Hate Fuck Part Three (13 page)
Read Hate Fuck Part Three Online
Authors: Ainsley Booth
“Coffee?”
They both nodded and Olivia silently lifted each of their white ceramic mugs and poured. For someone who just got laid, Rafe didn’t look happy. His eyebrows were pulled together, hooding his gaze, and he had faint dark circles under his eyes. Maybe he was realizing just how awful a human being he was to bring…
“Do you need to see a menu, Natalie?” His voice sounded strained too. He dumped two creamers in his cup and stirred roughly.
Natalie
, huh? Olivia swung her gaze to the other woman. She looked nervous. Had he told her that he used to be married to their waitress? Used to wake her up with his tongue and his hands and his love, but not as often as he didn’t—he’d have to be home for that—and now they pretended to be friends a few times a week?
“I’ll just have some toast, please,” she said quietly.
Rafe sighed. “Don’t be silly.” He looked up at Olivia, his dark brown eyes unreadable. “Two breakfast specials please, one with bacon, one with—” He broke off and turned back to Natalie. “Sausage? Ham?”
“Sausage, I guess. Look, I can just wait for my friend outside, we don’t need to have breakfast.”
“It’s fine.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand before looking back at Olivia again. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“We’re swamped,” she said breezily, waving at the mostly empty diner. “I’ve got ketchup bottles to refill and napkins to stack, so—”
“One minute, Liv.” He pushed out of the booth and towered over her. “In private.”
He didn’t wait for her to respond, stalking to the small office behind the washrooms like he owned the place. Well, he could wait. She had a job to do, even if it wasn’t exciting or overly important.
“Natalie, is it? How did you want your eggs?” Rafe wanted his over-easy. At some point in the future, she’d forget all the stupid little things she knew about him. She hoped. Hadn’t happened yet.
“Scrambled. And rye toast if you have it.”
“Sure thing. Be right back.” She went straight to the pass-through window, dinged the bell and tacked the order up on the carousel. Frank gave her a knowing look from his perch at the grill. “Shut up,” she told her boss without malice. “I need five minutes.”
“I’ll holler if anyone comes in, I guess.”
If anyone came in, they’d pour themselves a cup of coffee and wait. She wasn’t worried. It wouldn’t be the first time Pine Harbour had heard Rafe and Olivia Minelli have a knock-down, drag-out fight. Probably wouldn’t be the last. Another reason she needed to leave. This couldn’t be her future—petty jealousy and tension-filled terse conversations with her ex. She took a deep breath and shoved the office door open.
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acknowledgments—
Sadie Haller and her husband get first props—Sadie because she finds all the little things that don’t make sense, and her husband because when one of those things was some kissing choreography, he helped her figure out where I went wrong. Three-dimensional fact checking, people! How amazing is that?
My Ainsley’s Angels Facebook group, who held down the fort while I locked myself in the writing cave—thank you for all the entertaining memes and man candy pictures and polite reminders that it was April. I love you guys.
Friends, family, writing buddies all got nods in the last two instalments, so I guess the last thing I need to say is to you, the reader, especially if you’re one of those quiet people who isn’t on social media a lot, and you found my book and decided to give it a go. Thank you, seriously. You are are why I write books, you are me a few years ago, and I hope Cole and Hailey’s love story gave you the escape you were looking for.
There are more Horus Group stories to be told. Thanks to everyone who has asked about Wilson, Tag, and now finally Jason—still an asshole, but maybe there’s some hope for him, yes?
~ Ainsley
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copyright—
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Copyright 2015 Ainsley Booth