TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 284

Two hundred and eighty four

Isabella POV

Lunch came before I realized how much time had passed.

I’d spent the entire morning sketching variations of the detachable overskirt Luna Lisa had approved. Emerald hadn’t been able to invent busywork for me. Every time she glanced in my direction, Luna Lisa’s

instructions stood as a barrier, and there wasn’t much Emerald could do about that.

She still found ways to make her displeasure obvious.

By the time I set my pencil down, my shoulders ached.

“You’ll go blind if you keep staring at that page.”

I looked up to find Iris, the only person in the office who extended a bit of kindness to me.

“It’s lunchtime. Come on.”

“I’m almost done.”

She reached over, covered the sketchbook with a folder, and snapped her fingers.

“The design isn’t going anywhere.”

I groaned.

“Fine.”

We headed downstairs to the general dining area, where the aroma of different foods filled the air and conversation blended into a steady hum that made the space feel relaxed. Iris and I went to the serving table to serve ourselves, then carried our trays toward an empty table near the windows.

“Don’t take Emerald personally.”

I scoffed.

“It’s hard not to.”

“No, I mean it,” Iris said, twirling a fork of Bolognese. “She doesn’t like competition.”

“I’m not competing with her.”

“I know that. She doesn’t. She’s difficult with almost everyone, especially someone like you, whom Luna brought in personally. If someone does good work, she finds something wrong with it. If someone gets praised, she suddenly remembers every mistake they’ve ever made. But I’ve never seen her come after someone this quickly.”

My fingers paused around my fork.

“What do you mean?”

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“Usually she warms up before she starts making people’s lives miserable.”

Barbara’s face flashed through my mind.

She had warned me that she would make things hard for me if I didn’t leave the Alpha’s house. The timing felt too perfect. I could be making assumptions, but it still made sense. Maybe Emerald’s hostility wasn’t entirely her own.

Before I could untangle the idea, someone called my name and waved at me.

Harrison from the bus.

“Mind if I join you?”

Iris grinned.

“Hey, Harrison!”

Harrison smiled at me first before turning to Iris.

“Iris.”

They greeted each other so naturally that I knew they hadn’t just met.

“You two know each other?”

“Of course. We’ve worked in the same building for years,” Iris said.

I had a feeling they had history. Everyone around here seemed connected to someone else.

Harrison looked at me.

“I completely forgot that Iris worked at Luna’s Office. Stick with her. She has no issues with anyone.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Iris glanced between us, and I caught the longing look on her face before she quickly looked away.

We kept eating and making small talk, and Iris seemed to do everything she could to get his attention. Unfortunately, Harrison wasn’t paying attention to her.

He was looking at me.

Great.

Exactly what I needed.

As if I needed extra baggage on top of what I already had.

Iris was mentioning some bonfire event, and with the way Harrison was looking at me, I knew he was going to ask me to come with them. I pushed my chair back before giving him the opportunity.

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“I need to use the restroom.”

I walked away before either of them could say anything else.

I headed back upstairs.

I’d spent too many years navigating situations that became complicated because people misunderstood

kindness.

The sketch only needed a few finishing touches before I carried it to Luna Lisa.

“I like this.”

Relief spread through me.

“The detachable overskirt solves both problems. Anita gets options without the team making two completely different dresses.”

She looked up.

“Take it upstairs and show her.”

My smile disappeared before I could stop it.

Oh no.

“I…” I searched for a reason that wouldn’t sound ridiculous. “Wouldn’t Emerald be better suited to explain the design?”

“You designed it.”

Luna Lisa sounded puzzled.

“You’ll answer questions better than anyone else.”

She handed the sketch back to me before disappearing into her office.

I stared at the paper for several long seconds.

“Iris.”

She looked up from her desk.

“Can you do me a favor?”

“Depends.”

“Could you take this upstairs for me?”

She looked at the sketchbook.

“Why?”

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“I still need to organize these notes. I also…” I searched desperately for another excuse. “…need to double

-check the measurements.”

“Fine.”

“You’ll do it?”

She gave me a strange smile and took the sketch from my hands. I didn’t need to be told that she thought I was acting strangely. First I hadn’t come back to the table, and when she questioned it, I told her I was full. Now I couldn’t deliver a sketch I had drawn myself.

She headed toward the stairs. She’d barely left when Emerald sent me on one of her meaningless errands, and I was still sorting it out at my desk when Iris returned.

With Anita.

I ducked my head so fast, and thankfully Emerald rushed forward to meet Anita, already talking as though she was certain Anita would reject the sketch.

“I like it. Actually, I wanted to tell you to make about four of this design for me. I wonder why you didn’t show me this instead of those ugly ones you showed me earlier.”

“Actually, she didn’t draw this,” Iris said, and pointed at my desk.

“There she is.”

Oh goddess.

“Isabella designed it.”

Anita turned. Her eyes found mine. The warmth in her expression settled over me, and then her eyes lit with something that felt dangerously close to pride, as though she’d finally found something she’d been searching for.

Not again.

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