Page 23 of Ice Cold Chemistry
“Does she know about this plan?” Dana asks.
“Not yet.”
“Maybe start there.” She waves a hand, dismissing me. “Do what you need to do. Just… don’t make it weird. And—if this blows up, I never heard about it.” She turns back to her computer. “Close the door on your way out.”
I leave before she can change her mind. The hallway is quiet. My footsteps echo against the tile as I head back toward the exit.
I just volunteered to fake-date the yoga instructor. Me, Banks Callahan. The guy who hasn’t had a real relationship in six years. The guy who actively avoids human connection. The guy who can barely manage small talk on a good day.
I’m going to pretend to be someone’s boyfriend.
This is a terrible idea.
Now I just have to convince her.
I push through the exit doors into the parking lot, squinting against the late afternoon sun.
Winnie Garrett. Honey blonde hair. Big blue eyes. A smile that could power a damn city.
I climb into my truck and sit there for a minute, processing.
How do you even start that conversation?
“Hey, I know we’ve barely spoken, but want to pretend to date me so my teammates stop being creeps?”
Smooth. Real smooth.
I start the engine and pull out of the parking lot.
I’ll figure it out. I have to figure it out.
Because I already told Dana I’d handle it, and if there’s one thing I don’t do, it’s go back on my word.
Even when my word involves the dumbest idea I’ve ever agreed to.
Chapter Seven
The Proposition
Winnie
The following day, I’m sanitizing the yoga mats when a shadow falls over me.
A very large shadow.
I look up, and up, and up—because apparently that’s what you have to do when Banks Callahan is standing three feet away.
“Um,” I say eloquently. “Hi?”
He doesn’t respond immediately. He just stands there, arms crossed, looking deeply uncomfortable—like he would rather be anywhere else in the world than in this yoga studio talking to me.
That makes two of us.
“Can I help you with something?” I ask, setting down the sanitizer. “Did you need… a mat? A foam roller?”Directions to literally anywhere else?
His jaw tightens. “I have a proposition.”
I blink. “Um… okay?”
