Page 18 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

And the amount of times I'd slid extra money onto the table as a tip when he wasn't looking was far too often. When we'd first started dating, I'd peeked at the bills and seen the crappy tips he'd left, embarrassed beyond belief that he was so miserly.

That should have been my first red flag.

Maybe Chase had been right and I was dumb. How could I have seen that and not known what a complete, total jerk he'd turn out to be?

Reaching for the pastry bag, I noticed it felt a little too heavy, and I opened it to find not one scone, but two. I glanced up in surprise to see Chris looking at me with a sly smile before ringing up his customer.

Bless his heart.

I sat there in my little corner for a long while, the happy sugar rush zipping around in my body before slowly fading with the passage of time, the last remnants of my tea growing cold, my thoughts swirling with how to go on with my life now.

Tomorrow, I'd call my mom who was in LA, maybe my dad would be there too, and I'd come up with a plan. I needed a strategy of some sort to counteract all this negative press, some sources of my own to leak stuff inmyfavor.

Now that it was after three, the place had emptied out almost completely, and I felt a little odd sitting there alone with no more food or tea. So I stood up, the aisles filled with books catching my eye for the first time ever.

Maybe I should take up reading. That would make me smarter, right?

I gathered up my trash and tossed it, intent on checking out the other half of the Midnight Café that I'd never bothered with before. No clue where to start, I wandered a row, mystery or thrillers judging by the titles and covers.

Inhaling that book smell mixed with a coffee aroma, plus a little dust, I continued walking, the sounds of humanity fading behind me along with the actual café. I felt like I was going into another world, another realm, the city outside quiet without the usual cacophony of horns and sirens.

Now I'd stumbled into the sci-fi area, fantastical book covers catching my eye. I let my hand glide across one embossed hardback with a dragon, needing to reach out and touch something.

Although they were all inviting, nothing really called to me. Maybe reading just wasn't my thing as much as I wanted to be smart and cultured.

I found myself in the poetry section, and it occurred to me that maybe this was a good place to start. Poems were short, right?

Picking one up, I began to read a passage...dreams dissolve in the void's embrace,memories fade in the spectral race. Huh. Not sure what that meant exactly. But it sounded good?

A slight shuffling noise behind me captured my attention, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up that I was no longer alone over here. It really did feel desolate. A little too desolate.

I reminded myself that all I had to do was shout and Chris or someone else would come running over.

Another noise, and this time I glanced up... to find Ethan Locke of all people. What the heck washedoing here? Maybe he wouldn't recognize me.

He shot me that half-smile, his piercing eyes seeing right through me. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Hmm," I hedged, no idea what to say, the thought that I'd flashed this man my entire lower half warming my cheeks.

"Seems like the universe has an interesting sense of humor."

What did that mean exactly? Not only had he recognized me, he was going to tease me?

"So how have you been?" he asked.

"What kind of question is that?" I huffed, suddenly finding my voice. "Awful. I've been awful. And you know it."

His expression turned wounded, but I knew it was all a put-on. Nothing this guy did was for real. "It was a genuine question."

I glared at him, absolutely sure he knew every word of what the gossip rags were saying about me.

"Really," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I've actually been concerned."

Pulling my hoodie tighter, I studied him, so cocky, so sure of himself, like a modern-day version of James Dean, effortlessly cool with dark hair and light blue eyes that were almost translucent, the combo something most girls went nuts for... but not me. I wouldn't fall for his looks or his act.

I couldn't really remember the other night when he'd helped me, only the basics, like him holding a shirt so I could stab it and the cold of the night as we'd dumped Chase's stuff. Oh, and of course how he'd changed the combination for the door lock and left the new one written down on my counter.

"Why on earth wouldyoube concerned aboutme?" I asked, beyond curious to know the answer.

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