Page 21 of Until It Was Real

“But you came out in the storm.”

He glances away. “Because I was worried about you.”

I blink. “You were worried about me? The man who has the victory party planned for when I’m fired?”

“I wouldn’t say planned. Does renting a venue count?”

I giggle. “I hope you didn’t put down a deposit because I am not getting fired.”

He shrugs. “They said the deposit is refundable.”

I feign surprise and let my jaw drop open. “Rhett Raider, did you make a joke?”

“I can joke.”

“Really? Your brothers are convinced you’re a robot.”

“My brothers are assholes.”

I elbow him. “Don’t speak about your family that way. Families are special.”

At least, I assume they are. I’ve never had one. Don’t mistake me. Growing up in care wasn’t horrific. At least, not for me it wasn’t. Did I have warm and fuzzy foster parents? I did not. But they were decent people who fed and clothed me and made sure I got my homework done. They also had more foster kids than they knew what to do with. They didn’t have time for hugs or cuddles.

Rhett sighs before using his hip to nudge me further into the closet. The touch of his body has mine feeling all warm and fuzzy. I ignore it. I’m obviously a bad judge of men. A former husband who gambled our money away and a man who wants to fire me. Totally bad judge of men.

Once Rhett’s inside, he shuts the door behind him and sets a lantern on the floor to illuminate the area.

“Do you have any food? I’m starved.”

I gather my bag of food and hug it close to me. “No way. You’ll finish up my supplies in five minutes, and who knows how long the storm will last.”

“Are you saying I’m a pig?”

“No, I’m saying your muscles have muscles and they need fuel.”

And I’m not saying I want to touch those muscles. Or trace them with my tongue. Nope. Not I. See the aforementioned remark regarding my abysmal taste in men.

He flexes his bicep. “Are you impressed?”

“I’m more impressed with brains than with brawn.”

He waggles his eyebrows. “What if I have both?”

“Then, you wouldn’t have written a report about bananas even though you’re the CFO of a distillery.”

“Because someone messed with my computer.”

I roll my eyes. “If you had brains, you’d know how to fix it. It’s really simple.”

“Really simple?”

“Yep.” I nod. “Super simple. A baby could do it.”

“Could a baby do this?”

He tickles my ribs and I giggle. I’ve always been super ticklish.

“Stop it.” I bat at his hands. “No tickling. I’ll pee myself.”

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