‘I’m glad.’
‘What about you?’
‘I’m… okay.’ He wasnotokay. He was completely wrecked but doing anything else with Daisy would only make that worse.
‘Still afraid of falling in love with me?’ she asked, not lifting her head.
‘Something like that, yeah. I’m not good at doing this without feelings.’
‘You’re a rare breed.’
‘I’ve been told.’
She pulled away and looked up at him. ‘So, we probably shouldn’t…’
‘Right. I don’t think I can be your…’
‘Fuck buddy?’ she asked, the teasing smile working its way back onto her lips. At least she wasn’t upset with him.
‘Sorry.’
She gave a little shrug. ‘It’s probably for the best.’
‘Agreed.’
‘And I don’t think you have feelings for me, anyway, Elliot.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘I mean, besides the obvious pants feelings.’
He adjusted himself. The pants feelings hadn’t exactly gone away yet.
‘Why do you say that?’
‘You’re just repeating what happened with your ex-wife. I was the first woman who asked you out. Even if it was for pretend.’
He stood there, slightly stunned by that observation. She was right. It was what he’d been afraid of since he met her, but to have Daisy call him out on it… it was like being splashed with cold water.
Leigh was the first girl who’d asked him out in college, and he’d hung on to her for dear life. And now here he was, developing feelings for the first woman who he’d spent any time with since the divorce.
And the worst part was Daisy knew. She knew what was happening even if he wanted to ignore it.
‘As your friend,’ Daisy went on. ‘I can’t let you repeat your mistakes. Just like I’m not going to repeat mine.’
She rebuttoned her pants and smoothed down her shirt, all business again.
‘Now, should we go listen to our friends and neighbors butcher our favorite songs?’ She grabbed her purse from the bed while Elliot struggled to process everything she’d just said.
Wasshe right? Maybe a few weeks ago he would have agreed, but now he refused to think of Daisy as a mistake. Nothing that happened with Daisy felt anything like it had with Leigh.
Elliot’s feelings for Daisy felt brand new.
But Daisy wasn’t ready to hear that. Not yet.
‘Sure,’ he said, taking her hand. They were still fake-dating after all. He still got to hold her hand. For now, anyway. ‘Let’s go.’
ChapterTwenty
