Page 26 of Legal

I gave her a double take. “Bring him into my house? Seriously?”

“Think about it. It would be douchey of you to cancel out at the last minute, right?”

“Unless I have a good reason and—”

“Yeah, but you don’t. And I know you like the guy, right?”

“Yes, but—”

“And I know you, Jills. You’re probably having some weird freak-out moment about someone seeing you two in public and thinking you’re on a real date.”

I didn’t bother speaking, just continued shuffling my feet down that hill. Yes, the possibility had occurred to me that we’d be mistaken for mother and son, but that wasn’t the only—

“This way you’re on home turf, and it takes away the pressure.”

Now she was interrupting my thoughts. I stopped and held up my hand. “Can I speak, please?” She nodded. “I don’t know him well enough to have him alone inside my house.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Sex doesn’t count.”

“Well, I trust Stu, and he says he’s a good guy. You don’t need to worry about getting hacked up into little pieces.”

“You told me Stu didn’t know him that well.”

She threw up her hands. “Fuck, you’re stubborn. Now you’re just making excuses.”

Was I? I didn’t think so. In fact, I thought my points were pretty valid. We resumed our walk, making it down to the road. “If I suggest he comes over instead of going out, he’s going to get the wrong idea.”

“So? Don’t you want to have sex with him again?”

“No!” Yes. Maybe.

“I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do. Invite him over so it’s just the two of you. Get to know him a little better with no outside influence. Keep it free to be. Let him know ahead of time that you have plans later tonight so there’s a limit to the fun. I’ll show up on your doorstep as soon as I get back home. If you know I’m coming there, you’ll have a better chance at keeping your horny teenager in check.”

“You’ll be with Stephen tonight.”

“As soon as the fireworks are over, I’ll come over alone. I’ll just tell your brother you have some hormonal emergency. At least I won’t be lying to him.”

The plan almost sounded… reasonable. “You swear?”

She smiled wide. “Cross my heart.”

Five hours later, I was squinting through my blinds as a black Ford pulled into my driveway. My heart started bouncing off the walls, so I backed away and paced around the room instead. A car door slammed. It would only be a matter of seconds now, a minute tops before my doorbell rang.

I stepped in front of one of the many fans I had blowing around the room and took a large dose to the face. Too bad there wasn’t a little hand that came out in times like these. I needed a good slap of sense.

I felt my cheeks; they were scorching hot and throbbing. Maybe I was coming down with something or maybe—

The door chime sent me to the ceiling because, of course, I wasn’t expecting that at all. Why should I allow some guy to get me so wired? Just because I wasn’t used to having scrambled eggs for brains, didn’t mean I had to act like it.

I opened the door, the bag in his arms serving as a temporary distraction. “Hi, Jillian.” Chase came inside. “Nice place. Where’s the kitchen?”

“Why do you have a grocery bag?” He smiled, hurling a new distraction at me. Why did the shade of his irises change all the damn time? Maybe I should be asking him that instead.

“I’m making dinner.”

I didn’t respond, so he turned and rounded the corner, taking it upon himself to find the kitchen. I assumed that was what he was doing since I was struck dumb. I quickly followed and…Don’t look, Jillian. Keep your eyes straight ahead. Do not look down.

Dammit. I looked at his ass, and he caught me. My face torched up again, and his lips curved as he set the bag on the counter. Why did he have to turn around at that very moment?

Great plan, Perry.

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