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“You were very convincing.”
“I would’ve been lost without your help.” She glances across at me, her face artificially pale from the dim light of the screen, her eyes too dark. Goddamn, she’s every sort of desirable right now in that dress that shows just a hint of cleavage and shapely legs that go on forever.
I need to get a grip right now.
“Thanks for keeping it light. I hardly kept a straight face when she gave you that plate of desserts,” she says, giggling infectiously. “You looked like you had to eat a plate of spiders.”
“You’re lucky I let you laugh at my predicament,” I throw back.
“Hey, I took some of the fudge cake off your hands!” Her head rolls slightly against the seat as she looks at me. “I’m pretty sure that earns me a pay raise.”
“I’ll leave a big tip on the next order,” I say dryly.
“Miser,” she whispers.
“Choking down fudge wasn’t storming the beaches of Normandy, and you helping wasn’t worth a Purple Heart,” I growl.
She laughs again like the insufferable brat she is.
This time, I chuckle too.
The car echoes with our mingled laughter for a second before I catch myself.
When was the last time I ever laughed like that?
What the hell am I actually doing?
After a few minutes of stony silence, I pull up outside her building and cut the engine. The sky rumbles and splits open, pelting the car with another evening shower.
She frowns over at me, her eyes twinkling with questions.
“What are you doing?”
“Walking you inside. Might as well finish the night like a gentleman since I couldn’t keep it together for that kiss.”
“Dex, it’s like twenty feet away and—”
“Don’t give me that.”
This area is shady as hell with half the streetlights burned out and a couple abandoned cars just a block away. The last thing I need is my fake fiancée getting murdered on the way back to her own apartment.
“Besides, it’s still raining and I don’t like loaning my umbrella,” I lie.
She rolls her eyes, but at least she doesn’t try to fight me as I grab the umbrella and help her out of the car.
Her hand lingers in mine for a second before she pulls away.
When she reaches the front door and uses the keypad to unlock the door, she turns back to me with a challenge on her face.
“You don’t need to come inside,” she says. “I’ll be fine from here. We only had like two break-ins last year, and not on my floor.”
“Onlytwo?” My eyebrows go up.
She shrugs sheepishly, staring at the ground.
“Junie, what the hell?” I reach for her chin, gently tilting her face up to look at me again. “What’s the big deal with making sure you’re safe?”
“…maybe because aside from Nana, no one’s ever cared this much.”
