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She sent me one back with a line of thumbs down. Grumpy but awake. I’d take it.
A minute later, the door swung open and Sadie, wearing a cream-colored T-shirt and brown shorts, walked out, still staring down at her phone screen. She was so phone blind, she walked straight into me, gave a tiny scream, and sent her phone flying into the wall in her haste to back away from me. “Denver!”
“Well, who did you think would be standing out here?” I had just texted her, for crying out loud. I reached around her and closed the door before plucking the keys out of her front pocket and locking up her apartment for her.
She murmured thanks and took the keys back. “I thought you’d be waiting for me in your Jeep.”
“This is a date. Why would I not come to your door? Who have you been dating?”
That earned me a glare. “This is not like a regular date, Denver. This is a work date.”
“A date is a date.”
We both bent to pick up her phone at the same time and bumped heads, which felt… not great. I hoped I was the one who took the brunt of it, but the way Sadie was cradling her forehead said otherwise.
“You okay?” I asked. “Lemme see.”
She shook her head and winced. “No, stay back. I’m going to pick up my phone. By myself this time.” She crouched down, keeping her eyes on me in case I decided not to heed her warning.
Miraculously, the phone looked okay. While she examined it, I came and examined her head, running my thumb lightly over the goose egg I’d caused. She winced again but didn’t stop me.
“This is one way to start a date,” I murmured, my hands running into her hair for no reason at all. I was looking for more goose eggs. At least, that was the story I’d tell her if she stopped me. But she didn’t stop me. She closed her eyes and practically purred like a kitten. Her hair was silky and messy, and apparently her kryptonite. When was the last time a guy ran his fingers through her hair? I didn’t like any of the possible answers to that question. How I could be so irritated and yet so attracted to her all the time? ALL THE TIME.
She opened her eyes and gazed up at me. “I’m so tired. Let’s not grow up to be newsraiders.”
“Agreed.”
I was still holding her head, her face cradled between my palms. Chemistry was crackling between us like live wires. The longer we stared at each other the less I could deny it. With anyone else, it would have been the perfect moment. All I had to do was lower my face to hers and meld those pert lips with mine. I had the whole thing mapped out. Every move, every tilt. The give. The take.
Insanity.
I drew my hands back and swallowed. “You have a good case on that phone. Sturdy and black. No nonsense. Perfect for butterfingers.”
“Your insults are getting better.”
“I’ve learned from the best.”
We went back to silently studying each other, and I couldn’t think of a thing to say. That had never happened to me before. I had nothing. No game whatsoever.
Sadie looked away first and scuffed the toe of her Vans against the welcome mat. “When you touch me, it makes me feel confused.” Immediately, her hand popped up to cover her mouth.
“I feel the same way.” Like her, the truth sort of leaked out without my permission.
I wavered between horror and relief at what we’d just acknowledged. I mean, it wasn’t a surprise, but still. We’d said it. Out loud. To each other.
Sadie frowned. “What I mean is, I find you stupidly attractive, but I don’t want to date you in real life. I don’t like you like that. You know, enough for me to act on it.”
Ah, there was the Sadie I knew. She couldn’t help herself. She just had to clarify the situation to death.
“Got it.” I started down the hall, and she hurried to catch up.
“So, you should stop being all flirty when it’s the two of us. I know it just oozes out of you without your control, but rein it in, okay?”
“Sadie, you can stop talking now. We are one-hundred percent clear.” Mostly clear. “So, when you said stupidly attractive, did you mean I’m next-level stupid-hot or that being attracted to me is stupid?”
“Go with the one that doesn’t stroke your ego.” She threw her hands up. “Better yet, pretend we never had this conversation.”
“It’s like it never happened.”
