Page 26 of My Real Love Affair

“No, I really don’t.” His eyes narrowed. “Wait, why did you get cancelled again? You didn’t say something racist, did you?”

“No.” I shook my head and gestured at myself. “I’m just saying that I’m not exactly your usual type.”

“My usual type?”

“I’ve seen the pictures of you,” I said. “You’re little babysitter is definitely more your type.”

“Summer sucked,” he said with a derisive snort. “And fuck all that. I don’t have a type. Don’t act like you know me or what I want.”

His reaction was not what I expected. He seemed genuinely offended which made me feel bad. “Sorry. I guess I’m just having trouble processing all this. You move fast.”

He grinned. “It’s fine. The only decision you need to make right now is, do you want curly fries or onion rings?”

I was hungry. And a greasy burger with onion rings did sound really good.

Who cared if he thought that’s how I ate? It wasn’t like I was ever going to see him again. “How about you get fries and I get onion rings and we can share?” I suggested.

Austin pretended to be shocked. “We’re already sharing food? Now who’s moving fast?”

CHAPTER 9

AUSTIN

We ate our burgers in the back seat while my driver cruised around Manhattan, and it was exactly what we both needed. Greasy food, easy conversation, and enough distance from the wedding chaos to actually breathe. Melody had relaxed as the night went on, her guard dropping bit by bit until I got to see glimpses of who she really was.

Although she wasn’t telling me a lot about herself. If I tried to ask, she skillfully redirected my questions. But I did discover she was funny. Sharp-witted. And she had this way of calling me out on my bullshit that I found oddly refreshing.

Now we were sitting in my car outside her townhouse in Manhattan. I wasn’t quite ready for the night to end.

“This is me,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

“Nice place.”

“Thanks. It’s small, but it’s mine.” She picked up her purse and reached for the door before she paused. “Thank you. For tonight. For everything. I was not looking forward to that wedding. You definitely made it interesting.”

“You’ve thanked me like ten times already.”

“Well, this makes eleven.” She smiled, her entire face lighting up. “Seriously, Austin. You saved me from what could’ve been the worst night of my life.”

“Happy to help.” I was trying to figure out how to phrase what I wanted to say next. “So, I was thinking?—”

“Uh oh.”

“What?”

“You’re thinking. That seems dangerous.”

I laughed. “Funny. I was going to say I’d like to see you again.”

Her expression shifted, surprise flickering across her features. “You would?”

“Yeah. I mean, we had fun tonight, didn’t we?”

“We did,” she admitted. “But, Austin, you know this was just for show, right? Just to get through the wedding?”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

She bit her lip, studying me like she was trying to solve a particularly complicated puzzle. “What exactly are you suggesting?”