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Because I have a child on the way? Because that child’s father left me when he found out? Because things are about to get a whole lot more complicated, and I’m too terrified to even think about the reality of it all?
One dinner. One meal. One date. One night that involves a whole lot more than a chaste kiss, hopefully.
Tonight, I can feel like a human—like a woman. I’ll enjoy Rudy’s company and indulge. Then, in the morning, I’ll call Dr. Melissa Gardner and I’ll get my life in order. I’ll tell my sisters and my mother about the baby—and everything else. Both secrets will be out in the open, and I’ll be able to deal with the consequences. Rudy and I can have the same post-date amicable split he had with Candice, and everything will work out all right.
Easy. Freaking. Peasy.
“Fine,” I hear myself say, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. “But only as a thank you for the book.” I hug the thriller to my chest as Rudy rewards me with a dazzling smile.
“Works for me.” He squeezes my hand again, then brushes past me as he calls out for his grandmother. “I’m leaving!”
I hear a harrumph from the depths of the stacks and hide a smile behind my fingers. Rudy reappears at my elbow and gestures to the door. “Let’s go. It’s nearly five. We can have an early dinner.”
“Right now?” I make sound that is embarrassingly close to a squawk. “Don’t I get a chance to go home and change?”
“Nope. I’m afraid you’ll reconsider, and you look perfect anyway. Got to strike while the iron is hot.” He says the words near my ear, and I inhale the delicious, manly scent of his cologne.
His words catch up to me then, and…he thinks I look perfect?
When I turn my head to look at Rudy, his lips are only an inch from mine. Something passes between us—a flash of tension. A moment. My body grows taut, and I know in the depths of my heart that going out with him tonight is a very, very bad idea.
CHAPTER 3
Rudy
Lily pulls at her hand and I spin around on the sidewalk without letting go, tugging her closer. She catches herself against my chest, dark tendrils of hair bouncing around her face. Gorgeous woman, all curves and angles.
“If we’re going on a date right now,” she says, “I have conditions.”
“Are you a lawyer, Ms. Viceroy?” My voice drops as I say the words, and I’m rewarded with a flush on her cheeks.
“No. But I have to be honest with you.”
Nodding, I put an inch of space between us. “Sure.” My hand finds the curve of her hip and I notice it fits perfectly there. Like her body was made for me to touch. To hold.
“This is casual,” she says in no uncertain terms. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in my life right now, and I absolutely do not have time for a relationship. The only way I’ll go to dinner with you is if we agree that this is going nowhere.”
I arch a brow. “Nowhere?”
“Nowhere serious,” she amends.
“Are you planning on taking off on another international trip soon?” I’m surprised to realize I don’t like that thought. I don’t like it at all. Having her this close to me is making my cock harden shockingly fast—and she’s thinking of leaving already?
Lily’s lips bunch. “Something like that.”
Shaking off the weird feeling I just got, I give her a shrug. “Baby, I’m the King of Casual. If you don’t want anything serious, that works for me.”
Her eyes narrow. “And no pet names.”
I can’t help it. I grin. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realize it’ll be much harder to keep things casual with Lily than it has been with other women…but why would I think that? I haven’t had a relationship in five years. Not since my ex took everything from me—including the family I thought we were building together—and I vowed to never put myself in that position again. I’m not lying when I say I’m the King of Casual. I don’t do serious relationships.
I should be jumping for joy right now. Lily Viceroy is basically offering me a fun, no-strings-attached sex fest on a silver platter. Her requirement that we keep things casual is a good thing.
But I feel…odd. A bit bereft.
She’s still scowling at me over the “baby” comment, so I relent with a deep nod. “No pet names. We keep things casual.” I put a hand on my heart. “I solemnly swear to not talk about the future or the past, and to tamp down my irresistible charm to give you a chance to walk away from me when this is over.”
Lily rolls her eyes, but her twitching lips betray her. “Fine. Let’s go.”
