Page 69 of The Wrong Date Deal

“I don’t think that’s an over-the-phone kind of conversation.”

“Okay, then show up at her place, throw rocks at her window, and scale the building up to her balcony.”

“Very helpful.”

“It’s known to make an impression.”

“It’ll be known for getting me arrested if I try that.”

Shea laughed. “Okay. Well, you asked for my opinion and I gave it. You wouldn’t be here if you wanted a mundane suggestion.”

“I might have been looking for realistic, actually,” Piper corrected seriously.

“Realistic, romantic—close enough.”

“I thought you hated romance?”

“Nah. It’s fine in the right circumstances.”

Piper nodded. “Noted.”

“And this is the right circumstance. You’re both into each other and looking for something more than a fling. There could not be a better circumstance for it.”

“Then why did you say to act normal until Friday?”

“Because I know you and that’s what you’re actually most likely to do.”

Piper rolled her eyes knowing Shea wasn’t wrong. “And then, when Friday rolls around?”

“Introduce her to your friends, relax a little around each other, and slip away together when the moment arises.”

Piper watched her pensively. “You make it sound so easy.”

“It can be. You’re just complicating it unnecessarily.”

“No, I’m thinking through all the ways it could go wrong.”

“And I told you it’s not going to.”

The door to the apartment opened again and the woman returned, a bag in hand. It was probably good timing. Piper and Shea didn’t need to spend the whole night going back and forth over the same thing.

Piper was glad she’d come, though. Shea had given her almost exactly the conversation she’d needed—even if the idea of what came next with August terrified her. It was going to terrify her either way, but at least she had someone else’s input on the matter, and that person wasn’t likely to be swayed by romantic dreams.

Piper stood up, nodding to Shea and her date for the night. “My apologies for interrupting. Shea, I’ll see you later. Have a good night, both.”

Shea laughed, the sound clearly more designed for her date than Piper. “Oh, we definitely will.”

Piper pursed her lips, nodded sharply, and made a quick exit from the apartment.

Chapter Sixteen

August was nervous. She’d been nervous since Tuesday night. If anything, the nerves had simply ramped up and up and up as she got closer to tonight—Friday night. The night she was meeting Piper’s friends.

When she’d first agreed to it, she’d been looking forward to it. Of course, she’d wanted them to like her, but she had no reason to imagine they wouldn’t. The meeting with Massima had been a little odd, but she’d been enthusiastic and sweet, and August had imagined most of Piper’s friends would be like that.

Now, however, it was also the first time they were seeing each other after… whatever the hell Tuesday night had been. A date? A flirtation? The night she finally couldn’t deny she was developing feelings for Piper? All of the above?

Whatever it was, they’d spoken over the last couple of days, but they hadn’t resolved the tension that August was certain they’d both felt as they danced together in her living room.

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