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“Ah, here we are.” She spies my car. “Thank you so much for taking me home. You’re such a nice guy.”

I look over at her and nod as I open the door. I make sure she buckles her seat belt, and then I close it. I take a couple of breaths before I get into the driver’s seat. If only she knew how much I wanted her. If only she knew how badly I wanted to touch her and kiss her, how badly I wanted to give her an orgasm that she would never forget, but I won’t do that.

I start the car and head to her apartment. I look over, and her eyes are closed slightly. I smile to myself. There’s something about Rosie that makes me happy. She says what she’s thinking, and I love her honesty.

I pull up outside of her apartment and then lightly touch her on the shoulder.

“I’m awake,” she says, her eyes flying open and looking at me. She yawns widely. “Okay, maybe I wasn’t awake. Are we here?”

“We’re here.” I nod. “Give me the keys, and I’ll …”

She stares at me blankly. “Oops,” she says, her eyes wide as she licks her lips.

“Oops, what?”

“I forgot that I gave my keys to Izzy to hold.” She wrinkles her nose. “And I think they’re still at Mama’s Kitchen.” She taps her legs. “I can’t believe I forgot that. Oh my, sorry.” She yawns again. “I’m so tired though. Maybe I can sleep in your car until they get back.”

I look at her for a few seconds and then look down at my watch. “No, that’s not going to do. You know what? I’ll take you back to my place and …”

“So, you are going to have your wicked way with me?”

“No, we’ll sit there, and I will call Dalton and see if he can bring the keys over for us, and then we’ll come back.”

“Okay.” She shrugs. “Whatever.” She closes her eyes again, and I can tell she’s tired.

I pull out and make my way to my apartment. I know it’s not a great idea, but she’s so tired, and even if she attempted to seduce me, I know it wouldn’t be anything particularly enthusiastic or energetic.

I turn on the radio to smooth jazz as I drive, and I think about life, love. There’s a part of me that wishes I could be in a relationship, that I could loosen up, that I could flirt with Rosie and have it mean nothing. There’s a part of me that wishes I could kiss her and tell her all the things she wanted to hear and be like other normal men, but I don’t know how to unlock that part of me.

I pull into my parking lot, park the car, and get out. I open her door, and her eyes flutter open. She’s absolutely exhausted.

“Are we here?” she says softly.

“Yeah, come on.” I grab her hand, and she gets out slowly from the car.

We walk toward my front door, and when I open it, she stops and looks inside.

“Wow, this doesn’t look like a bachelor pad.” She looks over at me. “It’s really nice. I mean, I can’t really see it that well, but it smells nice.” She giggles.

“Come on,” I say.

I turn on a lamp, and we head to the living room and take a seat on the couch. I grab my phone and text Dalton.

Rosie left her keys with Izzy. We’re at my place. Let me know if I can get the keys tonight; otherwise, she can take my bed and I’ll take the couch.

I send the message, and we just sit there.

She leans back and looks around. “I can’t believe I’m in your apartment.” She looks over at me, stares at my lips. “This is when you can kiss me, Brett.”

“I’m not going to kiss you, Rosie.”

“I know. I was just testing to make sure that you weren’t.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you kissed me.”

“But I thought friends didn’t kiss,” I say. “And you asked me to help you find a really good guy, and I wouldn’t want to complicate that.”