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“Prove it.”
Charlee’s expression went from cautious to slightly worried.
As she should be.
“What d’you mean?”
Last chance, Warner. You don’t have to propose this. Something told me Charlee just might do it. She’d shown an interest in reconnecting and had never been one to back away from a little adventure.
“Date me. Or at least pretend to. See if it doesn’t take him half a day to throw a hissy fit.”
Charlee downed the rest of her wine, prompting me to laugh despite the fact that I’d just fucked myself royally.
“You want me to. . . pretend date you. Just to see if I get a rise out of my father. Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not.”
“Why would I do such a thing?”
Good question. “Clearly there’s something still”—I waved a hand between us—“here. Before we waste any time exploring that, let’s see if the same conditions that tore us apart in the first place aren’t still here.”
Incredulous, Charlee stood. “That’s going a bit too far, Lucas. I wanted to explain myself to you, and in exchange, you mock me. And my family. And propose I put real feelings on the line for your pretend experiment.”
A pissed-off Charlee was one I hadn’t seen often when we were together, but the memory was coming back to me. It took a lot to push her over the edge, but when you did. . . look out.
“Thanks, but no thanks. Appreciate the tattoo.” She put her glass down. “And the wine. Nice reminiscing with you.”
I didn’t try to stop her as Charlee made her way from the back room to the front of the shop. Sighing, I stood, made my way to the door between the rooms, and leaned against the frame. It was probably for the best. That had been a really bad idea anyway.
Just when she got to the door, Charlee stopped. Looked at her phone.
Something was up.
I was certain she’d have stormed through it by now, slamming the door shut behind her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Slowly, she turned around.
Frowned.
Looked, if it were possible, even more pissed off than before.
“I can’t leave.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t have a car.”
Ahh, that’s right. Dropped off because of the pill she’d taken to calm her new-ink nerves.
“I’ll give you a ride home.”
Charlee shook her head. “I can call Natalie.”
But I was already grabbing my keys. “I didn’t even finish the second beer. I got you.”
If those last three words sounded intimate, there was a good reason. It was something I used to say to her when we were dating.
