Page 53 of Mr. Wrong Number

I could tell Sara was charmed by the fact that he remembered her, and the two of them immediately launched into a recollection of their shared study hall and some kid named Gerbil who used to sell beef jerky under the table.

The wine was starting to give me a warm, glowing buzz, which made it impossible not to fall into a shitty grin as he behaved like Prince Charming. When they finally finished walking down memory lane, I said, “Sara, did you know that Colin has a Purple mattress?”

She sputtered out a tiny laugh. “Is that right?”

Colin’s eyes narrowed and he looked at me the same way he had before, like he was trying to figure something out. He swallowed and gave a polite nod, coupled with a smile. “Guilty as charged.”

“Consider me jealous,” Sara said.

I tilted my head and squinted. What was he doing? Wherewas the know-it-all, cocky smart-ass? I said to Sara, “Y’know, he isneverthis nice.”

“What?” Colin’s gaze was back on mine, and he rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I’m nice.”

I rolled my eyes and picked up my bread. “Only because I’m moving out.”

Sara said, “He’s a man. Nothing makes a man quite as nice as when he’s getting his way.”

I laughed and Colin gave a half smile as he scratched his eyebrow.

“He’ll probably fall asleep cackling the day I actually leave,” I giggled, raising my glass to my mouth and finishing what was left.

“In a flawless suit, no doubt,” Sara laughed, but shot him a kind smile.

Colin looked amused as he walked over to the counter and picked up the bottle of wine. He looked at Sara and asked, “Can I get you a refill?”

“Yes, please,” she said with tipsy enthusiasm.

He brought the wine to the table, and as he asked Sara something about where she lived, I wondered what was up with him. I squinted as he was incredibly polite, treating her to a sweet, genuine smile.

Why was he being so nice?

It made me uneasy.

I watched him refill her glass, but the sight of his luxury watch peeking out from under his cuff distracted me with a gut-punch flashback of the way it’d felt when he was holding my face and a strand of my hair had gotten pulled between the links.

It’d felt like nothing. A pull that didn’t matter because his fingers were on my skin, his mouth on my mouth, his breathing heavy, and his body pressing mine into the doorframe.

God.

He laughed when she said something about her baby, and it was impossible not to find him to be the most charming man on earth.

What the hell was he up to?

Colin

I listened to Sara—baby, husband, house in West O—but my mind was on the girl in my periphery. It was taking extreme self-control not to look in her direction. I’d tossed and turned all night after the kiss, plagued by guilt and also a nonstop replay of the kiss, so at five in the morning I’d finally gotten up and just went into work.

Where I spent half the day with my head in my hands, trying to stop thinking about it. I needed to have a minute alone with her to make sure we were cool, but I also didn’t want to be alone with her. What was wrong with me?

“Excuse me—waiter?” Olivia cleared her throat, and when I swung my gaze her way, she was giving me a wine-drunk smirk. “I could use a refill, as well.”

“Of course, ma’am.” My blood went instantly hot as I looked at her red lips and the lipstick print on the rim of the wineglass.Shit, shit, shit.I swallowed and poured, unable to come up with a single comment.

What were words again?

I felt her watching me, and when I looked up from her glass, to the sprinkling of freckles on her nose and cheeks—how had I never noticed those before?—her eyebrows were knit together. Her eyes were narrowed, her head was tilted, and she was blinking fast.

She looked absolutely confused.

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