I peeked at him from beneath my arm. “Of course not. He’s theenemy.”
“Love,” he said, pulling my fire-engine red lipstick out of my purse, “youknowhow I feel about morally gray villains.” He pulled me toward him and began applying the lipstick with all the delicate precision of a mother hen pimping out her daughter.
“This isn’t like that. The forced proximity, the rivalry?—”
“—basically the plot of a rom-com.”
I scowled at him. “Exactly. And webothknow the last place you’d find me is in a goddamn rom-com.”
He handed me a tissue, then smacked his lips theatrically. “Do what you must.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
It’s easier to douse a flame than to suffocate a wildfire.
I will be the death of him.
Just…one kiss.
One drink turned into three. Then I was making excuses, and Otis gave me a knowing thumbs-up before I could change my mind.
By the time I’d paid for a cab with money I couldn’t afford and reached the marina, the déjà vu was suffocating. I retraced the exact steps I’d taken the night before—but this time, I wasn’t crouching like a stalker in the shadows. This time, I held my head high. I told myself to woman-up.
I knocked before I could chicken out again.
The second I did, panic flared. What if he wasn’t home? What if hewasn’t alone? Could I still dive behind the neighbor’s potted plant?
The door opened.
“I’m not into you.”
The words exploded from my mouth before my brain could stop them. I immediately wished to die.
John stood there, blinking rapidly. His hair was tousled. Shirt unbuttoned. He looked half-asleep, like I’d woken him up.
“What?” he said, groggy and stunned, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Last night—it might’ve looked like I wanted to, you know…kiss you. But I didn’t. Or maybe I did, but it was the drinks, and the movies, and I felt cozy andmaybea little turned on?—”
I shook my head wildly.
“Anyway, the point is—I’m not into you. Like that. Just so you know.”
John slid his hands into his pockets. “Well, Iam,very much, into you.”
Oh shit.
“Well said.”
Apparently I had spoken out loud. Fantastic. My skin felt too tight. My pulse pounded in my throat.
He just said that. To my face. That he was into me.Me?
“You…are?” I managed.
He tilted his head slightly, as if explaining what oxygen was. “Unfortunately. Yes. A lot.”
A lot.
