Page 9 of Hidden Ink

“Why did you do it?” she asked, her voice low. “You’ve stayed away from me for years. We’ve been friends but never got too close. Why did you change the rules?”

She’d changed them first by flirting with a man in front of him, but he didn’t bring that up. He’d already hurt her, hurt himself in the process.

He needed to man up, he knew it, but he also knew he really wasn’t good enough for her—wasn’t what she needed.

“I’ll take you out,” he said, surprising himself.

Her jaw dropped. “What?”

“Go out to dinner with me.” What the hell was he doing? He’d pushed Brody away because he thought the guy wasn’t good enough for her—or so he told himself—but that didn’t mean Sloane was good enough for her. In fact, he knew he wasn’t.

“You told Brody to go away because you wanted to go out with me?” she asked, her voice rising.

“You said I changed the rules, so let’s change them more. Go out with me.”

She blinked rapidly then nodded. “Fine.”

Not the best response, but he’d screwed the asking up royally. He couldn’t blame her. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Tonight? You want to go out tonight?”

“You have a problem with that?” Could he be more of an ass?

“You know what? I don’t know anymore, Sloane. I have no idea what’s going on, but fine. I’ll see you at seven.” She let out a breath, closed her eyes for a beat, and then met his gaze. “I hope we figure out what we’re doing before it’s too late.” She whispered the last part before walking out of the office, leaving him alone.

He hoped for their sake they figured it out as well. Because he’d just crashed through the wall they’d carefully erected between the two of them, and now they’d have to deal with the consequences.

And while his mind whirled and he tried to figure out what the next step would be, that small part of him that always held out hope, the part he knew he buried deep daily, pulsated.

He was going out with Hailey.

Finally.

And he was going to mess it all up. Again. It was what he did. He just prayed he didn’t break Hailey in the process.

Chapter Three

Hailey had lost her damn mind. That was the only explanation for why she was standing in front of her mirror in her robe with her hands wringing in front of her. It all seemed like a dream, but from the way her heart beat in her chest, she knew it was real.

Far too real.

One minute she’d been making coffee, trying to figure out how she’d get out of drinks or whatever with Brody, and the next she was standing in Sloane’s office saying yes to a date. With him.

It didn’t make sense.

The moment she’d stepped back into her café, she’d known she made a mistake flirting with Brody. While she’d wanted to stand up and take a step in a direction that didn’t include her waiting for a man who would never truly want her, she hadn’t meant to take a leap that fast. It wasn’t that Brody wasn’t attractive. And he’d been sweet to her. It was more that he wasn’t for her. And while, at the time, she’d thought Sloane would never be for her either, she knew she didn’t want Brody like that. It had been a lapse in judgment and one she would have had to fix right away.

Only Brody had shown up all apologetic smiles, saying he wouldn’t be staying. While she should have felt hurt that he would back out so quickly, she could only feel relief. He seemed like a nice guy—with perhaps a dangerous edge—but she didn’t want him the way she should. Even for a cup of coffee with a bit of flirtation. She’d smiled back and said she understood—though she hadn’t truly understood his quick change of mind, even if she’d been relieved. When she’d asked him if there was anything wrong, he’d told her to ask Sloane about it, and she’d had to clutch the sides of the counter, hard.

After dropping that bomb, the damn man had just walked out of her café, hands in his pockets with a smile on his face.

It didn’t make sense. Why would Sloane have anything to do with Brody backing out of their almost-date? So, when she’d stormed over to Montgomery Ink, angry and hurt that Sloane would dare to interfere, especially when he hadn’t done anything when it came to her and him—at all—she’d been ready to tear him a new one.

No one had been more surprised than her when he’d asked her out.

Or rather, when he’d told her they were going out.

She wasn’t quite sure how it had happened, only that she’d raised her chin and said yes. She shouldn’t have, she knew. The man hadn’t wanted her until someone else had taken a chance. That wasn’t how relationships were supposed to start. He wasn’t supposed to keep her at arm’s length, waiting for him to make up his mind. That wasn’t fair to her, wasn’t fair to him.