Page 45 of The Man She Loves to Hate

“Pardon?”

“I saw them in the hotel lobby. I swung by and asked if we were meeting at the tapas bar and they said yes and told me you were waiting on me at the TCC. So, here I am.” He smiled like the change of plans was no big deal.

“Why didn’t you call me so I could rush over?” she practically shouted, already angling for the exit. He gently grasped her arm and swung her around to meet him, face-to-face.

“Because I also asked Ari and Ex how much time they had and they said enough that I didn’t have to rush. So. I’m not rushing.” He gestured to a seating area with a coffee table surrounded by a sofa and cushioned chairs. “Can we talk?”

“Now? About what?”

“About us.”

Rylee sent a longing glance at the exit before deciding she could use a moment to calm down. It wouldn’t be good for the bride and groom to witness her this upset. She sat on the sofa, both wanting and not wanting to address the issue that had been on her mind since she woke up this morning.

Trick sat next to her and took one of her hands in both of his. “This isn’t what it started out being.”

She agreed. “Which was a one-night stand.”

“Four,” he corrected with a completely captivating smile. “Four-night stand. I like you, Rylee. I think you know that.”

“I like you, too.”

He hesitated, stroking his thumbs over her hand.

“Well? What’s the plan?”

Sure they both lived in LA, but her work took her all over the country. She assumed he traveled quite a bit too. Whose career would win if they decided to keep seeing each other?

“I don’t like to talk about the future,” he started, and she readied herself for abut. Something likeBut I can’t deny we have one.What he said next was so far off she thought she’d misheard him.

“Let’s not make a plan. Let’s...wing it.”

“Wing it?” she bit out.

“Yeah.” The ease of his grin offset her tightly pursed lips.

“But you want to keep seeing me?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Then we have to make a plan. Otherwise, when will we see each other? I work every weekend. What’s your schedule like? How often will we be in the same state? I don’t even know where your house is in LA.”

“Slow down.” He squeezed her hand. “Peaches, you were never part of a plan. Plans ruin everything.”

Offended, she shot off the sofa. “Plans are what my life is built around. Plans are the reason you have weddings to crash. Plans are what we make with the people who are important to us.”

“Plans are also chains tying you to an obligation when you’d rather be doing something else. Like right now.” He stood. “I’d rather be taking you up to my hotel room or yours than interviewing the bride and groom.”

“But they’re the entire reason you’re here!”

“They used to be. Things change. You changed everything.”

Worry skittered over her bare arms like an army of ants. She wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. She couldn’t picture their future together, not that he’d painted one for her. He was offering her everything and nothing at the same time. How infuriating.

“Not making plans doesn’t work for me.”

“It might. Give it a shot.” He leaned close, his lips on their way to hers. She wanted to kiss him and forget this entire stupid conversation. She wanted to relive last night. From the pampering session to the incredible sex, it’d been amazing. But if he couldn’t acknowledge that they had real, concrete issues to work out—like his schedule and hers—how would they ever make it?

“It’s not enough to say we’ll take it as it comes, Trick,” she told him before his mouth touched hers. “I need to know what is going to happen when we both go home to LA.”

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