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“Thanks, Cass.”
“Thanks for taking me up here. I’ll always be grateful I got to see inside her.”
Coleman’s cell pings before he pulls away from the curb. He looks over at me with the biggest smile on his face. “He wants to meet me at the office. He’s putting in an offer!”
I smile a weak smile back at Coleman. I’m happy for his sale. The commission will be great.
We drive back to Hearthstone, my mind playing back images of the interior of Seventeen Cherry Hill the whole drive. I bet I’ll be seeing that house in my dreams. No. I know I will.
Coleman heads into the office. I linger outside for a minute, gathering my rambling emotions.
A figure appears to my left and I jump.
“Delaney! Oh my gosh. You scared me.”
“You scare me all the time,” he says with a soft chuckle. “Consider it payback.”
He shakes his head as if he can’t believe he just said that. Then he says, “Did Kate call you about the gala this weekend?”
“Yeah. She did.”
“And?”
“I don’t know if I have a choice.”
He nods as if he doesn’t have a choice either.
“I’ll have to pick you up. Here.” He hands his cell over to me. “Put your number in so I can text you.”
“Don’t look so excited, QB.” I type in my number and hand the phone back to him. “And don’t abuse that number.”
He laughs out a brief, “Ha!” Then he shakes his head. “You’re the first woman I ever met who hasn’t wanted me to abuse her number.”
This guy. Does he really think he’s God’s gift to the female race?
“Well, get used to me treating you differently than most of the women you’ve ever met.”
His face goes neutral. I can’t get a read on him.
Then he says, “In public, we’re on a date.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I did that at the restaurant. I know how to act like I’m on a date with you.”
His brows raise as if to say he remembers how well that date went.
We stand there in a standoff of sorts. Him challenging me and me giving back as good as I’m taking. No words are spoken for an awkward twenty or thirty seconds.
Finally, he pivots and says over his shoulder, “I’ll pick you up Saturday at six thirty.”
Chapter 12
Cass
We are what we pretend to be,
so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.
~ Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night
