Bittersweet Expectations (Hate at First Flight #0.5)

11. Getting Personal with the Help

Silence ensued and echoed in the room as Ethan Clarke studied me, a devious look crossing his face. He searched my face for the reaction that he desired. And by the satisfied smile that spread instantly, he found it.

I must've looked like I'd seen a ghost, because my body tensed instantly and I felt the blood drain from my face.

I stared back at him, doing everything I could to not gape at him as the words sunk in; as I processed word by word, letter by letter.

"...Finn Hammond had a lot to say about you..."

My mind raced with possibilities of what Finn could have said to Ethan. Possibilities upon possibilities upon possibilities.

What did Finn tell him? What did he hear from Finn that made him so smug?

I studied the above six foot male Adonis that stood before me. Even with a fair amount of dislike I felt for him, I couldn't deny that he was attractive enough to get first pick of any woman he liked.

Ethan Clarke stared back at me with a smile that a cat would wear when it had a rat cornered. A smile one would wear when they knew a secret anyone would kill for.

It unnerved me, this side of him. It unnerved to the point where I wondered if I even wanted to know what Finn had told him on the phone. For all I knew Finn would've painted a ghastly image of me that would've supported whatever perception that Ethan Clarke had of me ever since we met.

I didn't like that he seemed to have gained an even more of an upper hand in this relationship we had.

"Well, Ms Bishop," he began, giving an ideal amount of pause that it made me tense and my palms sweat, "aren't you curious as to what Finn Hammond said about you?"

Of course I was. I was curious as to what my lying, bastard of an ex had to say about me. Anyone would be in my situation.

However, I didn't say any of this. In fact, I held back as I studied the predator catching scent of the prey and waiting to go in for the kill.

He was enjoying this.

It was evident in the way his body was almost vibrating with joy as if he couldn't wait to get on with it. It was evident in the way his eyes seemed to shine with this churning light of success.

I felt my lips dry up as I waited for him to deliver the killer blow that he felt he had over me. I ran my tongue instinctively over my lips as I waited.

Despite the fear and the tension, I felt a wave of smugness run through me when I noticed that Ethan Clarke had stared briefly at my lips. Even if it was for only a second or two.

However, I didn't take it as much of an accomplishment. He was still a hotblooded male and I was a fairly attractive female. I realized now why Mrs Clarke was a bit apprehensive when she saw how young I was.

Apparently Ethan Clarke liked to get personal with the help. But there was nothing to fear from me. Given our current situation, the likelihood of there being an Ethan and I was a negative a thousand.

Besides, with what had happened with Finn, I realized that it was better to be with someone of the same standing or means as I. If not, I should start coming to terms with being the weird catlady down the block that parents used as examples.

"What's got you spooked?" Ethan's voice broke me out of the reverie that I had slipped into. His eyes twinkled with glee. "Did the fact that Finn Hammond say that you two went to school together spook you that much?"

It took me a second to realize what he said. "Finn said what?"

He walked away from behind the counter where he had been standing before walking over to me, stopping a reasonable amount of distance away from me. He crossed his arms together before he sighed. "I wondered why you were so stuck on the Hammond documents the other day. So I thought that you had attempted the same thing with them that you're doing now with us. I asked him about you and he mentioned that you went to school together."