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“Uh…” She seemed taken aback by the abrupt questions and was slow to answer, “I’m having supper with Julian and Nia. Why?”
“Oh.” I sat on the edge of her bed and bowed my face as I rubbed at the aching point on my temples. “You weren’t home. I freaked out.”
“Why are you—oh! That’s right. You’re only working until eight these days,” she answered herself. “I forgot.”
“Yeah,” I said. “So I’m alone at your place now, and it’s getting more and more tempting by the second to start digging through your drawers and find out what you hide under your underwear.”
“Go through my drawers, and I slaughter you,” she warned.
“Shh,” I said, beginning to grin, and already feeling better from just hearing her voice and knowing she was okay. “Don’t worry. You’ll never know I was there.”
“Lord,” she groaned. “Why did I give you a key to my place again?”
“Because I wheedled and begged and didn’t shut up about it until you finally gave in,” I reminded her cheerfully. Kind of how I planned to get her to marry me, too. Then, I added, “Hey. You mind if I order myself a pizza?”
“Do I mind…?” she repeated slowly as if she was sure she’d misheard me. Then, “Did you seriously just ask for my permission to buy yourself a pizza?”
“No.” I frowned because when she said it that way, it sounded wrong. I could order myself a damn pizza if I wanted to. “I was just…” Shit. WhathadI been doing? “I have no idea what the fuck I was doing,” I muttered. “Bye.” And I hung up.
An hour later, I was kicked back in the recliner in Chloe’s front room with my feet up and a movie playing when the lock in the entrance clicked. A moment later, the door opened and Chloe entered.
She paused when she saw me.
I waved with the slice of pizza I was holding. “Hey! Welcome.”
Tipping her head slightly, she squinted and answered with a slow, “Hey… I didn’t realize you were going to eat your pizzahere.”
“Yep,” was all I said, before taking a bite. Then, with my mouth full, I asked, “How wasyoursupper, dear?”
Chloe grimaced at the question and stepped the rest of the way inside before closing the door behind her. “Nia’s been experimenting with kale lately,” she answered as she hung her purse on a hook where she usually left it.
“Bleh,” I said, wincing for her as I finished my slice.
Kale did not sound fun, especially since Nia was famous for making really good, fattening desserts.
I lifted my half-empty box when Chloe’s gaze drifted that way and temptation glittered in her eyes. “Want some of this?”
She took a moment to draw closer to it and salivate before slowly shaking her head. “No, I… I really can’t. I already used my cheat meal for the week with the bacon and mimosa and—”
“Cheat meal?” I cried. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re not still extreme dieting, are you? Woman, your body is in prime condition. Eat some damn pizza.”
“I only look like this because I watch my weight, eat healthy, and exercise religiously,” she told me with a roll of her eyes.
“Oh, Jesus,” I muttered. Fed up with the direction of this conversation, I gripped her wrist and commanded, “Come here.”
“What—?” She started in confusion as I drew her forward, closer to where I lounged in the chair. Then she yelped out a startled scream as I jerked her off-balance and she went tumbling right into my lap. “Luke!”
I slapped a playful hand high onto her thigh as soon as she plopped onto my legs, and I gave it a squeeze.
“Oh, shit, yeah,” I told her, nodding. “You could definitely handle growing a little more cushion there for a guy to gain maximum gripping power. Being healthy’s nice, but I recommend extending your cheat day from one totwoa week…at the very least.”
Chloe blinked at me.
I half expected her to jack me in the jaw for getting so fresh with her. With the hot-and-cold treatment she’d been giving me lately, it could clearly go either way.
But all she did was blink at me with a dry, unimpressed stare before lifting her eyebrows. “Is that your professional, medical opinion, then?”
“Sure,” I answered with a cheeky nod, running my palm down her thigh toward her knee because it seemed as if she wouldn’t make me stop touching her if my hand was in a more respectable place. “Dr. Luke knows best, and he sayseat.” I set the pizza box on her lap so we could both reach it.
