Page 75 of The Valentine's Bet

“And you make enough for—”

“I invested in a startup tech company a long time ago,” I answer, filling in the blanks before she asks. “It took off and we sold it. I invested the money I made and now I do very well for myself.”

“Wow.”

Shaking my head, I weave through the sitting room to the terrace door. It’s an incredible skyline view, which is what drew me here in the first place.

I set her shoes outside and return to Amy, who appears to be frozen in place.

“I don’t want to break anything.”

I laugh. “Stop being so weird. Come on.” I grab her hand and pull her away from the entryway. “It’s just another apartment. I’ll show you the guest room.”

“Okay,” she says timidly, her bare feet padding across the floors. “I’m sorry that I bothered you in the middle of the night. That wasn’t very courteous of me.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like you could’ve slept at your place. You don’t know what’s in that water.”

Her eyes widen. “Hopefully nothing.”

“Probably not. It smelled clean, but still, better not to risk it.”

“Right.”

“So, my room is right there.” I point to the master bedroom across from the spare. “If you need anything, you can just attack me or whatever.” I push her bedroom door open, revealing the modestly furnished space. It looks more like a hotel room to me with all the white, but rarely does anyone stay there for it to matter.

“Thank you so much for letting me stay here.” Amy turns to me, her eyes glistening. I can’t decide if she’s about to cry or sneeze, so I just shrug. “I really mean it, though. I know you were so excited to have your own space back after Britt moved out. So, thank you.” She reaches out and squeezes my forearm, lighting up the nerves in my arm like fireworks.

“It’s just what, um, friends do,” I say quickly, though the words come out like I’m talking around a full mouth.

Amy nods as I step into the room and set her bag on the bed. Just when I’m about to leave, she lets out a sigh. “My date went really well until it went all wrong.”

“That sounds complicated,” I mutter, watching as she heads to her bag. She strips out of her coat, and I catch myself watching her closer than ever.

“He kissed me.”

I bristle at her words—but it must just be the protective friend thing. However, I don’t say anything. My eyes are stuck on her as she pulls her shirt over her head, once again revealing her camisole. At least Brad didn’t get to seethis.

“It was horrible.”

“Why?” I ask, taking in the curve of her hips as she shuffles through her bag.

Jeez, she’s so...

“He kept pushing for more—and I just ... I didn’tfeelanything when we kissed.” Amy turns to look at me, and I rip my eyes from below her waistline. “I want to feel sparks when I kiss someone. But even without that, it was just so ... forced.”

“Yeah, probably because he was just trying to take you home. He most likely didn’t care about your feelings. I’m sure there were plenty of red flags.”

She raises a brow at me, folding her arms across her chest in a way that just makes herthatmuch more appealing. “Why do you always assume that I miss red flags?”

“Because I’ve watched you miss them,” I say cautiously, my mind wanting to run somewhere completely different with Amy all of a sudden.

I need to go to bed before I do something stupid...

Like seeing if there’s still a spark between us when we kiss.

“Will you teach me?”

My heart jumps. I could teach hersomany things—but I push it away.

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