Chapter 4 #2
Wendy retrieved her fork as well and flashed him a brazen smile before she took her first bite. She chewed thoughtfully, then nodded. “Wonderful choice, Tripp. Thank you for being so…” Her brows pulled together. Then she massaged her throat as she stared down at her plate.
“Something wrong?” Tripp muttered, disappointed that he hadn’t been able to get to her. It wouldn’t have been much of a prank, but he had to think quickly and with her being late, it was one of the only options. “Don’t tell me you’re eating it just to prove a point.”
Wendy shook her head viciously, her eyes widening as her fork clattered to the plate and she fumbled for her purse.
Lacey glanced at her briefly then concern flickered across her face. “Is everything okay?”
Wendy’s face turned varying shades of red, and she shook her head. “Does this dish have tree nuts in it?”
Tripp straightened in his seat, his heart kicking into overdrive.
Wendy was allergic to tree nuts? But this was a shellfish dish.
He wracked his brain for what had been listed in the description.
Pasta. Some kind of sweet and savory sauce.
He couldn’t think of anything that indicated it would be problematic.
He shot to his feet but couldn’t do more than that as Wendy grappled with an EpiPen.
By now, everyone at the table was staring at her. She was coughing and gasping. Then she lifted the pen and stabbed it into her leg.
Hushed, worried voices carried through the space. He heard his name a couple of times and he knew… just knew that he’d be blamed for this.
“Wendy,” Lacey murmured, “what can I get you. Water? Do you need to go home?”
Wendy’s eyes cut to his. Tripp was still standing, his hands gripping the table hard. It wasn’t until a few more eyes landed on him that he sensed his breathing had gone ragged. He’d never seen an allergic episode before—unless one counted the movies.
That had been terrifying.
She was strong. Stronger than he felt in that moment.
Her hands trembled and she got to her feet. “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back. I’m so sorry, guys.”
“Don’t apologize,” Serenity assured her. “Do you need anyone to go with you?”
Wendy shook her head again before she headed out of the room.
Then all eyes turned to him—varying degrees of irritation, surprise, and pity.
He tugged at the collar at his throat. Well, that backfired.
“Tripp,” Leo warned, probably noticing the slight tilt of his body.
Going after her would be the right thing to do.
Right?
He should make sure Wendy was okay.
“I’ll be right back,” he murmured.
“I wouldn’t—”
Tripp didn’t wait to hear the rest of what Leo had to say. He hurried from the private room and toward the bathroom. The noise from the restaurant was louder out here and it rang into his skull with deafening blows.
He closed his eyes and focused on leveling out his breathing. He couldn’t believe he nearly killed her. All because he’d ordered her food.
No.
Tripp was overreacting. He’d told her what he’d ordered. She could have done something. Maybe this was her plan all along.
Okay, his thoughts were scrambled. What woman would intentionally endanger themselves just to make a point?
He bumped into her before he could come up with a reasonable response. Surprise flitted across her features before her eyes darkened like storm clouds on a summer afternoon. She halted her progress down the hallway.
“What do you want?”
Tripp opened his mouth to apologize, but the word got caught in his throat, feeling like a golf ball had been lodged there. He matched her scowl with one of his own. “We’re even.”
Her brow shot upward, shock pouring off her. “I beg your pardon.”
“We’re square now. You embarrassed me… twice. And I got you back.”
In a gasp of a breath, she scoffed. “You’re comparing what I did to what you did? I could have died.”
“You’re the one who didn’t mention that you had a life-threatening allergy. How was I supposed to know?”
“That’s rich,” she let out a sharp laugh. “For the record, I went over everything that might be a risk when eating fish. And unless it was a peanut based sauce, I figured I’d be okay. Apparently, the scallops were seasoned with pink peppercorn. Those are in the tree nut family.”
He threw up his hands. “So, there would have been a problem either way.”
She gave his chest a little shove. “No. Had I been able to see the menu, I would have been able to look at the ingredients and made a better decision. That dish might not have advertised the spices used, but I would have picked a simpler option.”
“So this is my fault?” he snapped. Okay, yeah, it was his fault but he got the distinct impression that Wendy was making a bigger deal out of this than she should have been. “It was an accident.”
Wendy got into his face. “This does not make us even.” She poked him hard in the chest. “You wanted a war? Well, now you’re getting one.” With that, she pushed past him.
He turned, a sinking feeling in his gut ruining any appetite he might have had left.
Well, this was just great.