Page 69 of The Lies I've Told
I’d just finished my makeup after a quick shower where I’d given myself one hell of a pep talk. This was not going to end with my heart broken in a million pieces.
I was not going to fall in love with this man.
I let out a cold laugh. I was not going to fallfurtherin love with this man.
We’d agreed to a brief interlude.
Nothing more, nothing less.
I was a grown woman. I could sleep with a man and not grow attached. Hell, I used to do it all the time in college.
Having a one-night stand with your lab partner, Bobby Van Burren, because his girlfriend had dumped him and you felt bad for him doesn’t count as all the time.
Shut up, brain.
I was single. This was what single people did.
Causal dating. Meaningless sex. It was healthy.
Like going to the gym.
And, if there was one thing my junk-food-craving body needed, it was definitely health.
Grabbing the doorknob, I twisted it, feeling the weight of the door push against me like lead weights.
Looking up at Aiden, the moment I caught his gaze, I felt every word of my pep talk crumble to the ground around me like ash.
Light, breezy, and what?
Oh, right.I swallowed hard as his hazel brown eyes met mine.Casual.
“I have that bagel here, if you’re still—”
“Let’s go shopping,” I said, interrupting him mid-sentence.
“Okay,” he answered, his brow raised as his emotions seemed to be a mix between amused and perplexed.
Believe me, buddy, so am I.
“Anything in particular?” he asked, handing me the bagel he’d been saving for me.
I took it without complaint, my stomach growling in response as I broke off a piece and tossed it in my mouth.
It really was the best damn bagel I’d ever tasted.
He smiled, watching my reaction, but my mind was already on other things as I eyed the T-shirt he was sporting.
“How attached are you to those shirts of yours?”
He looked down at the fitted gray tee. It had a band logo, one I recognized from our childhood. It was retro and on trend, and it definitely did nice things to his body that I couldn’t help but notice.
“You want to give me a makeover?”
“I mean, I don’t want to go allQueer Eyeon you and wax your eyebrows and cut your hair. But, yeah, I wouldn’t mind picking out a few things for you.”
A slight smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as I ate another piece of my bagel. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you in your element,” he said.
And I wouldn’t mind the distraction, I thought.
