Page 20 of The Fake Out

“BABY!” I called out to Blaise. His brows knitted together, but he didn’t have time to think about it because I jumped into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his trim waist. “Please, go with it. I’ll explain later,” I whispered in his ear.

His eyes showed his understanding, and his hands gripped my ass tightly while he slanted his mouth against mine like I really was his girlfriend and he was happy to see me. There was definitely a part of him that was happy to see me.

He pulled away after a long kiss, his eyes sparkling with a look that said, ‘woman, you have some explaining to do.’

“You missed me, sweets?” he asked, but it was all for show. I owed this man a beer. Maybe a whole six-pack because I felt eyes staring at the scene we were making.

I slipped off him and turned to Olivia, who was wide-eyed with confusion. “You could have told me it was just Blaise here to take me to lunch, Liv.”

“Um…” she stammered.

“We’ll be back,” I told her. I dragged Blaise out of the shop onto the busy sidewalk of South Street.

What was I doing?

Chapter Seven

BLAISE

I stared at Veronica with amusement. I had no idea what was going on, but if I got to kiss this hellcat again, I was down for that. I studied her while she stood on the sidewalk, trying to catch her breath.

She looked as good as I remembered. She wore a long-sleeved black sweater that made her tits look great, a red plaid skirt, and Docs. Like a woman who could fuck you up, and you’d like it. Her hair was different. Instead of blue at the tips, it was now red, almost matching the Bulldogs colors.

She hadn’t explained what was going on, but I cast a glance at the shop window, and the two men she had been talking with were still staring at us. I stepped forward, cupped her face in both my hands and kissed her again. I slid open one eyelid after the kiss had gone on too long to find the men had walked away. I gave her a hard look when I pulled away.

She squinted up at me. “Blaise, I’m sorry.”

“You want to tell me what that was about?”

She sighed but walked off down the street, forcing me to jog to catch up to her. “Yes, but first, I need to get something to eat. It’s my only break of the day, and I have a ton of clients.”

“Pat’s or Geno’s?” I joked.

She scoffed at me. “Do I look like a tourist? No. I want a big-ass slice of pizza from Lorenzo’s.”

I barked out a laugh. “How’s that anymore less touristy than Pat’s or Geno’s?”

“Shut it, Holmstrom. Sometimes a girl just wants a big-ass slice of pizza.”

I laughed.

I liked her logic, and I mentally calculated how much cardio I’d have to do this afternoon to make up for it. When I came down to South Street, it was to see Eddie Mezzanetti and get my tattoo covered up. The boys kept ragging on me about having my ex’s name on my chest. Imagine my surprise when I saw my hook-up from last summer looking like she needed to be rescued. So I told the receptionist to tell Veronica I was here for my appointment, which confused her because it wasn’t in her system, but she seemed to go with it.

I didn’t imagine Veronica would yell ‘BABY!’ at me and jump into my arms. I really wanted to know what was going on. Also, I was interested in watching this woman go HAM on a slice of Lorenzo and Sons pizza. They did have massive slices.

“So…you want to tell me what’s going on?” I asked as we continued our walk down the street.

She sighed. “My brother hired my ex to help at the shop.”

“Which one was the ex?”

“The white guy.”

“Your ex who left you high and dry?”

She nodded. “I saw you, and…I don’t know. I thought maybe if I had a new boyfriend, he would get jealous, and then when he tried crawling back, I could go, ‘hahahaha, go fuck yourself.’ Is that bitter and petty?”

I laughed. “Little bit, sweets.”