounded wrong. Too high pitched and tinny to be relaxed.
He looked at her over the rim of his cup. “Did so.” His voice was the same soft and gentle tone that had her feeling cracked wide open, allowing him to see exactly what was inside of her. This was her Anton. Her Anton knew how to do things like that.
Grace jutted out her bottom lip. “If I remember correctly, I asked about the state of crepes in this fine establishment. Although, I’m considering the wine list to be more handy at the moment.”
“If crepes and wine are on your brain, then why are you hoping things go sideways at the lab?” he asked her, and she was thankful he glanced away towards the river front view they had. She didn’t want him to see her shock at him so deftly picking up on her thoughts. She’d never met anyone that could do that. Except for Lou, but that was what best friends did.
Grace hadn’t thought a boyfriend might be able to do it too.
She blushed and folded her hands in her lap, doing her utmost to project her best impersonation of a reasonable and well-rounded woman, who most certainly did not wish for explosions and science catastrophes.
“I am not hoping things go sideways at the labs. I want there to be nothing but calm and serenity in those walls. Peace and love.”
Anton turned his dark eyes back to meet hers. “But, when you’re there to see it happen.”
“Who doesn’t like to see a job well done?” she fired back, eyes falling to her menu. She was just going to get wine at the rate this conversation was going.
“Grace, just because Mindy can wrangle science folk doesn’t mean that she could ever replace you.”
“I never said anything about being replaced,” she murmured, flipping the pages of her menu in search of the wine list. To hell with it, she was getting a glass of red. No, the whole bottle. Yeah. That was the ticket.
He folded his hands. “Give me more credit. You’re like an open book. It’s all over your face.”
“I am not an open book, okay? I am a very complicated codex, created by the Mayans and yet to be understood in all my complexities,” she retorted with her best game face as she perused the menu.
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Anton’s hand came to rest in the middle of the wine list she had been staring at. “You wear your heart on your sleeve.”
“What’s wrong with that?” she asked, finally looking up to meet Anton’s gaze. Even as she asked it she knew the answer. What her mother had seen as weakness in her.
Toughen up now, or the world will do it for you. Stop letting your face tell on you.
Anton’s voice snapped her out of her brooding power hour. “Nothing, but that means I can see what’s bothering you, and I’m telling you. Just because the labs don’t descend into chaos doesn’t mean that you aren’t needed. No one is replacing you. That team needs you.”
“I’m not a science genius like everyone else,” she admitted quietly.
“So?”
“So that means that sometimes I feel like an appendix.”
He raised an eyebrow. “A what?”
Her fingers gripped the leather menu book she held and she went on, not caring that she wasn’t just broadcasting her emotions, but telling the man exactly what she was thinking. What was the use in hiding it if he could see it all anyways? Might as well make sure he understood her plainly.