Page 14 of After Tonight

Lucy blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. Again. The same hair. That was already behind her ear. “Oh, I don’t…you don’t have to do that.”

He watched her, a little confused. “I’d love to take you to lunch, Lucy,” he said. Also sincerely.

She wasn’t making eye contact now, and her cheeks were even brighter pink. What was it with women blushing around him lately? Women never blushed with him. At least, not the women he usually hung out with. Just Lucy. And Riley.

“I just—”

“Hey, honey.” Suddenly Riley was right there beside Lucy. “You ready to get to work?”

“Um, yeah,” Lucy said, almost seeming relieved. “I brought all the stuff.”

“Great.” Riley pointed to the table she’d just vacated. “Go on over. I’ll get us something to drink.”

“I ordered a hot cocoa,” Lucy told her.

“Awesome. I’ll bring it over.” Lucy moved off and Riley whipped around to face Derek. “What are you doing?”

He frowned. “What? I’m not doing anything.”

“Lucy looked completely uncomfortable.” Riley narrowed her eyes. “What did you say to her?”

Derek felt the getting-familiar frustrated tension inching up his spine. “I asked if I could help with the book signing on Sunday.”

Riley put a hand on her hip, looking highly suspicious. “How did you say it?”

“What are you talking about? I just asked if she needed any help.”

“Did you say it like ‘hey, Lucy, need any help on Sunday?’” Riley was, apparently, trying to imitate him. She’d dropped her voice and emphasized “help” in a this-might-mean-something-dirty way.

He sighed. “That doesn’t sound like me.”

She lifted a brow.

“No, I didn’t say that. I didn’t mean that either. I sincerely,” there was that word again, “want to help if she needs it.”

“She doesn’t.”

“She does,” he said. “She said that she could use an extra pair of hands.”

Riley sighed. “She didn’t mean it like that.”

“Like what?” But he knew what Riley meant. She got the way that could be flirtatious.

“What else did you say, Derek?” Riley actually seemed annoyed now.

“Okay, I was a huge asshole. Is that what you think?” he asked, annoyed too. “I offered my help—sincerely—and then asked her to lunch. What a dick, right?”

Riley stared at him. “You asked her to lunch?”

“Yes. Before we set up for the signing.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Yes.”

“So you asked her on a date.”

He shrugged. “Yes.”

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