Page 116 of The Flirt

Sarah's words still resounded in my ears on the way back. I hated to admit it, but she did have a point. I was determined to push it to the back of my mind, though, as there was no point dwelling on it. One of my mantras had always been not to search for problems and simply deal with them as they came. In my experience, 99 percent of the stuff you tried to foresee simply didn't happen. Other shit happened, just not what you expected.

I went straight to our courtyard, put the coffees down on the small table, and texted Scarlett.

Chad: I'm waiting in the courtyard. Can you spare two minutes?

She didn't reply at all.

I looked at the phone for a minute before realizing she probably wasn’t going to check it at all. I didn't want to wait for too long, risking the espressos getting cold, so I headed into the kitchen.

I took a few seconds to just look at her. Scarlett was a force of nature. She always talked respectfully and in a calm manner, but she was also firm. She was currently instructing Joel, talking with her hands, the way I loved.

Joel pointed at me, and Scarlett looked over her shoulder, her mouth slightly open. I motioned for her to join me outside.

She hesitated for a split second but then hurried to me, and we walked side by side in the courtyard. "Coffee?" she asked unnecessarily.

"Obviously. Just the way you like it."

"Oh, I would chastise you for distracting me from work, but I really, really needed this."

I sipped my espresso, watching her do the same.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry about Sarah showing up here," I said.

She looked up from her cup. "Um, I didn’t expect it, but it's fine. She does have a point about meeting me."

"True, but that's my responsibility to handle—and to shield you from.”

She gave me a cheeky smile. "You don't need to protect me all the time. I'm a big girl."

"I know that, but I want to do it anyway. Now, we didn't get to talk about how we're going to do this now that Bella is back. So first thing's first, I want to reinstate our coffee dates."

"Is that so?" she teased. "Reinstate. Are you even going to consult me?" Her voice was full of sass.

"I'm doing that right now.”

"That sounded a lot like a demand. A deliciously sexy demand, but a demand nonetheless."

"I need to see you," I confessed. "Scarlett, I don't know how to go an entire day without seeing you early in the morning."

"You know just what to say to convince me."

"So that's a yes?" I asked.

She nodded. "But we still have the no-kissing rule."

I smirked. "Deal."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You agreed to that very fast."

"I’m not saying I won’t renegotiate it, but for now, we have a deal."

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Scarlett

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Chad was right. Starting every day knowing I’d see him for our coffee date was amazing. And yet, after we'd spent an entire week together, it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. That's why I was beyond ecstatic when he texted me on Friday morning to make plans for the evening.

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