“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.” He watched Sky as she spoke to a couple of people across the room. Her head turned, and their gazes locked. Her eyes did that widening thing, which told him one thing—she felt it too.
What exactly “it” was, he had no idea. All he knew was that he liked being around her…probably too much.
CHAPTER7
No. No, no, no.
Sky lifted her phone, looking at the text again, still not believing what she was reading.
Mom: Your father didn’t want to leave Tony home alone, so he’s invited him to dinner tonight. I hope that’s okay.
No, it was not okay. And both her parents knew that. She’d made her thoughts on Tony pretty freaking clear. And it was interesting that they’d only invited himaftershe’d told them that Becket was sick.
Her fingers moved quickly over her cell, typing out a text that could only be described as furious. Then of course, the second she read it back, she deleted it. She couldn’t send that to her mother. It had two curses and a semi-curse in it.
Besides, it was more her father’s doing than her mother’s, and an angry text wouldn’t change things. Even if she wanted them to uninvite him, they wouldn’t. And it was too late to cancel or change plans.
God, her parents infuriated her. Her father inviting Tony and her mother only dropping it on her ten minutes before they came was so calculated and…just unkind.
She finally wrote out her reply.
Sky: I wish he hadn’t.
She hit send and dropped her phone to the kitchen counter before slicing the cucumber with a bit more aggression.
To make matters worse, she hadn’t seen Becket since the ball…and was actually disappointed about it. Gah. Why she was disappointed to not see a neighbor she didn’t even like, she had no idea. It wasn’t because his arms had felt good around her. And it certainly wasn’t because when he’d spoken to her on the dance floor, the velvet tone of his voice had slid over her body and made her feel all sensitive and tingly.
She didn’t like it. Any of it.
But it would be fine. Becket wouldn’t be there tonight—something she should be happy about—and even though Onion Breath Tony was coming, he still thought she had a boyfriend. So there should be no more talk of dates.
She’d just finished the salad and added a fourth place setting to the table when her doorbell rang.
Her gaze flew up to the clock. Her parents were five minutes early. They were never early. In fact, they got everywhere at almost the exact time, to the minute, that they were told. It was something she’d always found annoying but never understood why.
She moved to the door.
“Hey, you guys are—” She stopped, the words dying on her lips. Not her parents. Not even close. “Becket.”
“Hi.” He held a tray covered in foil and a bottle of wine.
“What are you doing here?”
“Six, right? I know, I’m early—a terrible habit of mine.”
“That wasn’t…” She shook her head. “I told my parents you’re sick.”
“Well, lucky for you,girlfriend, I am feeling like rainbows and sunshine.” Then he kissed her on the cheek as if he’d done it a million times and walked into her house. “What is that delicious smell? Pot roast?”
What was going on? Was she living in a twilight zone?
She closed the door and spun toward him. “I told you, you only needed to play along for one night.” Although, now that Tony was coming, maybe it was better that he was here.
No. How could having her sexy-as-sin neighbor here, pretending to be her boyfriend, be better? It wasn’t. This wasn’t a huge, crowded ballroom. This was herhome. He’d be here all night. Smelling far too good and sitting far too close.
Becket frowned at the table. “It’s set with four places.”
