“And what was that, then?” I asked, raising a brow in challenge.
“She’d never tell me. Literally, the only thing she ever refused to share. She said it wasn’t her story to tell.”
I thought back to that summer. I knew what had happened. She decided to sabotage my swim meet by ghosting me right when I needed her support, and when I broke up with her, she left school. End of story.
Women.
“Fine. So I should, what? Go to her place. Play nicey-nicey until she writes up a good article and the team thinks I’m a good prospect, then walk away?”
Cody shrugged. “I mean, if there’s no feelings there, it shouldn’t be too hard. Right?”
I wanted to argue, but I could see the logic.
“You’re right.” I clapped Cody on the shoulder, pushing to my feet and heading for the door.
“Where are you going?” Cody called.
I shot a grin over my shoulder.
“I’m going to go and make my fake girlfriend’s night.”
Darcy
Red lipstick…red… there, found it. With a sigh of relief, I pulled my lucky red lipstick out of the bottom of my makeup bag and slicked a layer over my lips, taking a moment to assess the way the blood-red made my lips fuller. More noticeable. Red was my power color, and I felt a little like a suffragette every time I wore it. I was strong, independent, and keen to see where tonight went.
Finished with my makeup, I looked at my hair and sighed. The blonde was almost white, and as I always did, I wondered if I should color it. A nice, deep brown might have gone nicely with my features. Thoughts for another time. I swept the shoulder length mess into a high ponytail, slicking it back and calling myself done. The metallic ring of my doorbell echoed through my apartment as I was sliding into my black dress, and I twisted to zip myself in while moving toward the door. Without bothering to check the peephole, I opened things up with a wide, welcoming grin on my face, and froze.
A heavily muscled arm rested against my doorframe. I followed the line of it to the shoulder, and up the slope of the neck to the tousled, dark head of hair. Deep brown eyes lifted from the floor and pinned me in place as they took a moment to sweep up and down my body.
You are not attracted to this man, remember? Enemy.
Shit.
Giving myself a mental shake, I wiped the smile from my face, replacing it with a scowl. There. Much more suitable. “What are you doing here?”
Kane huffed a laugh and moved forward. Confronted with the option of either finding my body pressed against his or letting him into my apartment, I took a jerky step back. His shoulder brushed against me as he slipped into my space as though he owned it, and I shuddered.
“Nice place,” he said, turning slowly in the middle of my living room, taking in the kitchen, sofa, and doorway… into my bedroom.
I strode across the floor and pulled the door shut before he could get a look inside and turned, placing my back against the wood as though I needed to keep an eye on my surroundings.
“Why are you here?” I repeated.
Instead of answering the question, he moved into my kitchen, opening cupboards one by one until he found where I kept my glasses.
“Do you mind?” he asked, holding one up before filling it with water from the tap.
“I… yes. I do mind actually. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”
He drank slowly, his throat working as he swallowed the entire glass of water in one go. With precision, he flipped the glass and placed it in the center of the sink before looking back at me. “I’m taking you to dinner. At least… that was the plan. Do you always dress like this after work?”
I ran my hands down over my hips, ignoring how clammy they felt with his eyes on me.
“I have a date. You need to leave now.”
Suppressing the urge to grab him and frog-march him from my apartment, I moved back to the front door. He didn’t take the hint. Leaning against the counter, he crossed his arms casually and watched me. He was so big, taking up my space as though it was his right. Bastard.
“Who’s your date?”
