Lacey’s eyes widened. “Oh, crap! Pretend I didn’tsaythat!”
He shook his head slowly. “No way. You’re saying there were bad matches?” She shook her head, refusing to answer. “And that Morgan Jones, the Date Maker, knowingly sent her best friend on oneofthem?”
She still didn’t respond, but nibbled on her bottom lip drawing his attention there once more. He closed his eyes. He could not get distracted by Lacey’s mouth when he was so close to the information that could land a devastating blow to the Date Maker and everything shestoodfor.
They sat next to each other in uncomfortable silence for several moments. The sun continued its decent until the sky was dark. The glow of the many lampposts that lined the lake was the only light. There were still several people walking around, but Conrad barely registered any of them except for the one who sat so close he could—and very badly wanted to—touchher.
Finally, shespoke.
“Why did youtellhim?”
“Idon’tknow.”
ChapterEight
There was no escapingConrad’spresence.
Sure, part of it was the fact he was sitting right next to Lacey, but it was more than that. He was just too…there. She closed her eyes to try to clear her mind from the way he watched her, but the problem was that she could still feel him. She could see the way the shadows were falling over his face in the diminishinglight.
And she knew he wantedanswers.
Why, oh, why had she said anything about her bad match? Morgan was going to kill her for admitting it to anyone—especially to the guy who happened to be eating with Declan not even anhourago.
This was bad. Very bad. She breathed slowly through her nose, trying to formulate an answer, but the only words that came to mind were so vulnerable she could barelystandit.
“I wanted tofindlove.”
Lacey held her breath waiting for Conrad to laugh—to make some joke about love being an overrated emotion hyped up for the greeting card industry. She barely knew him, but it was exactly the kind of thing she expected to come from his mouth given the way they’d spoken to each other ever since he’d followed her out onto the promenade. Plus his whole body radiated that ‘cool, rich guy who doesn’t give a crap’ swagger. She’d spent three years listening to guys like him crack jokes in the back of lecturehalls.
But the quipnevercame.
Instead, she felt his hand reach for her—his fingers intertwining with her own. The small gesture was acomfort.
And it was this sweet gesture from a boy she barely knew that caused the first tear to fall. She felt silly about crying in front of Conrad after her dramatic departure from the restaurant, but there was also something that felt very safe about crying in front of astranger.
Maybe Conrad was onto something with his statement about how it was sometimes easier to open up to someone when there was no history. She allowed the tears to multiply and fall, and Conrad was gracious enough to pretend she wasn’t crying. He just heldherhand.
When she was done, she sniffled in quite the unladylike fashion. Conrad squeezed her hand. “I get it,youknow.”
She let out a very unattractive half-sob, half-laugh. “Oh, yeah? You’ve been dumped by a bunch ofpeople?”
Conrad pulled his hand from hers and wiped it, along with his other hand, on the front of his jeans. “I mean wanting to find the right person.” His voice was so quiet, Lacey wasn’t sure she had heard himcorrectly.
“I don’t understand. If you’re serious about finding someone, why did Morgan write what she did on the back of your picture? There must be something really wrong with you for her to go to that extreme.” Her back straightened as her brain finally caught up to the words she’d spoken without thinking. “What’s wrongwithyou?”
He put a hand to his chest, the tenderness from moments before replaced with sarcasm. “Wow. You sure know how to make a guy feelspecial.”
“No offense.” She could have kicked herself. He had been so nice and she was saying all the wrongthings.
“Of course not,” he answered, his voice carrying a hint ofamusement.
She wanted to smile, but knew Morgan wouldn’t have refused to set Conrad up on a date without a good reason—not when she was so desperate to find matches foreveryone.
“Do you have agirlfriend?”
He shookhishead.
“Married?”
