That was perfect, and exactly what I was going to say. I hid my smile behind my glass as I took another drink.
Ashley grinned, and I thought I caught a bit of a suggestive glint in her expression. “It was so obvious in that video as you carried her down the ladder. The way you held her close to you.”
This time I actually coughed on the sip of water I’d just taken.
“But I am curious,” she continued. “Why didn’t you just climb down the ladder?”
Seth glanced over at me with a raised brow and a smirk pulling at his lips. It was a question that came up repeatedly in the comments on the video. And one I had no problem answering when people asked me in person. But no way was I about to engage with the trolls online who were looking for an easy rage-bait discussion about how I was too stupid to live.
“I’m afraid of heights, and I don’t think he wanted to risk me panicking halfway down.”
Seth cocked an eyebrow at me. “I wasn’t sure you were climbing out that window without a plan.”
That was probably true, although if it came down to it, I wouldn’t have had a choice.
Hattie leaned over close to me. “Don’t look, but James just walked in with Evelyn.”
I stiffened, resisting the urge to turn around and glare at them.
Seth raised a brow but didn’t miss a beat. His arm wound around my back and he pulled me tight to his side. His lips brushed my temple. “Do you want to go?”
I was grateful Savannah had invited me to come tonight, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay now that James and the girl he’d cheated on me with were here. On the other hand, the whole point of fake dating Seth was to show James I’d moved on.
I looked up at Seth, unsure what I wanted to do.
He searched my face and gave me a clipped nod. “We’ll stay a bit longer and then go. Okay?”
My body relaxed. “Yeah.”
Seth made no attempt to move his arm. Instead, he brushed his hand up and down my bicep. I focused on the movement of his hand and the conversations around me, trying to ignore the fact that my cheating ex was there. I closed my eyes, letting Seth’s touch ground me, and then laid my head against his shoulder.
I was just a little bit curious how Seth was still single. The guy brought me a freaking plant, made me a playlist, and was pretty amazing tonight. How attentive he was made it glaringly obvious how horrible James had been at that. And while I understood Seth didn’t mean it the way a boyfriend would, it still made me wonder what his story was.
He definitely didn’t like the attention from the women around town, which made me believe he wasn’t looking for anything.
But when his gaze met mine, the intensity in his eyes made me wonder if he felt the little zaps of attraction between us too, or if he was just that good of an actor. My stomach flipped.
Dammit. Regardless of his story, I had to remember this was fake. Neither of us were looking for anything, and we’d agreed that this was a mutually beneficial plan.
I refused to mess it all up by reading into things that weren’t there.
Chapter Fourteen
SETH
I pulledup my text thread with Violet and my fingers hovered over the keys. We hadn’t talked since I dropped her back off at her place Saturday night. Were there times that I found myself wanting to text her over the last few days? Yep. But each time I’d remind myself we weren’t really dating.
Why that concept was getting harder and harder to remember, I didn’t know. Okay, that wasn’t the whole truth—I did know. I liked spending time with her. Maybe neither of us were ready for something serious again, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t be friends while we fake dated. Right?
Although the way I felt with her on Saturday, especially when she tensed up when James walked in, was anything but just friends. I hated that she couldn’t seem to avoid him, but I was quickly learning that was part of small-town life. I could only hope that he was getting the message that she was mine now.
Fuck.I blinked. Not actually mine. But as far as he knew—as far as everyone knew—she was.
We’d made plans to get together for breakfast or lunch later in the week, but now I was curious what the latest development I’d overheard meant for the arson case. How fast news traveled in a small town still surprised me some days. I glanced at the time and typed out a quick message.
Me: Heard the news. What does that mean for the arson case?
Violet: Means we’re pretty much starting over. Since we know the BBQ place wasn’t the work of our arsonist, the matchbook Logan found isn’t really a clue.
