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“Juliet, hi. Come on. Sit down,” Elias said with a wide smile. “Not that you need an invitation since this is your place.”
He watched her move forward warily. He was surprised she’d come.
“If you can swim, then why did you just float on the bottom?” he snapped.
Elias and Juliet turned to look at him. Her eyes were surprised. While Elias glared at him.
“Sorry about Brick, doll,” Elias said. “He does have some manners. He just forgets to use them.”
Brick scowled at his friend. What the fuck was he going on about? Then he noticed that Juliet looked like she was contemplating leaving.
“Sit down, Juliet,” he said gruffly. He pulled out a seat for her, then looked pointedly at Elias, who rolled his eyes.
She moved slowly. Like a wounded animal who was worried that a gesture of kindness might turn into a trap. That made his heart ache. Who had hurt this woman? What he wouldn’t give to know.
Easy, man.
He pushed her in. “Don’t look so worried, Sterling’s cooking isn’t that bad.” He took a seat next to her.
A plate filled with steak landed in the middle of the table. Her eyes widened as she took it in.
“Don’t listen to him, I’m a fantastic cook.”
“Finally!” Elias said, sitting across from Juliet at the round table. He reached out to grab a steak. Brick slapped his hand.
“Hey!”
“And you said that I don’t have any manners. Ladies first.” He picked up the plate and held it closer to Juliet. “Take one.”
She shook her head. Then she picked up the whiteboard she’d carried over.
No thanks.
“You don’t like steak?” he asked with a frown.
She shook her head.
“More for me,” Elias said cheerfully as Brick set the plate down.
“Elias,” Sterling said with a sigh. Then he turned to her. “Would you like me to make you something else? I have some chicken in the fridge. We should have asked you if you ate steak.”
No problem. Bread and salad are fine.
“It’s not fine,” Brick countered. “You need protein. You’re too pale. Sterling, get that chicken.”
No!
She slapped the table with a frown as Sterling got up. He raised his eyebrows.
Please don’t. I’ll feel bad.
Brick grumbled under his breath. Obviously, she was so pale because she didn’t eat enough meat. Salad and bread weren’t a proper meal.
But he took note of Sterling’s warning look and backed down. After she put a ridiculously small amount of food on her plate, he added more.
“If you’re not eating meat, then you need to eat twice as much of everything else.”
That’s not a rule.
