“I have resources, Jake. A lot of them, ergo I’m not using you, if that’s what you think.”
“Then what is it?” he asked.
“What is what?”
He rolled his head forward to watch me. “What makes a lady like you interested in a guy like me?”
I let out a frustrated squeak. “I don’t have time for this, Jake. I have to get back to the hospital.”
“How about I drive you and you can tell me on the way?”
I shook my head. “I need my car.”
“I’ll pick you and Dylan both up tomorrow and drop you home after she’s been released.”
I sighed. “You’re like a dog with a bone.”
“You’re not the first person to say that.”
“Shocker,” I breathed out.“Give me a minute and I’ll grab Dylan’s bag.”
I finished throwing a couple of things into one of my smaller Louis Vuitton’s, grabbed Dylan’s pillow, and joined Jake back in the living room. He took everything from me, so I threw my keys in my purse and followed him out the door.
Always gallant, something I really liked about him, he held my door for me and waited until I was settled before heclosed me in. He set Dylan’s stuff in the backseat and then slid in beside me.
“I really am sorry, Addison,” he said as he pulled away from the curb.
“I appreciate that.” I smiled. “I do like you, you know.”
“I like you too.”
“Now that we’ve established our middle-school-like crush,” I said, “I’d really like you to stop acting like a little bitch.”
He burst out laughing. “I’m sorry?”
“Ifyou haven’t figured it out, I’m pretty straightforward.”
“You think?”
I smiled. “So, I tend to say what I’m thinking, and that gets me in trouble.” When he didn’t respond, I continued, “I don’t typically lie... I have been known to lie by omission, but I try really hard to be truthful. All that to say, when I tell you I like you, it’s not because I want something from you. If I want somethingfrom you, I’ll ask.”
“Or demand.”
“Or demand, sure,” I conceded.
“That’s not a criticism, by the way.”
I chuckled. “I know. I’m fabulous.”
He laughed again.
“Anyway, that’s pretty much it. What you see is what you get, except when I have resting-bitch face. That’s typicallynotwhat you see. I’m usually relaxed, not mad.”
“Good to know.”
“So, the reason I invite you to things is becauseI like you. Maybe I should sit back and wait for you to do your manly thing, but patience has never been a strong-suit of mine, and since I want to get to know you...”
“My manly thing?”
