Page 40 of Make it a Double

“What’re you doing here?” he asked, placing his hands on the bartop.

“Hello, Duke. It’s nice to see you, too,” I said brightly. He didn’t laugh, so I blew out a breath and nodded behind him. “I’m here to pick Sawyer up for dinner.”

Duke followed my gaze before swinging his mean mug back to me. “Why?”

I didn’t understand the question. “Why what?”

“Why are you picking her up for dinner?”

“Why not? She was kind to me when I was here last. Figured it’d be nice to see a familiar face,” I said, sticking my hands in my pockets. “Is that okay?”

He didn’t respond right away, taking the time to study me like we had all the time in the world. “I was kind to you, and I didn’t get a dinner invitation.”

At that, I laughed. “Aw, did you want one? I didn’t think you were too keen on me.”

“I’m not,” he said matter-of-factly. “Just pointing out that your explanation of seeing a familiar face is bullshit.”

Well, damn. He got me there.

Sawyer popped up behind Duke before I could respond, offering a shy smile. She looked up at her boss expectantly, waiting for him to say something or leave. Instead, he settled in and leaned against the counter behind him with his arms crossed.

It was clear he didn’t trust me. I didn’t even entirely blame him, but couldn’t he have perched somewhere else to cut the awkward tension?

Sawyer cleared her throat and swung that piercing green gaze back to me. “I’m running a few minutes behind. Are you okay to wait while I get changed?”

I nodded, returning her smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’m easily entertained. Besides, your boss is excellent company.”

Duke snorted and shook his head, walking away. Apparently, he didn’t like the idea of keeping me company after all.

Sawyer leaned forward conspiratorially. “I don’t think anyone believes Duke makes excellent company. Even Olivia knows what a grump he can be.”

“Fine by me. It wasn’t his company I wanted anyway,” I said with a wink.

Apparently, that was the right thing to say because Sawyer’s cheeks grew pink at my words, a sight I’d never tire of. Then she rolled her eyes. “Give me five,” she said, turning to leave before I could respond.

SAWYER

Beckett guided me toward the only shiny black Mercedes in the parking lot. From the moment we stepped outside of Frank’s, his hand had been delicately grazing the small of my back. I should have stopped him. That didn’t seem like something a friend would do, but it made me surprisingly giddy knowing how hard he was trying to keep his hands to himself. And what did I know? I didn’t have many friends to begin with.

It wasn’t like I was entirely blameless, either.

No matter how hard I told myself it wasn’t a date, I had very much been treating it like a date all day. I’d practically been giddy jumping out of bed this morning. Then I went through my list of reasons why it was a monumentally bad idea to think like that.

Thankfully, the fact that I couldn’t fit in anything made it so much easier to treat this as a dinner with a friend than the date it absolutely wasn’t. To Olivia’s credit, she had overnighted me a couple of basic pieces that would get me through until we could go shopping, but none of them had been incredibly sexy. I settled on a basic green T-Shirt dress with white sneakers. The weather was still nice. It wouldn’t be long until I couldn’t wear this dress anymore. Plus, it hid my growing belly so I wouldn’t have to answer any difficult questions before choking down an uncomfortable meal.

“I see your taste in cars hasn’t changed much,” I mused as we neared Beckett’s vehicle. “Does this one meet your standards?”

“I don’t like to be predictable, but it is what it is. At least this one is bigger. I felt like I was suffocating in that tiny ass car,” he said, laughing.

I glanced at him over my shoulder, trying my hardest to keep a straight face. “You did look a little ridiculous in it.”

Beckett’s fingers tugged at the fabric of my dress, pulling me to a stop just shy of his car. His hand never left my waist as he stepped into my line of sight. “You know what’s ridiculous?” he asked, lifting the corner of his lips in a smirk.

“What’s that?”

My breath caught as he leaned in, reaching behind me until he grasped the handle and tugged. The door swung open against my ass, and I stumbled forward in surprise.

Right into his arms.