Page 58 of Loving You

I put my hands on my chest and let out an exaggerated sigh, turning to May with a pouty expression that was purely to annoy her. “May-May, isn’t he seriously the sweetest?”

As predicted, May rolled her eyes. “So sweet I need to go throw up in the office. Can you handle flirting with the enemyandmanning the front desk while I’m gone?”

Before I could tell her I couldn’t because I’d be too busy bringingthe enemyupstairs to the attic for a quickie, the reservation line rang. I put my finger on my nose faster than she did. “Not it, nose goes.”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too!” I said as she stepped to the far end of the long marble desk and took the call. When she picked up the receiver, I turned back to Eric. “Thank you for bringing me lunch, and no, I’m not actually busy. Not too busy for you, anyway. Even if I do know you only came over here because you wanted to check up on me.”

He gave me a flat look. “Uh, yeah, I said that. Checking to make sure you got some lunch.”

“Checking to make sure I’m doing okay since I’m not safely tucked away in the Batcave,” I corrected him, smiling when his eyes danced with laughter.

“Fine. You caught me.” He looked over each shoulder, scanning the faces of the guests milling about the lobby and adjacent rooms before studying me carefully. “How are you doing?”

“I was great before you got here, and I’m even better now. Can we go eat lunch? I’m actually kinda starving, so your timing is perfect.”

“Lead the way,” he said, gesturing with the bag.

When I headed for the stairs, he quirked a brow and hesitated.

“Come on,” I insisted.

He stepped over to me, his breath tickling my ear as he whispered, “Where are we going?”

“The attic.”

“What if your mom catches me?” he asked, sarcasm heavy in his tone.

I snorted. “What are you, a teenager sneaking into my room?”

“No, but apparently I’m the enemy,” he teased.

We both glanced over at May before laughing quietly, then I shook my head and took his hand, leading him up the stairs. “Come on, walk and talk. Just so you know, May knows everything, so she was only messing with you. But now that you bring it up…”

“What?”

“The feud.” I led us into the attic room before continuing, then once I shut the door behind us, I crossed my arms, thinking this through. “I think we should see what we can do about ending it before Ellie and Jake’s wedding.”

His eyes widened and he shook his head. “Ending it? After all these years, what could we possibly do to end it? And why would we? They’ll probably just ignore each other.”

I took the brown bag and began unpacking the lunch he’d brought us. My favorite creamy tomato soup, complete with crackers, followed by a salad with the dressing on the side for him. “You’d better hope that’s what happens, mister. I just got off the phone with the journalist fromBridal Look, and if our moms have some kind of Jerry Springer-style catfight in the middle of that wedding, I’m gonna lose my shit on both of them.”

He leaned in without warning, trapping the to-go container that held his salad between us as he captured my lips in a fierce kiss.

I didn’t even have a chance to respond before his lips were gone, however, and when I saw the way he looked at me as he pulled back, I found myself suddenly unable to breathe.

“Go on a date with me.”

“Is that an order?” I asked, but the words sounded like I’d just been running a marathon.

I shook it off and handed him his salad, then reached for my soup and sat on the bed, avoiding his watchful gaze. But I didn’t last long before I met his eyes again, my hunger for the food completely forgotten as we sat there in silence.

What was happening right now? And why was he looking at me like I was the only person in the world?

Oh, right, because his ability to focus was unparalleled and that was how he always made me feel.

Except it wasn’t that. There was something different going on here—something bigger than the usual intensity that’d been building ever since he’d welcomed me into his home.

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