“Put it this way: if you were here, I might ask you to put me out of my misery. Let Lori get it in case it’shim.”
“He doesn’t know where you live.”Never cared to ask, I guess.“Besides, Lori is upstairs, probably sticking pins in the puppet that looks like me.”
“She doesn’t hate you.”
“Then why is there a note on her bedroom door that readsThe We Hate Evie Club—Meeting in Session?”
Riley laughs as the bell rings again.
“Who the heck visits on Sunday?” I complain, climbing from the couch.
“Wild idea, go find out, because we’re not done here.”
“We aresodone. Telling you about last night wasn’t an act of confession,” I mutter, trudging my way along the hallway. “I don’t need your absolution, Father Filthy.” But I do need my new bank card to arrive. I reported it and my credit card lost this morning.They said three business days until a new one is mailed out. It’ll be good to be solvent again.
“I just don’t want to see you hurt.” Riley’s sigh is audible down the line.
“I don’t need to know him,” I reply as I unlock the front door. “I’m not seeing him again. One and done.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Riley, I am not all heart-eye emojis over the guy. As usual, you’re missing the point, because when I said he was my unicorn, I was referring to his magical horn. And by horn, I mean—”
“His dick!”
Riley’s pronouncement is shrill as I swing the door open, and my entire stomach flips, somehow landing on my ovaries. Because out in the street stands Oliver, looking like he’s just stepped from a yacht in Saint-Tropez. His jet hair is sun dappled, and the hem of his linen shirt flutters in the summer breeze.
“His magical dick,” Riley repeats, oblivious to the man with the magical member standing in front of me. “Come to think of it, I think I heard you yelling last night. From all the way over here. In France. Harder, pony boy, harder!” he cries in some approximation of Evie ecstasy. And then he whinnies.
“You were enthusiastic.” The vision in front of me is all smoky tone and devilish grin as he slips off his sunglasses, those strangely lovely eyes pinning me where I stand. “Hello, Eve.”
“Who is that?” Riley demands from somewhere near my hip because I almost dropped the phone.
“What are you doing here?” My heart seems to slide through my insides, settling in the space between my legs. I cross my legs at the ankles, oh so casually, as though he might hear it thrumming away down there.
“Isn’t it obvious?” His gaze moves over me, stroking like a caress.
“Oh my God!” Riley squawks. “Is that the unicorn?”
“Shut up,” I hiss into the phone as I swing back to the hall. “If you wanted to know who’s at the door, you should’ve installed a Ring doorbell.” I end the call, setting my phone on the thin hall console.
Oliver moves back a pace as I step into the front street, pulling the door almost closed behind me.
“Seriously, what are you doing here?” I strain to keep my tone even, conscious of passing foot traffic as my heart pounds away in its highly inappropriate resting place.
“Ah.” Oliver slips his hands into his pockets, his gaze dipping to the cobblestones. “I see,” he murmurs as he scuffs the sole of his expensive loafer. “I’d hoped you might be pleased to see me.”
Pleasure pokes me in the chest. “That I am not buying.” I’m digging it, but not buying it.
“I’m sorry?” His gaze lifts, and he blinks almost owlishly.
“This whole ...” I wave my finger over whatever this is meant to be.“I’m so adorably embarrassed, floppy-haired rom-com male lead.”
“My hair is not floppy.” His eyebrow spikes. “And I was aiming for bashful.”
“Doubtful.” I try not to grin as he straightens. Maybe Riley was right. Maybe I’m not cut out for one-night stands, because I’m not exactly unhappy to see this amount of tall, dark, and handsome on my (borrowed) doorstep. “Have you ever been?”
“No, not for a while.”
