Page 39 of Not Mine To Love

“Uh oh. You think he recognized you?”

“Or saw you taking pictures? You weren’t exactly subtle,” Dana added for good measure. That was so Dana.

I sighed and buried my head in my palms. “Oh nooooo ... what am I going to do?”

My phone beeped with an incoming text. I immediately reached for my phone and gulped hard when I saw that the text was from Julius.

“I’m outside. Can we talk?”

My hands shook as I sat the phone on the table. “You guys, he wants me to meet him outside.”

“Who?”

“Julius.”

“Who’s Julius?”

“The guy. The one who just saw me taking pictures. At least, I think he saw me. Why else would he want me to meet him outside?” Both Piper and Dana were looking at me in confusion.

“How do you know he knows it’s you?” Piper asked, looking confused.

“Umm, because he just texted me.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t go. Just pretend that you don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“That’s terrible advice,” Dana said.

“Try it. It might work,” Piper reassured me.

I figured there was nothing to lose. “What should I say?”

“Don’t listen to Piper. Please don’t. That’s a terrible plan. You can’t just pretend to not know that he noticed you.”

“Don’t listen to Dana. I’m the queen of bad plans, but this is a good one. Trust me.” I didn’t trust Piper. Before she met Ty, she had literally dated clowns. She didn’t show the best judgement.

“Okay, so tell him that you’re home in bed,” Piper suggested.

“Don’t tell him that.”

“Do you have a better idea?” Piper demanded.

“Just go out there and see what he wants. There’s a possibility he never saw the camera.”

“Dana’s right. Maybe he didn’t see the camera.” I felt if I said it aloud, I could make it true.

Piper shrugged, her feelings clearly hurt because her plan was vetoed.

“I’ll be right back. It’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

They nodded in encouragement, but I knew as soon as I turned my back they would exchange knowing looks with each other.

I slid off the stool and made my way outside. He was standing with his back against his car.

As I approached him, I tried to get my story together. I would tell him that I was just taking a pic of his friend because I thought it was funny. Yeah. That sounded plausible. Totally plausible.

He looked handsome leaning against the car. He had on dark gray dress pants, a black and white dress shirt with a collar that peeked over the gray sweater he wore on top of it. He was dressed more like a guy going to a casual meeting than a guy going to a strip club. I wondered how Ana felt about him going to a strip club. Maybe I could use that question as leverage.