The Rules of Dating(39)

I felt the wall around my heart crumbling, so I excused myself and went to the bathroom. I stayed inside for at least ten minutes, trying to get a hold of my emotions. When I heard people talking in the studio, I figured I couldn’t hide anymore.

The beautiful woman—who was apparently Colby’s sister—was back, holding Saylor’s hand. I hoped neither of them would notice how red my face was as I tried to act as normal as possible. “Hey, Saylor.” I bent down. “Wow, that’s a beautiful dress. I bet it flairs out really pretty when you spin around.”

Saylor was thrilled to demonstrate. She twirled, making the tulle bottom of her dress puff out like an umbrella. I smiled.

Colby looked at his sister. “Would you mind giving us a minute, sis?”

Caroline looked between us. “Of course. Saylor and I should go call the Uber anyway.”

Once the two of them were out of earshot, Colby stroked my cheek. “I have to go to the party before I ruin the surprise. Could we have breakfast tomorrow? Please?”

When I didn’t respond, he continued.

“It won’t be a date. But we need to talk. We can’t leave things fucked up like this. I’ve been going crazy the last two weeks.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

He kept his hand on my cheek as he moved in and kissed the other one. “About nine at the diner down the block?”

“Okay.”

He packed up his toolbox and headed for the door. “Oh, and I fixed your AC. Apparently the new fuse I put in last time somehow came loose.” He winked as if he thought I’d done it.

“I did not unscrew anything.”

He grinned. “Whatever you say.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re so full of yourself.”

He went to leave again but only made it one step more before stopping. “One other thing…”

“What?”

His eyes raked up and down my body. “Don’t wear a corset tomorrow. I’d like to be able to think straight.”

***

The next morning my train got stuck on the way to meet Colby for breakfast, so I was a few minutes late. He stood from the table when I walked through the front door of the diner, and relief washed over his face. But then his eyes dropped to my outfit, and that face changed to something entirely different. Of course I’d worn my favorite lace corset—one that left very little to the imagination.

“Hey.” I smiled as I walked over.

Colby shook his head. “You’re evil.”

I pretended I had no idea what he was talking about. “My train got stuck.”

His eyes were glued to my cleavage. “I might need to yank the tablecloth from the table and wrap it around your top half.”

I winked. “But if you do that, you won’t get to enjoy my corset.”

He pointed to the chair across from him. “Have a seat please, so I can sit. Otherwise, we might need the tablecloth to put over my lower half to keep me from embarrassing myself.”

I chuckled. The waiter immediately came over and handed us menus, and we both asked for coffee.

Colby looked at his watch. “I only have about forty-five minutes, unfortunately. Brayden’s watching Saylor, but he needs to leave by ten.”

“It’s fine. I have to get to work anyway.”

The waiter returned with our coffees and asked if we knew what we wanted. I’d been sitting for all of thirty seconds, so I hadn’t even opened the menu he’d handed me. I lifted my chin to Colby. “Do you know what you’re having?”

“I think I’m going to get eggs benedict.”

I offered my menu to the waiter. “Make that two, please.”

“You got it,” he said.

Once we were alone, Colby took a deep breath. “Before we talk, I just want to apologize again for last night. I should never have gotten in your face and made you upset.”

“It’s fine, Colby. It wasn’t a big deal.”

His face was serious. “It was to me. It’ll never happen again.”

I smiled coyly. “Really? Because it was kind of hot.”

His brows shot up, and then he grinned. “Oh yeah? Can I take back that commitment to never let it happen again?”

I laughed.

“Anyway…” he said. “On that note, I’m going to get straight to the point. I got upset because I like you a lot. I’m extremely attracted to you, which I think is pretty obvious, but it’s more than that. I freaking think about you all the time, Billie. Like, it might border on unhealthy.”

My heart fluttered, and my belly felt warm and mushy. “I like you too, Colby.” I paused. “But you scare me. Plus, I have major trust issues, and I don’t want to put that on you.”

He reached across the table and laced his fingers with mine. “We’re only scared of the things that mean something to us.”

I sighed and nodded. “I know.”

“I’ve given this a lot of thought. I can tell you I’m not going to hurt you and you should trust me a million times, but that’s not what you need. You’ve heard that song and dance too often from people who didn’t keep their word. The only way you and I are going to work is if I can earn your trust.”

“How can you do that?”