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“Why are you giggling?” He glanced at her sharply, as though surprised to see her still there.
“Just admiring your sister’s tactics. Well, the least you can do is let me in. I’m guessing you cooked for four, right? You may as well feed me.”
“I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” he said.
“Oh, it’s a horrible idea. This will be a complete disaster,” she agreed, slipping under his arm and scooting into his apartment. “But it’ll build your character.”
“Fine, but don’t expect me to entertain you. You eat, then you leave. I have things to do.”
She laid a hand on his arm. As expected, he stiffened, but she kept her hand there anyway. She couldn’t help it. She was by nature a warm, affectionate person, and she was tired of always trying to hide that around him. Besides, if anyone needed a little dose of harmless human contact, it was this man of stone.
“I’ll leave if you want,” she said, meaning it. “But I’ll be stuck going home to a dinner of cereal, and whatever you have cooking in here smells amazing.”
He stared at the spot above her head before nodding shortly. “Sorry about this. I never meant for you to get caught up in the disaster that is my family dynamics.”
“Relax, Gray. I’m glad to be here. Besides, it might be good for you. I know too well that one-on-one interactions are not your forte. Practice can’t hurt.”
Sophie froze, realizing how that had sounded. She had practically proposed a date. With her boss. Who didn’t like her.
She ordered her impulsive brain to back the heck out of this impending disaster. But then Gray frowned. And for some reason, his reluctance solidified her resolve. She had promised to help him with his innate lack of social skills. Who said that had to be exclusive to the office?
And besides, she was starving.
“You’re my assistant,” he said. “This just seems…wrong.”
“Don’t be such a stiff. It’s just one night, and nobody has to know. On Monday you can go back to grumbling orders to Ms. Dalton. And if you’re on good behavior tonight, I may even start calling you Mr. Wyatt in the office as a little reward.”
“Indefinitely?”
“Let’s say for one day. For Monday, I promise to be perfectly respectful and boring. If you can go the entire night maintaining the facade that you’re interested in me for more than my filing skills, then I’ll even call you sir. Deal?”
His eyes lit at the idea of a challenge. “You’re meaning to tell me that you’ll actually be docile and unobtrusive for an entire day if I pretend you’re my girlfriend?”
Sophie’s heart seemed to skip for a split second at the word “girlfriend.” That hadn’t been what she’d meant by this little experiment.
And yet she still wasn’t turning and running. She pasted a smile on her face as though she played these kinds of charades every day.
“Eh, let’s say almost-girlfriend,” Sophie said with a nervous smile. “Let’s pretend it’s the third date, and that we’re moving in the direction of a committed relationship.”
There. That seemed harmless enough.
He ran a hand over his short dark hair. “This is insane. I don’t know why the hell I agreed to this dinner in the first place, and now I’m stuck with you.”
“That’s lovely. I have to say, you’re a pretty awful boyfriend so far.”
“Sorry,” he said gruffly. “That was rude. I’m never at my best around you.”
His eyes seemed to warm a moment, and be still her little stupid heart, but she almost wished that he was interested in her for real. Then again, he hadn’t even once glanced down at her strategic sweater. Clearly he wasn’t interested in her as a woman.
So much for my investment in a push-up bra that weighs more than a Thanksgiving turkey, she thought.
“Lesson number two,” Sophie said, setting her purse down and shrugging off her coat. “Always offer the lady a drink.”
She started to set her coat on top of her purse, but he snatched it from her and hung it in the hall closet. “Very good,” she said. “That was a test.”
“It’s not like I’ve never had a guest over before. I’m not completely without manners.”
The way he stalked toward the kitchen sort of undermined his claim on manners, but she let it go. Baby steps.
