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His grin widened. “Too late. I already told Jaelyn to set it up.”
Shit. The text he’d just sent must have been to her. Saying no to my boss was hard enough, but Rand would have my head if I disappointed his girlfriend. It looked like he’d backed me into a corner, and I had a blind date to look forward to.
2
Mia
“We’ve got it from here.” I finished taping up the last box of kitchen stuff in Jaelyn’s apartment before I glanced up at my friend’s new boyfriend, Rand.
“With the muscle you hired, I’m sure you do.” I stood and set the tape dispenser on the counter. “But I was planning on counting them as my workout for the day, so do me a solid and let me carry a few things down to the truck. Otherwise, it’ll be the lamest workout in the history of exercising.”
The sexy fireman’s biceps bulged as he crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled, “I don’t think—”
Jaelyn sidled up next to him and gently elbowed him in the side. “No bossing my friends around, remember?”
Rand’s entire demeanor changed as he looked down at Jaelyn, his eyes softening and a grin tugging his lips upward. What I wouldn’t give for a guy to look at me the same way, even if my schedule was too jam-packed for me to spend any time searching for one. Which reminded me…
“I need to cancel that blind date you set up for me tonight.”
Jaelyn dragged her gaze away from Rand to narrow her eyes at me. “Why?”
“I have study group this evening,” I answered as I pasted my most innocent expression on my face.
“Nice try,” Jaelyn sighed, shaking her head. “Your study group won’t last until eight o’clock.”
“It could,” I argued. “We have a big test coming up next week.”
She tilted her head to the side as she searched my face for any sign that I was trying to pull a fast one over on her just to get out of the date. Her suspicion was fair, considering that was exactly what I was trying to do. “What time are you supposed to meet up with your study group?”
Crap. It looked like I’d been busted. “Five.”
“I’m sorry.” Unfortunately for me, she didn’t sound the least bit apologetic. “Could you repeat that? Because I must’ve heard you wrong.”
“I’m meeting them at the library on campus at five o’clock,” I grumbled, knowing darn well there was no getting out of the blind date since I didn’t have an excuse Jaelyn would accept.
“Pull up your big girl panties”—her eyes twinkled as she wagged her brows—“and make sure they’re pretty because you’re definitely going on the date.”
“Just because I show up to meet this guy—”
“Aha!” Jaelyn interrupted with a grin. “We’re making progress now since even you are admitting that you’ll be there tonight.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s going to ever see my panties,” I continued as though she hadn’t said anything.
“Never say never.” Rand chuckled and pulled Jaelyn closer as she added, “When you meet the right guy, you find yourself doing all sorts of things you never expected. Like moving in with him after less than a month.”
“Whoa! Slow down there.” I held up my hands, palms facing her. “How did we jump from a blind date to moving in together?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just saying; if it happened to me, it could happen to you, too.”
“Nope. No way.” I shook my head.
“Well, yeah,” she agreed with a sigh. “Not if you remain so closed to the possibilities out there.”
“Hey! You’re supposed to be my friend. Cut me some slack.”
“Yeah, I’m horrible.” Sarcasm was thick in her voice. “Doing things like giving you my living room furniture so you’re not stuck sitting on those folding lawn chairs anymore.”
One of the first things the movers had done was haul her couch, loveseat, and end tables up to my apartment. “You know how much I appreciate that.”
“And I’m willing to bet you’ll appreciate me setting you up on a blind date just as much once you meet Rand’s friend,” she countered with a smug grin.
“Whatever,” I huffed. “Can we quit the interrogation and help get the rest of your stuff down to the truck?”
“As long as whatever you carry down weighs less than ten pounds, that works for me,” Rand conceded. “And you keep an eye on Jaelyn to make sure she doesn’t try to lift anything.”
“My purse weighs more than that,” Jaelyn muttered with a roll of her eyes as Rand padded across the room to talk to the movers before they carried her bookshelf downstairs.
“Tell me about it. With all the books in my backpack, it’s more like twenty pounds. It’s like carrying around a stack of bricks all day,” I complained.
She glanced over at Rand. “It doesn’t matter. He wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t want me carrying anything. He’ll go all caveman over me if I try.”
