“I can’t with you,” he says to Ruthie, then he picks up his phone and starts swiping through it, clearly wanting out of the conversation. Lester watches it all with amusement on his face.
“Now you, young lady…” Damn, Ruthie’s attention is back on me. Geez, she’s like a dog with a bone. “How do you know our Harrison?”
Harrison tenses across from me, though he doesn’t look up from his device. Lester is watching my interaction with Ruthie with mild interest, but Ruthie’s gaze pierces me, and I swear the woman can see into my soul.
Okay. Well, here goes nothing. “We had a one-night stand.”
Chapter Nineteen
Harrison
“Are you insane? I cannot believe you told them we had a one-night stand.”
I glance over at Delaney in the passenger seat, just in time to see her shrug casually. Her expression is fairly neutral, but there’s an unmistakable air of smugness about her.
“It worked, didn’t it? It threw them off our trail. They didn’t believe me, anyway.”
“Yeah, for now. Trust me—when Ruthie wants to know something, she’s relentless.”
“She’s not bad. She trained me for over a week, and we got along great.”
“Yeah, you’re not the one receiving daily dirty jokes or semi-risqué photos of septuagenarians in your text messages.”
“Really? ‘Septuagenarians?’ Nerdy much?”
Delaney breaks out in laughter. It’s a sweet sound, and I realize I haven’t seen her laugh like this before. Even if it’s at my expense, I’m glad I’m the one to make it happen.
I pull the car into the small parking lot of the building department, put it in park, and turn it off. Then, I turn to face Delaney.
“Listen, before we go in, there are a few things you should know. Susie—Ruthie’s arch-nemesis, as you may recall from the conversation at the restaurant—is sweet, but she’s a little touchy-feely with me. So, if things get awkward, I’d appreciate a helping hand.”
“So, what you’re telling me is you have a seventy-something-year-old admirer? Does it bother your girlfriend?”
There’s a seriousness in her tone that makes me wonder where that question came from.
“My girlfriend?” I cock my head at her. “Is there something you want to ask me, Bets?”
“Uh, no.” Delaney looks away when she says it, and her jaw tenses a bit. She’s lying. She totally wants to know if I have a girlfriend.
“Oh. Okay. Let’s go then.” I hop out of the car and race around to her side to open the door before she can get out herself.
Once she climbs out of the car, I close the door behind her and move to grab the documents we need from the back.
“Well? You didn’t answer whether you have a girlfriend.”
My back is still to her, so I allow myself to smile for a second before I flatten my expression. I spin to look at her.
“You’re right. I didn’t answer because you didn’t ask a question. Remember?” I move closer to her. “Do you have a question you want to ask me, Delaney?”
Her back is against the car now, and there’s barely a foot between us. She’s beautiful. I don’t think she even knows it, which is crazy to me. I can’t tear my gaze from her face or those gorgeous eyes, wide and gawking back at me. She’s biting her lower lip, and it’s sexy as hell. A single strand of hair fallsfrom her loose bun and brushes against her cheek with the light breeze in the air. It takes everything in me not to reach up and tuck it behind her ear.
What are you doing, Harrison? She’s an employee. You don’t do relationships. You don’t do girlfriends.
Just when I’m sure she’s going to ask, her facial muscles tighten. The stunned look in her eyes disappears, replaced with stubbornness.
“We should go in now,” she says. “I have a lot of work to do back at the office, so we shouldn’t waste time.”
I take a step back, and Delaney moves away from me, practically running toward the building’s entrance.
