Page 41 of The Rules of Dating

His answer was to shoot daggers at me. After an awkward couple of seconds, Billie and Deek exchanged glances before she took a deep breath and walked over to us. She knelt in front of Saylor and put on a smile. “Let me see what you made, honey.”

Saylor handed her the construction paper.

“Wow, good job. It looks just like your dad.”

My brows shot up. “How did you know it was me?”

She pointed to the paper. “The party hats.”

I smiled. “Guess that’s why I’m an architect and not an artist.” Shoving my hands into my pockets, I rocked back and forth on my heels. “How was your day?”

She glanced up at me and pursed her lips. “Saylor, sweetheart, why don’t you show your beautiful artwork to Deek.” Turning to her employee, her tone didn’t leave much room for options. “Deek, would you mind taking Saylor up front to look at her drawing? I think Amazon delivered a few cases of snacks earlier. I’m sure you can find one she’d like.”

He nodded. “No problem, boss.”

When he walked past, he hit me with a warning glare. “I’ll be right out there.”

As soon as Deek closed the door behind them, Billie poked her finger into my chest. “Don’t you ever do that again.”

I raised both my hands in question. “Do what?”

“Use your sweet, innocent daughter to try to get back into my good graces.”

I sighed. “How else was I supposed to talk to you? I tried to call you three times.”

“Do you not know how to take a hint? I didn’t feel like talking to you, Colby.”

“Today or forever?”

“I don’t know.”

She wasn’t looking at me, so I crouched down so our eyes were aligned. “I swear to God, Billie, nothing happened. I went as Holden’s wingman. There were three women. Holden was hooking up with one, and I had too much to drink and passed out in the bathroom after puking. When I got up this morning, all four of them were in bed naked.”

Billie’s lip curled in disgust. “Please don’t tell me any more.”

“I’m sorry. But it’s the truth. Nothing happened with me and any of the women. Do you believe me?”

She took a deep breath and sighed. “It doesn’t matter, Colby.”

“Of course it does.”

“No, it doesn’t. In fact, you don’t owe me any explanation, and there’s nothing to apologize about since there’s nothing going on between us.”

“Give me a break, Billie. Of course there is. We might not be having sex or dating, but there’s something going on between us.”

She looked away. “There isn’t. I’m sorry if I led you to believe there was.”

I could handle her being mad at me. I could even handle if she didn’t believe what I said. But I couldn’t handle her pretending nothing was going on between us anymore. Because I knew what I felt wasn’t one-sided. At least I had before I’d gone and fucked everything up.

I crossed my arms. “You know what? Keep telling yourself that. Maybe eventually, you’ll start to believe it.” I shook my head. “And you’re right. I shouldn’t have come with my daughter. Not once in four years have I used her like that, not for anything. It may have been wrong, but that should tell you that what’s going on between us is pretty damn real…at least for me.” I paused. “I’ll see you around.”

CHAPTER 10

Billie

Holden had booked another appointment with me for Monday morning. He’d said he wanted a small addition to his tattoo. I’d been anxious to see him, mostly because I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist digging for information on Threesomegate.

“Hey, Billie. Looking beautiful as always,” Holden said as he made his way into the shop.