Page 11 of Ignite My Heart

“You’re not,” JD adds.

“Exactly.”

“You sure he’s not being inappropriate in any way with you? Because men should know to take no for an answer.”

“He’s the exact opposite. Charming. Adorable. Sweet. I’m just—” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I can take you on a fake date if that’s what you need to get him to leave you alone though,” JD says.

“Are you sure? Because I was mostly kidding considering you’re my boss.”

“No problem there. We don’t have any anti-fraternization policies at the company.” He holds his hands up and shakes his head. “Not that we’ll be fraternizing.”

I laugh. “It’s fine, JD, really.”

“How about we go out for dinner and we can make it look like a date in case anyone tells him?” he suggests.

“This won’t get in the way of your social life?”

He huffs. “All I do is work. I left my social life back in Austin and frankly I’m too tired to go out drinking like I used to. And I’m over the whole one-night-stand hook-up thing.”

“You sure?”

“If it’ll give you peace of mind, then yeah, let’s do it.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Am I going to ridiculous extremes to not go out with Garrett? Yes, yes, I am. But that man has the power to break my heart for good and I’m not ready to face that right now.

JD stands. “I’ll text you the details.”

“Sounds good.”

chapter six

GARRETT

It is wrong to crash another man’s date. I know this. Yet, here I am, with my sister in tow.

“Good thing Fletch is at the station tonight, huh?” Daphne says.

“I suppose. I’m going to regret asking you to do this with me, aren’t I?”

“Probably. But I am going to enjoy the hell out of it.”

“Awesome.”

“I remember liking Felicity. I was pretty young though. Not even in high school yet,” Daphne says.

“You did like her. The few times she came over then you were all over her wanting make-up tips and asking questions about hair products.” I chuckle. “I’d actually forgotten about that.”

“You’re probably just trying to block out everything involving the evil one.”

I bark out a laugh then shoot my sister a look. “I know she’s not a nice person, but you can’t call Kathleen ‘the evil one.’”

“Why not? You knew who I was talking about.”

“Because it’s not nice.”

“You don’t have to always be the nice guy, Garrett. When we get to Gator’s, you can march yourself up to their table and tell him to fuck off. That Felicity is your woman and you’re not putting up with this nonsense.”