Her gaze slid down his body, heat pouring from her. “I bet nothing about you is plain.”
He spied Willa coming out from the back. “My girl is ready. I’ve got to go.”
Why had he said Willa was his girl? He wasn’t going to correct himself. Attention from this woman would end up burning him. He’d seen it firsthand time and time again with other guys when they fell for chasers.
When he walked up to Willa, he slung his arm over her shoulder and ignored the shock on her face as he led her out. He thought about dropping a kiss on her lips, but he didn’t want her to jerk back and make Cindy think he had lied about him and Willa being a thing.
Once the door was closed behind them and they were walking over to where her car was parked, he dropped his arm.
“Sorry about that, but Cindy was trying to hit on me, and I wanted no part of that.”
Willa burst out laughing. He chuckled with her. She turned to face him at her car. “We started work here around the same time, but she seems to have it out for me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I kind of told her we were dating.”
“Oh crap, she’s not going to like that.”
“She seems like the jealous type.”
“She is. I just work with her, so it’s not like I spend much time with her.”
“Still, that’s not great. I hope I didn’t cause you any problems.”
Willa shook her head. “It will be fine. Come on, let’s go home. I’m exhausted.”
He pulled her into a hug, not sure why he felt the need to hold her close. Maybe it was a mistake to let her see that he wanted her. His desire was getting harder and harder to hide.
23
The hug from Cy had shocked Willa, making it hard to respond. She liked the way his body felt up against hers. He was tall, muscular, and his arms around her made her feel special.
But this hug was a ruse. He explained that he’d done it because of Cindy. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him lying to Cindy. In one sense, it was satisfying to have Cindy knocked down a peg or two, but would Cindy seek retribution?
She was glad they were in separate cars. If she had to ride with Cy, she wasn’t sure what she would do. She thought about heading back to the room she rented, but fear of Robert and curiosity about Cy had her pulling into the driveway right behind his vehicle.
When she stepped from her car, Cy was right there, taking her bag from her. “I hope tonight was good for you.”
“I think it was. I need to count my tips to make sure, but it felt like a good night.”
They stepped into his place, and she could see the weird look in his eyes. He seemed almost apologetic. She wanted to talk to him, but didn’t want to be annoying, so she planned to goupstairs quickly. She’d just turned to head to the stairs when he spoke.
“Hey, before you go up. I shouldn’t have put my arm around you like I did. I just hate it when women flirt like that. I mean, it’s obvious I was there to pick you up, and she has no idea if we’re in a relationship or not. So it seemed like she was trying to come between us, or make you angry if I looked at her body.”
“Did you actually tell her we were dating?”
“No. I just called you my girl when you came out of the back.”
His words sent a thrill through her. But she didn’t need to get too excited about any of this. She wasn’t in a relationship with Cy, and it would never happen. She wasn’t his girl and didn’t even know if she would ever be anybody’s girl.
“Oh.”
“I also told her my real first name, which is Carter. I didn’t want her to know I was a SEAL or what my buddies call me. I don’t want her asking about me. I felt…I don’t know, like she only wanted me to piss you off.”
“But we’re not dating.”
“But she doesn’t know that.”
A snort escaped her lips, and she rolled her eyes. “That’s laughable. No one would believe you were dating me.”
