Page 63 of The Problem with Dating

“Gosh, you’re really taking this being nice thing to a whole new level. I should’ve wished for it to be an always thing, not just one more day.”

“That’s why you should think out eyelash wishes. Now, I have to be a jerk to you again tomorrow.”

“What a shame,” I said, plopping back against my chair. “And to think we were almost friends.”

He wore a grin that touched the corners of his eyes. His smiles made my own lips turn up because they sent sparks of energy throughout my whole system.

“I should get going,” I said after the late breakfast. “I need a shower. I look a mess.”

“You look great.”

I laughed and gestured toward my makeup-less tired face. “You think this is beautiful?”

“Like a diamond,” he replied.

My heart beat faster and slower all at once. I felt both dizzy and steady somehow. How did he manage to make me feel such conflicting things?

My cheeks heated as I stood. “I was supposed to pick up my dog Cocoa a while ago from Cole, and I’m sure he’s having a fit over it.”

“I hate him,” he blurted out.

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because of…”—his words faltered—“you.”

My heart. It skipped. It danced. It soared. It got confused, too. Alex seemed to be confusing me a lot lately. “Because of me?”

He took a bite of his bacon. “Yes.”

“I thought hating took too much energy from you.”

“I tapped into my storage unit of energy.”

I bit my bottom lip and shimmied a little. “You know what that means, right?”

“What’s that?”

“Youlikeme.”

He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “Don’t go making up stories in your head, Goldie.”

“I’m reading the book you’re presenting to me, Mr. Black.”

“A fictional novel.”

“No,” I disagreed, “An autobiography. The story of how the grumpy black cat befriended the golden retriever.”

“A tale as old as time.”

“An instant New York Times bestseller.”

“Wallstreet Journal called it a triumphant tale of opposites attract.”

“US Weekly said it’s the highlight of the year. Rumor has it that the ending of the book—”

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