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There was something about the bright pink of her dress that set off her gentle tan. It hung to just above her knees, and for my own sanity, I had to stop thinking about flipping the damn thing up and her over.
I rubbed my hand down my face and leaned against the wall. Trev came up beside me, holding out a beer. I curled my fingers around the neck of the ice-cold bottle and, with a nod of thanks, took a deep pull of beer.
“How the fuck,” Trev started, “Did she come out of an online ad?”
I shook my head. “Dunno. She only put it up for a joke because her friends and sister made her.”
“At least you have something in common. Doing shit because your sister makes you.”
I snorted and wiped my mouth. “No shit. That’s the reason I’m here in the first place.”
“She’s hot enough to turn a fake date to a real one, though.”
“I’m not interested in dating anyone right now. You know that.” I swigged again.
“Are you telling me she doesn’t change your mind?” He pointed in her direction before I slapped his hand down. “She’d change my fucking mind. Hell, I want to date her. Can I have her if you don’t want her?”
“Can you have her? Fucking hell, Trev, she’s not a leftover slice of cake.”
He grinned. “Yeah, but could you imagine if she was?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t going to go down whatever road he was steering me toward.
Yes, Lauren was hot as fuck. Yes, she was the kind of girl I could see myself taking out again.
No, I wasn’t going to make this fake date real.
I wasn’t ready to date anyone. That wasn’t me being a salty asshole because of Claudia, but it was the truth. I was happy the way I was right now.
No matter how attracted I was to Lauren Green.
Maybe a one-night stand was an option. Maybe she’d be in agreement with that. After all, that benefitted us both.
Shit, no—what was I thinking? I couldn’t walk up to the woman and say, “Hey, I don’t want to see you again, but let’s fuck.”
Jesus Christ.
I was spending too much time around Trevor.
Lauren laughed, picking up her wine glass from the bar, and touched the arm of the girl behind the bar. She skirted the outside of the room as she made her way over to me and sidled up next to me.
“Sorry about that,” she said quietly. “This was supposed to be my shift and, well, Stella’s a nosy bitch.”
I may have met her anyway? Fucking hell. The sad part was I probably wouldn’t have paid the blindest bit of attention to her if she were behind the bar.
Shit, it didn’t matter what attention I paid to her.
We were pretending. This wasn’t a real date. This was her…well, I still wasn’t sure what the hell either of us were doing with this stupid arrangement, but I was mostly getting Kirsty off my back at this point.
“No worries.” I stood a little straighter. “We don’t have to stay long.”
Lauren shrugged one shoulder. “It’s your reunion. I’m just here to look pretty.”
“And you’re doing an awesome job of it,” Trev input. “Now, talk to me about Stella. Is she single?”
I pressed my fingers into my temples. Trev was my best friend, but my God, the guy thought with his dick a little too often.
Lauren touched her fingertips to her mouth as she bit back a laugh. “She’s single,” she confirmed. “But she’ll eat you for breakfast.”
“I don’t mind being breakfast. I’ll be lunch and dinner, too, if she’ll let me.”
This time, she didn’t hide her laugh. “Oh, my God. That line is awful.”
“It’s not a line. It’s the truth.”
She looked at me. “He’s joking, right?”
Grimacing, I met her eyes. “I wish I could say he was. He’s what kids today call a fuckboy.”
“It’s not just the kids. He’s definitely a fuckboy.”
My lips twitched. “Really? My sister just calls him a cu—”
“Incoming, three o’clock.” Trev interrupted me, giving me a nudge with his elbow.
I knew what I’d see before I turned my head.
Claudia.
She strolled through the door on the arm of her boss. Her long, blond hair was curled over one shoulder and hung to almost her waist in curls. The black dress she wore hugged her body from the neck to her knees, and she carried a clearly expensive purse that was slung over her shoulder.
Her dark blue eyes scanned the room at the same time Lauren tucked herself beneath my arm and pressed her body against mine. Her fingers grazed my hip as she looped her arm around my waist. “Is that your ex?”
She’d clearly heard Trev’s interruption. Not that it was hard. The dead could hear Trevor.
“Yeah,” I said, loosely resting my arm over her shoulders. “That’s Claudia.”
“And her boss.” Trev coughed into his hand.
