The billionaire's sweet editor
Chapter 24: Iris: Bruised ego

Chapter 24: Iris: Bruised ego

I GET petty over silly things? Oh, I’ll show him petty. Snatching my hand away after Lucas is done applying ointment, I fold them on my chest.

Footsteps resound on the stairs and I turn to face Lucas, searching for that one look he gave me after I said I was going to kiss Tim—but it’s not there. He has his business face on, that fucking poker face. I love it at work, not now. I can’t read his fucking expressions with that plastic shit on his face.

"I’m ready when you are," Paul calls out, stopping midway when he sees me sitting next to his boss. He immediately walks over, his voice masked with sympathy as he reaches for my hand. "Iris, are you okay now?"

Letting him scan me, I glance at Lucas whose face still looks stone-cold and stoic. Is he pissed or does he really not care at all? "I am, thanks for noticing you sweetheart," I reply through gritted teeth, tearing my gaze away from Lucas.

It took that millisecond I looked away from Paul for him to change that sympathetic look he had on a few seconds ago to something that matches his boss’ stone face and he immediately backs away from me. "That’s good to know. Get well soon."

Dressed in a black suit like the ones he wears during weekdays, he looks like an FBI. A hot beefy one at that. Did I mention that he has long black locs about the same height as my hair?

"You dress up for work on weekends too?" I ask when he keeps lengthening a safe distance between us as if I bite.

"Yes, I’m always ready for work," he replies in a rigid voice as I turn to glare at Lucas, gesturing towards Paul. "So much for ’I don’t get petty over silly things’."

He shrugs, "How is that pettiness? He gets paid enough to thank him for his services."

Ugh, even his responses got sour all of a sudden.

Paul clears his throat, looking outside and standing in that rigid military man pose again. It’s a hidden cue to us that he’s getting uncomfortable, and I don’t blame him. To someone who doesn’t know the nature of our relationship, right now we look like a young couple fighting.

"Let’s finish this conversation after you’ve been treated at the clinic, okay?" Standing from his stool, Lucas carries me princess style in his arms, taking lengthy strides outside and proving just how grown up and un-petty he is.

Kissing Tim after using his butt as the wheels down the stairs was very shitty of me. I know that now, but during that moment I was too invested in proving to him I could kiss Timir as a thank-you gift. Then I had the nerve to label the irritated look on his face as jealousy.

What the fuck was I thinking? He had every right to be annoyed, I mean I would have wanted to murder someone too if they did what I did to him. It’s unethical. Believe me, I was ready to apologize, but then he said he doesn’t care what I do with other men because he’s not fucking petty like me—so I got mad again, which is stupid because he’s right—I am fucking petty.

I just don’t appreciate being reminded I am in the worst way possible. He could have told me that without needing to stress our relationship dynamics to me. What am I, a chess piece he can discard whenever? I helped him ward off Lynn for goodness sake.

Placing me gently on the car seat, he makes sure to avoid my hurt elbow, gently placing it on my belly like it has cracked bones. After being satisfied with his nursing skills, Lucas sits next to me, wincing a little when his butt rests on the leather.

Heavy on the guilt.

All the anger from a while ago dissipates. He’s hurt for fuck sake, I can’t make him angry too. Besides, how am I supposed to stay angry at him when he keeps being sweet even though he looks angry?

Sighing, I pinch my nose bridge. I can’t believe I have to let go of my pride because he’s in pain. Turning to grab his head, I lightly pull it and let him rest on my lap. "Use my legs as a pillow, we’ll get to the hospital soon."

Lucas falters for a second, poker face falling as though I surprised him. "What if I hurt your hand?"

He’s not denying my offer!

I shrug. "As long as you don’t fumble, I’ll place it on top of you."

He pauses for a moment, taking in what I just said and before I know it, he’s raising my elbow, placing it gently on his head. "Tell me if I’m heavy," he whispers, his face back to its normal lovable and guessable nature. I smile to myself. He’s so easy to please.

"I will." A light chuckle comes from him that soon turns to a laugh and I join in as the car starts moving.

What the fuck was that about?

★★★★★

"There, all done," the doctor who was applying ointment on me says, swerving her braids to the side and smiling at me. We ended up coming to a private clinic, and Lucas rushed inside carrying me like I needed urgent surgery on something.

In the end, the doctor brought her equipment and had to treat me on the waiting bench. Thank god there wasn’t anyone watching, otherwise I’d have experienced the most embarrassing moment in my adulthood.

