I snort. “Add modesty to the list.”
One eyebrow lifts as Asher looks at me. “If you think so,” he retorts, and I think… he’s joking? It’s hard to tell with Mr. Stoic.
“Wait, but what mutual friends would we have?” I ask, wracking my brain.
“It doesn’t matter.” He waves me off. “As long as we have the same line.”
I narrow my eyes. “I thought you wanted this to be convincing?”
He considers me for a moment. “It will be.”
I shake my head, a bit of bravery rising up in me. Or maybe stupidity? “It’s generic. And if anyone pauses to think about it or asks further questions, it will unravel.”
Sitting back slightly, asking, “Do you have any suggestions, then?”
I stand up, pacing as I think it through. The best lie is partly truth, right? “We met at a coffee shop. I go to different ones to write most days, so that’s believable and not something I need to lie about. And we say you stopped in one morning? Afternoon?”
“Morning,” Asher fills in.
I nod. “And I turned a corner too fast and spilled my drink on you.”
The corners of his lips lift. “Almost the truth.”
“Almost the truth.” I smile, liking that he’s into this. “I was horrified, but you were kind about it.”
“Well, of course.” He stands as he fills in the story. “You looked like you were about to have a panic attack.”
“I was,” I agree. “But then you were so nice, and you bought me a new coffee. An iced caramel latte, of course. My favorite.”
“The gentlemanly thing to do.”
“Mhm. Which you are, of course.”
We both smile again at that. “And then we see each other the next few mornings.”
“Yep. Adorable meet cute, and then it just grows from there.”
Asher smiles. “You’re right, that is better.”
“Thank you.” My chest warms at his praise. “We’ll say we fell in love like a month later, in that same coffee shop. We should pick which one?—”
“No,” Asher interrupts, and I look at him, confused. He just said this story was better… I’ve stopped my pacing, and Asheruses the opportunity to move closer to me, leaving only a foot of space. “I knew I loved you the moment you spilled that drink on me.”
I suck in a breath. “Oh.”
“It’s sweeter that way, right?”
My thoughts jumble from him being so close, and his use of “drink” instead of “coffee” has me blurring reality and fiction. I shake the thoughts from my head.It’s all fiction,I remind myself. “Yeah, that’s better.”
“Now…” He takes another step forward, invading my space but not quite touching me. “The next thing we need to work on is being comfortable around each other.” His gaze drops to my mouth for a fraction of a second.
Heat crawls up my neck. "Comfortable how?"
"Physically." He reaches out, his hand resting lightly on my arm, and I flinch immediately, shifting away from him. "Andthatis why we need to get more comfortable.” He gives me a pointed look. “Can you handle me touching you, Grace?"
My name from his mouth sounds like a dare.
"Yes," comes out breathier than I intend, and I attempt to relax my body, moving back into his orbit.
