"Promise me something," I say, striding across the few feet that separate us. I place my hands on her shoulders, turning her to face me. She fights me for a minute, as if she doesn't want me to see what's written all over her face. But I'vealreadyseen it. "Promise me that you won't make any decisions yet."
"I've already decided, Lincoln. I can't afford this place," she whispers.
"Just promise me, Lilah."
She searches my face for a long moment before nodding hesitantly. "Fine. I promise."
I tug her into my arms, pressing my lips to hers in a grateful kiss. I don't tell her that I'm going to fix this, but that's precisely what I'm going to do. I'm no longer satisfied with her building. I want her heart.
One way or another, I intend to earn it.
Chapter Eight
Lilah
"You look like you're ready to throw up." I eye Sarah with amusement as she scrubs her hands down her sides for the fifth time in the last sixty seconds. The shop is closing soon, and she has a date.
I think she'd rather be tortured on a rack than go.
"I might," she mumbles, her eyes wide and stricken. "I've never been on a blind date before. What if he takes one look at me and runs in the opposite direction, leaving me sitting at the bar by myself all night?"
"Then we're keying his car and egging his house," Jazz swears, her eyes flashing behind the counter. "It'll be the least of what he deserves for being too blind to see what's right in front of him."
"You mean the ball of barely functioning anxiety?" Sarah retorts, her voice shaking too much for the sarcasm to come through.
"No. I'm talking about the shy goddess who knows every action movie ever made, can read an entire 800-page book in a day, knows how to shake her ass, and looks like a million dollars," Jazz says, smirking at her. "You're beautiful, Sarah. If your date doesn't see it, fuck that guy."
Sarah laughs quietly, her cheeks pink.
"Jazz is right," I say, smiling at her. "You are beautiful. Especially in that dress."
"Are you sure you don't need me to stay?" she asks me, also for the fifth time. "I can cancel."
I almost give her the out she obviously wants. It's clear she doesn't really want to go. Frankly, I'm not sure why she signed up for a dating service to begin with, not because she's shy and anxious, but because I'm almost positive she has feelings for Olive's brother, Jasper. She adamantly refuses to talk about him, but anytime he stops in to see Olive, she can't keep her eyes off him.
She's desperate for an excuse—any excuse—to call this date off.
But even if this guy isn't the one for her, it's about time she went out and had a little fun. Maybe it'll give her the courage she needs to face her feelings for Jasper.
"You absolutely cannot cancel," Olive cries, stepping out of the back with her hands on her hips, ready for battle. "You're going on your date, or I'm disowning you!"
"You can't disown me. I know all of your secrets."
Olive just glares at her. "You're going, Sarah. I'll tie you up in my car and carry you to the restaurant myself if I have to do it."
Jazz nods, backing her up.
Who knows? Maybe it'll work out for her.Somethingaround here needs to work out right for once.
Things were going so great with Lincoln before he found out I wasn't putting in a bid. Like…freakishly great. But things have been…weird since he found out that he's getting the building. He still says all the right things. He even spent the night with me again the night before last, before heading back to San Francisco yesterday. He kept me up all night, giving me orgasms until I couldn't take any more. He looks at me like I'm the most important thing in his world.
But he was acting weird before he left, almost like he was hiding something. And then he rushed back to his office to handle an emergency at work.
I don't even know when he'll be back. He didn't say.
It's making me nuts. We haven't talked about the building again since lunch the other day, but it feels like a mountain standing between us, bigger than it was before he knew I wasn't putting in a bid.
I don't know what to do about it, either. But I'm beginning to feel like Jazz was right. There's no way this is going to work when it started how it did—with us on opposite sides, fighting over this building. Maybe we were foolish to think it could be more.
