Page 22 of Make You Mine

I shrugged in answer, my cheeks heating in awkward embarrassment. If we spent any more time together, I might start to like her, and then every word I said from now on would only serve to make it obvious.

“Okay. Fine, it’s Monday afternoon. It is the last appointment of the day, so Richard won’t have to miss work. I should be back by five. I appreciate this.”

I grunted in response, irritated that she still had to deal with him. “Anyone would do it. He’s an asshole.”

“No.” She looked me dead in the eye. “Anyone wouldnotdo it. My father never could be bothered with me or any of my sisters. You are a good man, Ren.”

I shook my head, not letting her words sink in, trying to dispel the sudden warmth infusing my chest.

“Thanks,” I muttered. “You’re pretty special yourself. And I’m sorry about your dad. Seems like you wanted yours to stay around when all I wanted was for mine to stay gone. You deserve someone to stand up for you, Piper. We all do.”

“Do you always know what to say?”

I gave a half-smile, the corner of my mouth lifting. “Fuck no.”

Our conversation drifted into a comfortable silence, each of us lost in our thoughts.

My ability to be near her and function normally was rapidly diminishing. It was then that I knew I had to get out of here.

“I better get going,” I blurted.

“Oh.” She seemed surprised. “Okay. I’m glad you stopped by. We can talk more about all of this later.”

“I’ll text you.” Texting was safe. I didn’t have to look at her while I did it, and I could be very careful about what I said without giving away how attracted to her I was.

With one last look at her, I slid out of my chair, hesitating as I stood by the table.

This was all fake. It was all for show.

But no matter how many times I tried to convince myself of these facts, I still only halfway believed them.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?” She looked at me expectantly, and I found myself wanting her to expect things from me. Real things.

Why not. What could it hurt?

“Do you think we should have dinner together tomorrow night?” I should have left it at that and made this real, but I chickened out. “Like a practice date? So we can iron out any kinks before the real deal.”

Chapter7

Piper

Yes. Yes. Yes.That's what I almost said.

“That’s probably a good idea.” Is how I actually answered him.

Cool. Casual. Calm.

So unlike me.

“Do you have a favorite restaurant in town?”

“We could eat at the Inn,” I stupidly suggested, forgetting that my family owned it—my incredibly nosy and unafraid-to-ask-embarrassing-questions family.

“The Honeybrook? I didn’t realize there was a restaurant there.”

“It’s the best one around. But maybe we shouldn’t go there. My family owns it. I wasn’t thinking.”

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