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“My boyfriend?” Did she mean Thatch? Lyric hopped up too. Elina thought she and Thatch were together? “Um—”
“Because that’s really cool of him,” Elina went on. “Franco said Thatch told him you thought he’d be good at construction.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Lyric took her mat and stashed it on the shelf. “But Thatch and I aren’t really toge—”
“Go, Lyric!” Tallie interrupted. “Those SEAL guys aresohot.”
“Hey, maybe the four of you could go on a double date,” Cheyenne suggested. “Since Franco and Thatch are working together.”
Huh.Maybe Thatch’s joke the other night wasn’t so off base. Sure, when he’d mentioned being a pretend couple, Lyric had experienced a sudden adrenaline rush followed by an onslaught of panic, but the ruse apparently could work. A double date would be a great way to see Elina and Franco interact. In fact, that might be her only opportunity to get a glimpse of their relationship given the girl had never said more than five words to her before this moment.
“Well, thanks again.” Elina actually smiled at her. “He needs the money. So a job’ll really help.”
“You’re welcome.” She hesitated. She didn’t want to scare the girl away, but this could be her best chance to find an opening. “Maybe the four of uscouldhang out sometime.” She and Thatch could pretend for a short time, right? What harm would that cause? Surely Thatch would agree. This was his idea in the first place. Pretending to be together for a while was a small price to pay for making sure Elina was safe with Franco.
“Maybe.” The girl shrugged. “He’d probably want to. He’s pretty excited about the job.”
“Okay.” Lyric, however, did her best to appear not overly excited. “We can talk about it—”
The door opened, and Thatch stepped inside the studio before coming to an abrupt halt. “Hey. Didn’t realize you had a class now.”
“Oh. Yeah!” The panic flooded her, sending a warm rush through her chest. She hurried to meet him before he blew their cover in front of the girls. “But we were just finishing up. Come here, you.” She pulled him into a hug while her students serenaded them with catcalls.
“Uh.” Thatch’s body tensed, but hopefully no one elsenoticed. “Hey?” He gave her back a weak pat and she let him go so no one else could pick up on the awkwardness between them.
“We were just telling Ms. Valenza how hot her boyfriend is,” Skye said demurely.
Uh-oh—
Thatch visibly flinched. “Boyfr—?”
“Yep. I was telling them how happy we are together, shnookems,” Lyric said quickly.
He jerked his head to stare at her, eyes blinking faster.
“Elina and I were thinking maybe we could go on a double date with her and Franco sometime.” She murderously squeezed his hand so he would take the hint. “Wouldn’t that be a ton of fun?”
More blinking, and then after another squeeze on his hand, he stood straighter. “Sure. That sounds… good?”
“I’ll ask Franco.” Elina was already halfway out the door.
“And we should get going so you two can make out or whatever it is you’re doing tonight.” Tallie snickered.
“Yoga,” Thatch mumbled while the girls stashed their mats. “We’re doing yoga.”
“Sure. That’s what all the kids say these days.” Skye led the way out of the room, all of them laughing hysterically.
Thatch faced her the second the door closed, hands posted to his hips. “We’retogethernow?”
Whew.Lyric turned away from him so she could buy a moment of clarity. “Well, yeah,” she murmured as though this were no big deal. Just another normal day in Star Valley. “Fake-dating was your brilliant idea. Remember?”
“I said that as ajoke,” Thatch said behind her. “And Idistinctly remember you saying that pretending would be a bad idea.”
“That was before I thought it through.” She dragged two mats to the center of the floor, her hands fumbling to distance them a few feet apart. “This could help both of us, actually.”
“Yeah?” He marched to her, jaw set in a hard line, his sneakers squeaking on the bamboo floor. “How do you figure?”
“Well, you don’t want anyone to know you’re doing yoga or bronc riding.” She rushed to a shelf and selected two yoga blocks. “So a pretend relationship would explain why you’re coming to see me all the time. And it’ll help me to really see what’s going on with Elina and Franco. So I can make sure she’s safe.” She pointed to the bench with shoe storage. “Can you please take off your sneakers?” So he didn’t mark up her beautiful floors.