"Thank you," I smile back, fighting the urge to scratch the itchy medicine off. I hadn’t acknowledged how big of a wound I had until she started cleaning and treating it. It was fucking painful. So much so that I had to bite my tongue during the cleansing stage.

"Next up is you right?" She points at Lucas standing and dusting off her coat. His face is red when he nods at her, so red it’s turning maroon.

It makes sense that he is, she’s a fucking goddess. Blonde braids, young and beautiful, with just the right amount of ass and a huge stack up in her bra that surpasses mine trifold. I’m pretty sure no man can contain himself around her, and her being their family doctor makes it worse.

"Follow me," she says turning on her heel as Lucas trudges after her like a lost puppy. I click my tongue.

"Are you okay?" Comes Paul’s deep voice as he sits next to me making me flinch. I had forgotten he was here.

"Yeah, I’m fine."

"That’s good," he mumbles fidgeting with his fingers, immediately going silent like he said everything he wanted to say. The silence is uncomfortable. So uncomfortable I have to look up and pretend I’m ceiling-gazing. It stretches on and on and Paul keeps giving me side glances until I can’t take it anymore.

"Do you have something you want to ask?" I quip, tearing my gaze from the ceiling and looking at him instead.

"Did you and Lucas fight?" He abruptly asks like he’s been waiting for me to give him a chance to ask his question all along.

"Yeah, something like that. He’s mad because I kissed Tim on the cheek as a thank-you gift for making me breakfast," I reply honestly.

"You what!" Paul stands from his seat and takes a few steps back with his brows raised high up his forehead.

"I kissed T—"

"I heard you the first time. When did this happen?"

What’s with this reaction? "Umm, when we fell down the stairs."

"Oh my god, Iris," Paul groans his voice sounding more like he’s complaining. "Why did you have to put Tim in such a difficult position?"

"What did I do?"

Taking a peek at the corridor that leads to the doctor’s office, he returns to his seat, this time sitting more closely to me than before. "You kissed him," he whispers animatedly gesturing his hands all over. "Now it makes sense why he was glaring at me, it’s like you were planning to—oh my god!"

"What?" I quip. Paul has been getting comfortable around me ever since we discovered we share the same love for books but I’ve never seen him this frantic before. It’s like he ate one of those sour candies and can’t control his movements anymore, which is weird because he’s such a big guy.

Bigger than Lucas—and Lucas is so big he could probably crush me without trying.

Or that doctor. I immediately shut the shitty voice in my head before it explores the topic deeply and focus on Paul instead.

"Were you planning on kissing me too?"

Heat burns on my cheeks and I look down. "Kinda."

"Ahhh!" Paul screams, pushing himself away from me.

"Oh please, I was thinking about it okay. Why are you acting like my lips are made of acid."

"This is not about your lips Iris."

"Then what’s it about?"

"Lucas. He was fucking mad when I saw you guys this morning. I thought Timir was bluffing when he said he’d come back down to the kitchen once we left but after one glance from Lucas, I knew why he was like that. Lucas rarely gets mad."

"Huh? Why would he get mad at you?"

"Because you kissed another guy. Aren’t you two dating."

I freeze. I almost gave us away right there. "Y-yes, we’re dating haha."

The sound of a door being closed comes from the corridor and Paul takes a peek before he’s back to being the FBI agent like he wasn’t freaking out at all a while ago. "Sort this shit out quickly before we get fired," he whispers through gritted teeth just when Lucas pops out from his corner.

Making his way to me with a huge grin on his face, Lucas bends over and grabs my shoulders. "Can you wait for me a little while longer? I have something I want to discuss with the doctors."

I don’t know what’s more annoying: the smirk he has on after coming out from that freaking goddess of a doctor’s office, or the fact that he has yet another meeting with her. "Just be quick, I want to go home."

"I will be," he replies, glancing at my wound one last time and nodding at Paul, turning on his heel back to the doctor’s office. A sharp pain like a scrap metal piercing through me burns in my chest as I watch him leave.

"Now you’re the one who’s angry," Paul quips.

What? Me? Angry? Angry about what? I’m just a little annoyed that he’s not hiding his interest in the doctor in Paul’s presence that’s all.

"I’m not angry, I’m just hungry."

"Want me to buy you food?" I nod. "What do you want to eat?" Paul asks again.

"Anything will suffice," I reply flashing a fake smile at him before he storms off out of the clinic and I’m left alone, gazing at the corridor, the sharp pain in my chest returning once again.

"Yeah, I’m not angry, Paul. It’s just my ego being bruised."

★★★★★