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My lips lift in a crooked grin. “Guilty.”

She shakes her head, still smiling.

Now that I have her agreement, my head starts to spin with logistics. My place is clean and ready for guests any time, thanks to my housekeeper, but now I’m thinking about my weekend schedule. I was originally going to head back out to meet with a colleague, but that’s not happening anymore. In fact, I’m pretty sure my whole weekend just got scrapped. In the best way.

“You ready to leave now?” I ask, tossing her trash out. “Or did you want to keep working?”

“Well, I can work from anywhere, so…”

“Perfect. Then let’s get out of here.”

“Are you sure this isn’t…weird?”

I’m trying to figure out the best way to transport Milton when Charli’s question registers. Shrugging, I say, “I mean, I can’t say it’s a normal Friday night for me, but⁠—”

“Lucas. I’m serious.”

My brow pinches as I focus all of my attention on her. “Okay. What part of this makes you uncomfortable?”

“I’m not uncomfortable, I just…” She sighs. “I’m just trying to figure out how to navigate the idea that I’m about to go home to my not-quite-boss’s house for the weekend, only a few days after he kissed me to the point of lightheadedness in an elevator. It’s a little weird.”

Heat shoots through my body at the mention of our kiss. Even looking at her right now, I can perfectly picture the way her eyes glazed over, and the way her lips became swollen from my touch. I can feel the way she melted into my arms.

And now I’m listening to her recap it.

I have to clear my throat before I can speak. And even when I do, my voice is rough.

“Well, since we already agreed to move past the elevator…incident”—I try not to react to Charli’s snort—“I didn’t think it would be an issue.”

Fuck, is this an issue? Is she thinking about kissing me again?

“It’s not,” she says, instantly shutting down my spiral. Because now I’m the one thinking about it happening again. “I just…I don’t know, wanted to put it out in the open again.”

Okay, she just wants clarity. “Would it help if I reiterated that what happened in the elevator won’t happen again?” I ask. “And that it’s not the reason I’m offering you my home this weekend?”

One look at the unsure expression on Charli’s face has me sobering. She does need things spelled out.

“Charli,” I start softly, “I promise you, I have no hidden motives behind asking you to stay. I just really, really don’t want you and Milton to sleep here while I have a perfectly usable guest suite. It’s completely separate, so we don’t even have to see each other this weekend if you don’t want to. I won’t bother you. You can do whatever you would’ve done if you were home.” I send her a crooked grin. “Just with a little less mold and sickness.”

She huffs a laugh, her entire body relaxing. “I can’t believe I got an apartment with mold.” The look she gives me shifts to appreciative. “Okay. Thanks for saying that. I know it’s stupid⁠—”

“It’s not stupid.”

“—but I wanted to make sure we were on the same page before we do this.”

My smile is more genuine this time. “I get it.” I look toward Milton where he’s stretching and say, “Want to get him out of here now? I’ll text you my address, or you can just follow me home.”

“Uh…about that. I’ll need to ride home with you.”

I turn toward her with a frown. “That’s fine, but why?”

“Because my mode of transportation is a motorcycle, and I obviously can’t do that with Milton. So we’ll need to ride with you.”

I blink in surprise at the information. Then…

Jesus fuck, she’s cool.

This might be a bad idea.