Page 14 of Say Yes To The Fake Date

She shakes her head. “If you wanted to apologize, you’ve had seventeen years to do it. You didn’t have to wait until now when my life is falling apart.” She points at her face. “I’m bruised, have no money. But I don’t need sympathy or your apologies now.”

I just keep fucking up. “It’s not like that and—”

She cuts me off. “Can we just forget it?”

I want to grab on to her and force her to listen to me. I’d give anything for her to forgive me, butthat’s completely selfish of me. I don’t deserve her forgiveness. I hold my bandaged hand up to her. “Okay, I’m sorry. Thank you for bandaging my hand. I appreciate it.”

She’s cleaning up the mess, ignoring me again, and I just stand here and watch, waiting patiently for her to continue.

She walks into the bathroom to put the kit up. I hear her wash her hands, and when she comes out, she’s drying them on a paper towel. “So I’ve been thinking…”

Crossing my arms on my chest, I wait for her to go on.

“It may be a little bit before I can pay you—”

In pure frustration, I shake my head and blurt out, “I don’t want your money.”

She holds her hand up. “Like I was saying… I won’t have the money for a little bit, but I don’t like owing you money. So I was thinking that I could make you a website.”

I rear back in surprise. “A website?”

She laughs at me. “Yeah, you know, the thing that will give your business an online presence. You could have people make appointments, check your services, see what wait times are, and more.”

The whole time she’s talking, all I can thinkabout is that if she does this, maybe I’ll get to spend more time with her even though I’m not sure what all this entails. “Look, I don’t expect you to pay me for your car.” She starts to talk, and it’s my turn to stop her. “But… but if you feel like you should pay me back by doing my website, I’m not going to say no.”

Lucy lets out a big breath and looks almost relieved that I agreed. I take a step toward her. “So what do you need from me?”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Do you have time to go over things with me tomorrow? I won’t take up a lot of your time, but I do need to get some information from you before I start.”

Is she kidding me right now? I’d give her anything she wants. And hell, spending time with her is a fuckin’ fantasy for me, but I try to act cool about it. “Yeah, sure. Just let me know what time you’ll be here and I’ll have my schedule clear.”

She gestures to me. “Well, you’re the one with the full schedule. What time works best for you?”

I laugh and run my fingers through the scruff of my beard. “What time do you get up?”

Her eyes widen, and I realize I’m sounding too excited. “I mean, anytime in the morning is good.” Hell, even if I was slammed withappointments, I’d make room on my schedule for her.

I point to the ceiling. “My apartment is upstairs, so I’m here anytime.”

She shifts side to side. “I’ll be here at ten in the morning.”

“Okay.”

I watch her, trying to figure out how I can keep her here because I don’t want her to leave. “Are you doing okay? I mean, being back in Whiskey Run, with your mom, and everything?”

She blows out a breath, and her body language completely gives away the lie as she says, “Yeah, I’m good.”

I just stare at her and wait. Luciana never complains and will say she’s fine even if she’s not, but if I wait her out, maybe she’ll talk to me.

She twitches under my scrutiny and claps her hands together. “Uh, well, okay… let’s see. I guess it’s going about how you’d imagine. No money—”

I open my mouth, and she stops me. “No, don’t offer me money. So no money, but I have a car now, thanks to you. The attorney is working on my case, but I’m without a job and resources until that’s resolved. And… well, my mom is pressuring me to goback with my ex, so you can imagine how it is being at home.”

I take a step toward her, my hands fisted at my sides. I don’t even try to hide the anger in my voice. “She wants you to stay with the man that hit you?”

Her eyes never leave mine. “She thinks it was an accident.”

“But it wasn’t… was it?”

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