Page 9 of Before I Lost You

“Don’t be such a pussy.” I look at Em just in time to see him rolling his eyes at me, and a smirk touches his lips. “He has to know who you are. Hasn’t stopped staring at you since I got closer.”

“Yeah, maybe he thinks I can’t keep it in my pants,” I growl. “You’re cockblocking me.”

Emerson throws his head back and laughs loudly, and my eyes connect with Kenneth’s once more. He looks away quickly, cheeks turning red as if I just caught him doing something he shouldn’t be doing.

“Oh, trust me, I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.”

I narrow my eyes at Emerson. “And what exactly is going on?”

“He wants you to go talk to him,” he says point-blank. “So get your ass up and go, or I’m going to do it myself.”

“You wouldn’t do me like that.”

“Wanna bet?” Em smirks. “He’s very pretty.”

“Back off, dick,” I growl, and he laughs loudly again. “Fine, fine. I’ll go.”

“I’m coming.” He grins.

“No fucking way,” I reply, getting up, but Emerson is already following quickly, making my escape futile. “Fuck,” I mutter.

I stop a foot or so away from his table, just to notice he’s there with a woman. What if I read this all wrong? Oh, fuck. What if he’s on a date? She’s very pretty, too. Well, that’s an understatement. I may have read this all wrong. So I take a step back, just to be shoved forward by Emerson’s hand on my lower back. He’s not letting me off the hook with this one.

I’m now right in front of their table, my cheeks heating when the woman looks up at me with a wide smile. Kenneth’s eyes look me up from my shoes to my face, and his eyes sparkle. I’m in trouble. I can tell. He’s amused by me. I’ve probably made a fool of myself—

“Can I help you?” Kenneth asks with a smirk.

“I—” I clear my throat. “You haven’t called or texted.”

I almost slap myself, flabbergasted that I’m being so forward right now. I can’t believethatjust came out of my mouth. It seems to amuse him, though, because there’s now a playful glint in his eye and his lips tilt up on the right side, making a small dimple appear right by his mouth. He’s so damn pretty.

“Maybe I don’t want to.” He shrugs. “Did you think of that?”

Emerson chuckles from my side and leans in, whispering, “He’s playing hard to get.”

Kenneth’s eyes look from me to Emerson, then back. And he raises an eyebrow. I shove Emerson and mutter a quickfuck offbefore I look at him once more. But before I can reply, the woman beside him grins like the Cheshire Cat and looks me up and down, assessing me.

“Is he the guy who left his number at the gallery?” she asks excitedly.

“The one and only.” He grins back, still staring into my eyes.

“Well, not the only one.” She snorts.

“You know what I mean,” he says, not missing a beat.

“I’m Conrad,” I say, offering my hand, and he looks down at it for a beat before shaking it. Our fingers linger, and it makes my skin tingle. “Nice to meet you.”

“I know.” He grins, cheeks tinting pink.

I narrow my eyes as I drop my hand back to my side. “This is the part where you introduce yourself.”

“I think you know who I am,” Kenneth says with a shrug, raising an eyebrow.

“I’d still like you to tell me,” I reply, not missing a beat either. Seems I have a comeback for everything that comes out of his mouth. He seems to like that, or at the very least, he finds me entertaining. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

“I’m Kenneth,” he replies with a smile.

“Ken,” the woman says, pushing his shoulder lightly. “Be nice to the guy. Stop fucking with him.”