Page 11 of Keeping it Casual
Jeremy looks around the room, his eyes widening. “Um…yeah, it appears we did.”
He meets my gaze, and I’m pretty sure the attraction I feel for him is mirrored straight back at me.
Fuck.
“I’ll grab the bill,” I say.
“There’s no way I’m letting you pay,” Jeremy says, standing. “That will definitely give the wrong vibes.”
“We’ll split it then,” I say.
The maître d’ gives a giant smirk when we approach the counter to pay. “I trust you had a good night.” The gleam in her eye makes me realize how epically we’ve failed at shutting down speculation about Jeremy and me.
“We did, thanks, Kimmy,” Jeremy says in an even tone. “Can we split the bill, please?”
Kimmy looks surprised but obliges, splitting the bill and processing our credit cards.
“Now everyone is going to think I’m a cheapskate who can’t even shout dinner to this town’s favorite son,” I complain as we leave the restaurant.
“The split bill is a tactical move. If you’d paid for me, Iguarantee by next week, I’ll have people asking me when we’re moving in together,” he replies.
We’re both slightly tipsy. I stumble slightly, and Jeremy puts his hand on my waist. I can feel the warmth of it through my shirt. He withdraws his hand slowly, leavingalingering sensationon my skin.
“Did you walk?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“If I’d known, we could have walked here together,” he says as he slots in next to me.
Next time.The words are on the tip of my tongue before I swallow them down. Because that’s not what tonight was supposed to be about. Although it appears we’ve swerved quite considerably from the original plan.
I normally love how close my new house is to the town center, but tonight, I’m ruing the fact that I don’t have much time until Jeremy and I have to go our separate ways.
We reach the corner.
“So this is where I have to leave you.” He nods in the direction of his street.
“Yeah,” I say, stopping. Jeremy pauses too, turning to face me. I say nothing and neither does he. Instead, we stand there for what feels like an eternity, just staring at each other with only a few inches between us.
His pouty lips are stained even redder than usual from the wine, and I have an incredible urge to kiss him. Holy fuck, do I want to kiss him right now. To claim those lips as mine.
My need to discover exactly what Jeremy King tastes like is almost overwhelming.
The air sizzles between us.
You’re not looking for a relationship.
I want to shush my inner voice right now. What does he know?
Jeremy’s eyes flicker between my lips and my eyes.
“Thanks for the best fake date I’ve ever had,” he says, slightly husky.
“Yeah, it’s been my best fake date too,” I say.
We stare at each other for a few more moments while my heartbeat pounds in my ears.
It would be so easy to lean forward and kiss him.
