Page 10 of Fake It True

She cleared her throat. “What do you mean?”

Well, I was already in this, so I barreled ahead. “I thought you were cute before, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who might want more than a kiss.”

She blinked, her blush deepening. “You’re not but – ” Her words cut off abruptly as she closed her eyes. Opening them again, she stared at me. “I have a lot going on. I don’t know what to think.”

“It seems like you needed someone for a relationship, fake or not. Everything I said about my daughter is true. Before you go thinking I’m about to ask you to be a mom, I’m not. But we could see how it goes.”

She was so quiet for long enough that I was pretty sure I screwed everything up. She lifted her chin. “Okay, let’s. As you can tell, I kind of needed somebody to be in a relationship with me.”

“Well, I’m already your guy to our therapist,” I teased lightly.

Casey sputtered a laugh. “You are. So, um, what now?”

My hand was still curled around the coffee cup on the counter. I lifted it as I leaned over. “We see what happens,” I murmured as I brushed my lips over hers.

It literally felt as if a flame flickered between us. My lips felt electrified when I lifted my head. Just as Janet came out from the back.

“Oh!” Janet pressed her hand to her chest, a smile stretching across her face as she looked between us. “Well, I amverysorry to interrupt.”

Casey’s face was fire engine red. She looked from me to Janet. “You arenotsorry to interrupt.”

Janet chuckled. “Not really. I thought you were closed, or I wouldn’t have walked out here,” she explained. “I’ll go in the back now.”

She disappeared with a little wave. Casey met my gaze, pressing her lips together and rolling her eyes. “Janet thinks I have a crush on you.”

Hearing that was more gratifying than it should’ve been. My lips curled into a smile. “Idefinitelyhave a crush on you. How about I take you to dinner?”

Chapter Eight

CASEY

When Leo asked me out to dinner, all I did was stare at him until he prompted, “Casey?”

I kicked at my brain, ordering it to function.

“Of course! When?”

“Tomorrow.”

“So you’re going to dinner with Leo?” Janet asked the next morning.

Bless her heart, shehadactually vacated the premises the night before. Which kind of shocked me, but then maybe she hoped Leo and I would get it on in the café. I definitely wouldn’t put that past her.

“Yeah,” I said, feeling breathless just thinking about it. “I’ve been meaning to ask you what you wanted to tell me about him.”

“In case you didn’t know, he has a daughter named Dora. She’s six, and he never knew about her until Dora’s mother died because she never told him about her.”

Seeing as I wasn’t ready to tell Janet that I’d set up fake therapy with Leo for some crazy reason that made no sense to anyone other than me, I wasn’t ready to tell her that I knew all that. I just nodded.

I was relieved when Josie came striding from the back into the front precisely when a group of customers entered. I could get away with vague responses if Janet wasn’t paying too much attention. While I knew the whole story about Leo’s situation with his daughter, part of me was a little puzzled that it didn’t give me pause. What the hell was I doing going on a date with a single dad? I didn’t need extra complications in my messy life.

“Hey!” Josie stopped beside me at the counter, bouncing lightly on her toes. She finished tying her apron around her waist and got to work beside me.

“So, who are you having dinner with?” she asked a few minutes later while we were in the thick of prepping coffees and serving customers.

I slid my gaze to hers, feeling the heat flash into my cheeks. “Oh, so you heard that?” I hedged.

“I sure did.” Her eyes were twinkling.

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