Page 31 of Healer’s Betrayal

His eyes meet mine, like he’s making sure I’m paying attention. “It is a date.” He closes the door before I can respond. I watch him walk away before I force my eyes to my steering wheel. The man even walks sexy. I close my eyes and drop my head onto the steering wheel.

“I’m a mess.” I wait until he’s in his truck, and then I pull out of the parking lot. I don’t know what he did with his friend, but when I look in the rearview mirror, it’s just Jackson in the truck. It makes me nervous having him behind me, but I force myself to focus on driving and nothing else. When we get to the parking lot of my apartment, I park; and he pulls into the spot next to mine. I get out and walk over to the driver’s side. He rolls down the window. “Are you sure you still want to do this?” I ask, my nerves making a show.

“Yes.” There’s no hesitation in his voice.

“Okay. I’m going to grab Noah.” I pause. “It’s still okay for him to come, right?”

His eyes meet mine. “I want to take both you and Noah to lunch.” He looks at the apartment building behind me. “Unless you’d rather I just order something, and we eat here.”

Some sort of garbled laugh comes out of me. “No. We’ll go with you. I’ll be right back.” I hear his door open, and I turn around. “If you don’t mind, just stay here. I’ll explain to Noah who you are and then come back.” He watches me, and I get the feeling he’s going to argue. But he finally nods and stays in his truck.

I stride towards the door and head inside and up the stairs. Using my key, I unlock the door and slip inside. “Hey, Guys.”

Renee looks up from her phone, and my stomach sinks a little when I see Noah glued to his iPad. “How was work?” Renee asks.

“Good. Thanks so much for watching Noah.”

She stands to her feet and yawns. “No worries.” She grabs her stuff and heads to the door. “I’ll see you Thursday morning.”

“Thanks, Renee. You’re the best.”

“See ya. Bye, Noah,” she calls out.

“Noah,” I say sharply when he doesn’t even lift his head.

At my voice, he looks up. “Bye, Renee.”

She leaves a moment later, and I study my brother. “Did you get your school done?”

He scowls at me. “Yes.”

“You sure?” I ask.

His scowl deepens. “Yes.”

I debate asking how long he was on the iPad but ultimately choose not to. It will only start an argument, and I can’t undo what’s been done. “Want to go to lunch?” I ask instead.

He lifts his head. “Really?”

I nod. “One of my friends wants to take us out; he wants you to come too.”

His face falls. “Cole?”

“Uh, no.” And then I just tell him. “It’s actually the guy from the café, the redhead guy.”

He stares at me. “The guys that got kicked out?”

I grimace. “It wasn’t their fault...exactly. But yes. Actually, Jackson is really nice.” I think about that and rephrase. “Kind. Jackson is really kind. So, do you want to go?” He shrugs, and I know that’s as close to a yes as I’m going to get from him. “Okay. Go ahead and get ready then because he’s waiting outside.”

He puts his sneakers on and grabs a book and his iPad. “Why don’t you leave the tablet here.”

He scowls at me, and I figure it’s going to be a whole ordeal. But he puts it on the table and then walks over to the door. I can’t help myself; I reach out and fluff his hair. “Thanks, Bud.”

“Where are we going to eat?” he asks on the way down the stairs.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think it will be pizza?”