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She tipped her head to the side. “You didn’t?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I got it at college. There were three Michaels on the team. They had to differentiate.”
“They could have called you Devlin,” she pointed out, laying slices of roasted beef onto the bread.
“That would have been too easy.”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “I have a soft spot for Irish.”
“I’ve got a hard spot for you.”
She laughed and threw a pickle at him. He caught it and ate it. “Let me take you out next week,” he said when he’d swallowed it down.
“Where?” She widened her eyes, her lips still curled. “To the bar? Should we broadcast to the whole town that we’re fucking?”
“We’re not fucking.”
“Then what are we doing?” she asked. Her voice was softer. The smile had gone, but she didn’t look upset. Just interested.
“I don’t know. Something more.”
Because he wasn’t just here for sex. Yes, it was good. Okay, fucking amazing. But this was perfect, too. Watching her make a sandwich for him. Knowing that another day he’d make one for her.
Laughing about slingers and butter cake and nicknames.
“We’ll go to Charleston,” he said. “Nobody knows us there.”
“But everybody will notice that we’ve left town at the same time.” She ran her tongue along her bottom lip. “It’s not going to work.”
He wanted to take her out. Wanted to feed her.
Wanted to spend the entire night with her curled in his arms. Because leaving her at night was shit. Hiding away was making him testy.
They were grown adults. They shouldn’t have to do this.
“I’ll have a meeting I can’t miss in Charleston. A dinner meeting. I’ll have to stay overnight. Nobody will blink an eye.”
“How about me?”
“You’ll be going to New York to meet up with your friend.”
She cut the sandwiches and carried them over to where he was sitting. He reached for her, pulling her onto his lap so she was straddling him.
“Ella?”
“Yeah. Nobody will even think it’s a coincidence. Seriously, who would put us together?”
“Ethan.”
“No he wouldn’t. Not unless throwing himself on the floor knocked any sense into him. Seriously, it’s fine. Nobody will suspect a thing.” He stroked her cheek. “Unless you’d rather not. I understand that.”
“No, I want to. I really want to.” She slid her hands onto his chest. “I just don’t want this to get ruined. It’s too special.”
It was his turn to smile. “Yeah, I know that. And we won’t.”
“I’ll talk to Ella. Make sure she’s okay being my alibi. Plus, she kind of knows about us already.” Grace’s gaze met his. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it is.” It was weird, but he liked that she’d been talking to somebody about them.
