“Do yours?”
My hands tighten into fists at my sides. I know he’s referring to Ada and the bottle waitress. How original. Maybe I’ve been with a lot of women, but I’ve never cheated. I open my mouth to spit the fire at him that’s building inside, but he cuts me off.
“She’s not all she’s cracked up to be. You’ll get bored with her soon. You’ll see.”
Movement in the upstairs hall pulls our attention. I bend down to his level, checking over my shoulder and lowering my voice as Lena appears at the top of the staircase. “Your music sucks, by the way. If it weren’t for Lena, your shows would still be empty.”
He scowls as she lands at the bottom of the stairs, dropping the keys into his hand and turning to face me. “Ready, babe?”
I lean in. She’s added some lipstick that makes her soft mouth look even fuller, and a delicious, sweet-scented cloud swarms around her. I plant a kiss on the top of her hair. “Ready.”
Her brow folds, and I worry I’ve overstepped, but then her face brightens into a contagious smile. For a split second, Callum isn’t there. It’s just the two of us, but then he says somethingsnarky that barely registers because all I can focus on is the turbulent blue of Lena’s eyes.
“Gustav will be by to get it,” Lena says, finally breaking eye contact with me.
We follow Callum to the door, stopping behind him to pull on our shoes. He gives us a once-over before exiting without a goodbye. The door clicks shut, leaving Lena and me completely alone once again. But this time it’s different. I feel like we’ve been through a battle over the past fifteen minutes, despite never moving more than a few feet. Somehow—together—we made it out unscathed. She watches out the glass panels of the door as he shuffles through her meticulous landscaping and jumps into the back of a dark SUV. When it loops through the circular drive and disappears out of her gate, she begins to pull her shoes off.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I say, hoping to lighten the heaviness that was the presence of Callum. “You gotta wear shoes where we’re going. No shoes, no service, as they say.”
She shakes her head. “It’s okay. We don’t have to?—”
“Do you have to work or something?”
“No, I have a free day today.”
“Me too. So I’m taking my girlfriend out.”
I can tell she’s fighting back a smile. “And where are you taking her?”
“It’s a surprise,babe.”
She rolls her eyes, a rosy blush covering her cheeks. “I panicked! I didn’t know what to say.”
I laugh at how cute she is when she’s flustered, tossing an arm over her shoulders. “It’s okay, really. Better than Deckie-Pie, I guess.” I take a deep breath. “That guy’s an idiot, by the way.”
To my surprise, she doesn’t shake free of my arm, and she doesn’t defend him. She quietly agrees and lets me guide her out the door.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LENA
“Where are you taking me?”I watch from the corner of my eye as Decker fights back a smile. It’s kind of adorable how pleased he seems to be at my cluelessness. Or maybe he’s excited. And I have to admit, I’m kind of excited too. It’s been too long since I’ve done anything remotely spontaneous, unless we’re counting my random not-a-date-lunch-date with Decker the other day. I tend to keep a tight schedule—especially while caught in the throes of recording—but inspiration has been lacking lately, and I need a break.
“You’ll see.” His smile presses further into his stubbly cheeks, and finally, he exposes his perfect teeth.
A feather-light flutter unfolds in my belly, and I have to turn away. I reach for the door and fiddle with the window button as I wait for the unwanted sensation to subside. Hoping to be whipped back to my senses, I press it, anticipating a deluge of fresh air, but nothing happens. “Did you lock me in here?”
“I’m carrying precious cargo.”
“Who uses the child lock, anyway?”
“I do when a 330-pound man in my passenger seat won’t stop playing with the buttons.” He glances my way and must notice my confusion because he smiles at me again beforepulling his attention back to the road. “Maleko. He was the last one to ride there. That’s why the seat was so low. He’s a fidgeter. Messes with everything.”
“Is he your best friend?”
“Yeah, one of them. But only after you,babe.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re gonna have to fight Joss for that spot.”
