Page 79 of Knot That Serious

“Alright, then. It’s official. You’re courting me. There’s details to work out.”

“Maybe a few,” he agreed. “We can talk about them on our first date.”

“Ooh plans already?” Eli asked, squeezing his arm. “Deal.”

She shook her head and they walked for a moment before she hummed. “What would you be doing if you hadn’t run into me?” she asked.

“I think it was you who ran into me,” he corrected. “But I was on my way back home from a coworker’s house. I stayed with him last night because he got hurt on site yesterday.”

“Is he okay?”

“Just a concussion, hence the staying part.”

“That’s really nice of you,” Eli said.

Raj shrugged it off. “I’m the site manager, so he’s my responsibility. It just seemed right.”

“Do you live in this direction?” she asked, motioning toward the path they were walking.

“Yeah, I just moved in.”

Recently, too. Boxes were still unpacked in the corners of each room.

The rest of the walk was relatively quiet. Was this fake-courting thing a bad idea? Maybe. But at the very least he could lend an ear if she and Jack got into it again.

By the time he’d made up his mind, they were stopping beneath his own building.

He frowned.

“Do you live here?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. Jack and I rent.”

Raj grinned and pulled out his own set of keys with the matching Elowen Buildings logo.

“No way! Are you the new guy?”

He nodded, motioning to the door. “I guess so. I already have a reputation?”

She shook her head, disbelief flashing across her features. “The moving truck blocked Jack’s bike the morning he met Beckett.” She tilted her head. “Guess he has you to thank for that.”

His cheeks heated at the note of wonder in her voice, and he cleared his throat as he waved the magnetic key against the lock. “Ready to go up?”

“Yeah,” she said, but didn’t sound very convinced. He held the door open for her and she seemed to take a deep breath. “Yeah,” she repeated, more firm. “Can we take the stairs?”

He glanced at her doubtfully, but already knew he’d say yes. “What floor do you live on?”

“Floor three.”

Doesn’t leave her much time to stall, does it?

“You’ll have to face him at some point,” Raj said, and opened the stairway door for her.

“But do I?” Eli asked doubtfully.

Raj gave her a look, and she burst out into giggles.

He finally gathered enough courage around the second floor. “Would you like to exchange numbers?”

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