Page 69 of The Fallacy of True Love
I groaned. “Nikki.” Of course. When I got her on the phone, I was going to give her a piece of my mind.
Or maybe…since she felt so comfortable pushing me toward Alonzo, it was about time I set her up with Eric.
The seeds of a plan took shape in my brain.
“You’re giving evil mastermind energy right now.”
“Good.” I’d held out from meddling, but Nikki had given me the perfect excuse to do the same. It was for her and Eric’s benefit, anyway.
“You can tell me the plan in the car.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Didn’t you say you weren’t a rich boy?”
“It’s the family car, and it’s nothing fancy. I borrowed it so I could get you to your office easier,” he answered.
Did he believe I didn’t know about his superstar connection? How long would he keep up the act? “I’m not riding with you,” I said as I turned and walked away.
Like he had before, he kept pace with me. “If this is about you not wanting to owe me, you can just give me a tatt and we’ll call it even.”
“You’re not helping your case.”
“Think of it this way—you’ll be doing me a favor because I wouldn’t have woken up early and driven here for nothing. In exchange, you get a free private ride.” At my silence, he added, “You can either take what life is offering you, i.e. me, or brave the commute along with dozens of other people.”
I could have continued to protest, but why waste my breath? The pros pointed to riding with him, and really, I didn’t want to show up to boot camp all sweaty and rumpled.
“You should know that I’m sharing my location with Nikki and Eric,” I told him. “In case you have any ideas.”
“Good. Come on.” He held out his hand.
I looked at it, then back to his face. “Seriously?”
He rolled his eyes. “Your bag,” he said, wiggling his fingers.
“Nope. Lead the way.”
Hesitating, he moved to my right side, which faced the street. “The parking’s straight ahead.”
He stuck by me as we walked, shielding me from the other commuters. “Your girlfriend trained you well.”
His gait slowed for a beat before picking up again. “Ex-girlfriend. And I have two older sisters—they were the ones who trained me.”
I’d already known about his family because I’d given in to my curiosity and googled him. I blamed it on his second note and my momentary lapse in self-control. “So you actually broke up?”
He stared straight ahead and said, “The trust was gone.”
“Did you tell her what happened in Juana?”
“Yeah.”
Seriously? I’d expected him to say that it was a mistake and that she didn’t need to know. I might have thought he was lying, but the tension in his jaw and the way he said it like he was ashamed told me he was being truthful.
He stopped at a black compact SUV that looked like it had seen a couple of seasons and unlocked it.
I eyed it in disbelief. “This is your car?”
“My family’s. What did you expect?”
“One of those fancy brands.” I lifted my chin and stared at him, letting him read what he wanted into my words.
