“That’s not what I meant,” she scolded and plucked a slice of pepperoni off his pizza as punishment.“I mean, how do we do this?”
“You mean, the three of us, in a relationship?”Knox asked.“That is what we all want, right?”
Jesse stole his pepperoni back.“That’s what I want.”
“Me, too,” Chloe said, ignoring Jesse’s unrepentant grin.“I just don’t know how to do it.”
“Why don’t we start with a date?”
She blinked at Knox.“A date?”
“I like dates.”Jesse popped the pepperoni into his mouth.“Especially if there’s cuddling.”
“I was thinking more an outside date,” Knox told Jesse, his watchful gaze trained on Chloe.“Something traditional.Dinner, maybe a concert.”
“We could go dancing,” Jesse pointed out.“That’s traditional.”
“You just want to show off,” Knox accused.
“Well, yeah.I’m an excellent dancer,” Jesse informed her with a grin.“He’s not.”
“I can dance,” Knox protested.
“You stand and sway,” Jesse said with a snort.“That’s not dancing, it’s…”
Knox’s smile turned smug.“Publicly acceptable cuddling.”
Jesse’s jaw dropped, then he grinned.“Well, you sneaky shit.”
“A date,” Chloe repeated.
Knox’s gaze settle back on her.“How do you feel about that?”
“Nervous,” she admitted, one hand pressed to the butterflies in her stomach.“People will see us together.”
Knox nodded.“They will.”
“They’ll make assumptions.Judgments.”
“They’ll do that, too.”Knox’s voice was quiet.“I wish we could shield you from that, but if we want to be together…it’s something you’ll have to handle.”
“I know.I know that.”She blew out a breath.“Lou said something to me tonight.”
Jesse groaned and closed his eyes.“Oh, God.”
“No, it was good.I asked her how she handled being married to a sex worker—”
Knox’s eyebrows shot up.“You did?”
“Well, not in so many words,” Chloe admitted.“I just said how they had an unconventional relationship, and how did she manage that.”
“And what did she say?”
She looked at Knox.“She said she remembers what matters is what’s between the two of them, and the rest isn’t her problem.That other people’s opinions are just noise.”
Jesse blinked his eyes open.“Huh.That is good.”
“It is,” Knox agreed.“Though their situation is a little different.Most people don’t know what Sawyer does for a living, and the ones who do are loving and supportive.Public perception doesn’t matter as much, because the public doesn’t see that.”
