Page 44 of Ravished By Her

“You’re not going to wear your new hat?” Sterling said, jostling me out of the way so she could get to the pizza first.

I didn’t respond and insteadwent for the fried pickles.

“I really think the hat is a sign,” Kai said as she handed me a paper towel.

“Since when do you believe in signs?” Sterling asked her.

“Since Lacey gave Gwen her hat. Right about then,” she said, and Sterling abandoned the pizza to put her arms around Kai from behind and smack a kiss on her cheek.

“You’re cute, honey,” Sterling said to Kai.

“Thank you, my love,” Kai said.

I waited for them to have their moment before attempting to get to the pizza in case they decided to make out on top of it.

“The hat doesn’t mean anything,” I said as we ate. “Maybe she didn’t want it back after I’d sweated all over it.”

Kai and Sterling shared a skeptical look.

“That’s the worst excuse to give someone a hat that I’ve ever heard,” Sterling said. “Giving you her hat is a sign of affection. I was giving this one all kinds of books and making her breakfast to tell her I liked her.”

Kai snorted. “All that, plus we were having sex, and I was still questioning if you liked me.”

Sterling grinned at Kai. “I feel like I wasn’t subtle about it, but you did take a really long time to get it.”

“She doesn’t like me like that. She’s a client and maybe a friend. Maybe. That’s it.”

My sister and Kai started laughing and I glared at both of them.

Chapter Twelve

The next morning when I was getting ready, I couldn’t stop staring at the hat. I’d hung it on a little hook next to the bed so it wouldn’t get messed up or have anything spilled on it.

I put on my painting jumpsuit and wondered what would happen if I showed up wearing the hat today. What would she think? Would it be too much? Would it be like declaring something that I didn’t want to declare?

I’d never felt so conflicted about a hat before. They weren’t normally my thing since I liked to style my hair, but this hat was different. We were painting today, and I didn’t want to get it covered, so it was probably best to leave it here.

“See you later,” I said, tapping it with my finger before I put on my shoes and grabbed my bag to go. Great, now I was talking to a hat. This crush on Lacey was really messing with me.

* * *

“New hat,” I said when she opened my door for me as usual.

“Someone stole my other one,” she said, smiling as I grinned back at her.

“Excuse me, you gave me that hat,” I said.

“Oh, is that what happened?” she asked, and I was thrilled that her playful side was still around.

“That is literally what happened,” I said, handing her the coffee tray and bag of pastries.

“Hmmm, that’s not how I remember it,” she said as we took our seats on the porch.

I grabbed my coffee and narrowed my eyes at her. “So how do you remember it?”

Lacey reached into the bag to get her pastry and then handed the bag to me.

“I remember you telling me how much you loved my hat and how you wished you had one and then you ripped it right off my head, put it on yours and said, ‘this is mine now.’ That’s what I remember.”

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