Page 41 of The Kiss Connection

It was honestly the longest night of my life.

“It doesn’t matter,” Conrad says and shrugs nonchalantly. “His obsession with you makes it obvious that his feelings run deeper than just hate.”

“He’s obsessed with me?”

Rowan chuckles. “The two of you seem to be enamored with each other. Come on, you don’t find it a little bit strange that you’re still talking to him? If you hated him, you’d have written him off completely.”

“It’s not like I have a choice. We live next door to one another. I’ve tried writing him off!”

Conrad smirks. “You haven’t tried hard enough. If you really hated him, you’d have told me to go fuck myself when I offered you the check for the gala. You’re … intrigued.”

“I was doing it for charity.” I glower. I move off the mattress and grab a short black skirt from my closet and a dark purple blouse with soft paint strikes of amber and red. It’s very artistic, something I bought but wasn’t sure where I’d ever wear it. But at least black goes with everything.

“That’s nice,” Conrad muses, admiring my choices. “The skirt is—” he whistles his approval, and I slip off my shoes and toss them at him.

“Jerk,” I mutter.

Rowan hides the hint of a smile, but the corner of her lips betray her. “Go into your bathroom and change. We still have to do your hair and makeup.”

“We?” I ask, hoping that Conrad isn’t going to be applying my makeup. I am going out in public with Myles tonight.

“Me, okay?” She practically shoves me into the bathroom with my clothes and slams the door shut behind me.

An hour later, there’s a soft rap at the front door.

Rowan and Conrad are hanging back in the kitchen, but I can feel their stares as I stalk over to the front door to answer it.

“Hey.” Myles stands there in a pair of black pants and a light-blue dress shirt. It brings out the gray in his eyes, making them appear lighter and bolder. “You ready?”

“No flowers?” Conrad mocks from inside my apartment, and Myles raises an eyebrow, glancing past me.

“Conrad?”

I open the front door farther, letting him see Conrad isn’t alone with me, Rowan is here too. “They were helping me get ready,” I explain, as if there needs to be any justification for the two of us hanging out together. “And now it’s time for you both to leave.” I gesture toward the door.

Conrad and Rowan head out in front of me while I grab my keys and purse, locking up the apartment. The two of them are a few steps ahead, and they grab the elevator, opting not to hold it for us.

Rowan snickers as she pounds the close door button.

Real mature.

“You look very nice,” Myles says, his gaze moving over my form. “You’re not going to be cold?”

My short skirt isn’t made for December weather, but I wasn’t planning on spending a lot of time outdoors. “I figured we’d grab a cab or rideshare to wherever it is that we’re going.”

Myles nods. “Right, of course. I just don’t want you to be cold.”

Already, I’m regretting my decision to wear the short skirt that barely covers my ass cheeks. I shimmy it down a bit more. “I can go back inside and change. Actually, yeah, let me go back in⁠—”

I reach for the door and Myles grabs my wrist, stopping me. “You look great. I’ll keep you warm. Come on, let’s go.”

Letting him take the lead, I follow him to the elevator. There’s a nice blast of heat inside the complex, making me almost forget how chilly it will be when we get outside.

Myles slides his hand into his pants pocket, retrieving a set of car, and once we step into the elevator, he presses the button for the parking garage.

“What do you drive?” I ask, curious about his car.

“You can’t wait and see?” He glances at me for a brief moment before returning his attention straight ahead. The elevator descends slowly, but at least it doesn’t stop on any other floors.